ASEAN Secretariat, 10 June 2008

The Prime Minister of Australia, H.E. Kevin Rudd, plans to visit the ASEAN Secretariat on 13 June 2008 during his upcoming official visit to Indonesia.

He will be the first Head of Government of a Dialogue Partner country to visit the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta.

“We are very pleased to welcome Prime Minister Rudd to the ASEAN Secretariat.  We are honoured that he will be taking some time off from his very busy schedule to visit us,” said H.E. Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary-General of ASEAN.

“Australia is one of ASEAN’s first Dialogue Partners and Prime Minister Rudd’s visit to the ASEAN Secretariat reflects the longstanding and fruitful relationship between ASEAN and Australia,” added Dr. Surin.

Dr. Surin plans to exchange views with Prime Minister Rudd on ASEAN-Australia cooperation, including additional ways and means of strengthening the ASEAN Secretariat in supporting the East Asia Summit (EAS) process, in which Australia is one of the 16 participating countries.