PRESIDENT JOKOWI HOLDS DIALOGUE WITH INDONESIAN COMMUNITY AND DIASPORA

Washingon, 13 Muharram 1437/26 Oktober 2015 (MINA) – President Joko Widodo will spend his first day in Washington to meet with the Indonesian community and diaspora for a dialogue held at the Tilden Guesthouse  at the Indonesian Embassy premises.

There will be about 1,250 people and the Indonesian diaspora attending the dialogue, Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) quoted Antara News as reporting.

President Joko Widodo will meet President Barack Obama on Monday, and after that huddles with U.S. business leaders, first in Washington, then in the technology hub of Silicon Valley in an Francisco.

Popularly known as Jokowi, the president is visiting Washington and San Francisco on a five-day trip starting October 25 in a bid to boost security ties and lure foreign investment in sectors such as mining, manufacturing and information technology to revive outheast Asia’s largest economy.

The trip comes as Indonesia struggles to come out of its worst economic slowdown in six years, and the president – who recently marked his first year in office – is under intense pressure to kick-start the faltering economy.

The country currently allows no foreign investment in the local e-commerce industry, which analysts predict will be the region’s largest by 2020, on the back of a voracious appetite for Internet use in Indonesia.

Indonesians are among the most active users in the world of social media websites like Facebook and Twitter.

The presidential jetliner Boeing 737-800 carying the president and the First Lady landed at the Andrews Air Force Base on Sunday at 12:21 local time under a sunny weather. (T/R07/R01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)