Sby Flies Into Darwin

[gobbledonk]

I really have to hand it to SBY - just as I wouldn't want to fly from BKK to Washington or London in December, flying into Canberra this morning would have been, ahem, brisk to say the least. Short of flying to Singapore, East Java to Darwin has to be one of the shortest hops a world leader has ever made for a face-to-face meeting with another political bigwig. Given that its a Garuda jet, I'd probably be limiting my air miles too.

 

SBY off to Darwin, Sumba

 

Garuda Indonesia’s Boeing B737-500 carrying President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his entourage took off from Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force base in East Jakarta for Darwin, Australia, where he will meet with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard later on Monday.

 

In the Australian city closest to Indonesia, the President and his Australian counterpart will discuss the two countries’ bilateral cooperation including trade and investment ties in the second Indonesia-Australia Annual Leaders’ Meeting. The first was in Bali on November 20, 2011.

 

“With Gillard, we have a priority agenda which we will focus on, particularly on the economy, which includes cooperation in the cattle-farming sector and infrastructure development,†Yudhoyono told a press conference at the airport before boarding the plane.