Widodo invites foreign envoys to ride MRT to ASEAN Station

Jakarta, Indonesianpost.com –  President Joko Widodo invited ambassadors of ASEAN countries and several partner countries to ride the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) from Bundaran HI Station to ASEAN Station in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Widodo invited the ambassadors to ride the MRT on the commemoration of ASEAN’s 56th Anniversary, or the ASEAN Day.

He arrived at Bundaran HI Station, Central Jakarta, Tuesday, at around 8:30 a.m. local time.

Several ministers and officials, including Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, President Director of MRT Jakarta Tuhiyat, Acting Governor of Jakarta Heru Budi Hartono, and Chief of the Greater Jakarta Police, Inspector General Karyoto, accompanied the president.

Before boarding the MRT, the MRT president director gave Widodo a special edition multi-use card that was launched to commemorate ASEAN’s 56th Anniversary.

He then tapped the MRT access card on the turnstile and thereafter boarded the MRT train along with the foreign ambassadors.

During their journey, Widodo and the ambassadors engaged in some conversations. After arriving at the ASEAN Station, they walked to the ASEAN Secretariat Office to attend the ASEAN Day event.

Earlier, on Monday, at the 44th ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) General Assembly in Jakarta, President Widodo stated that the ASEAN needs the support of its parliaments to realize a prosperous Southeast Asian region.

A survey conducted by the EU-ASEAN Business Sentiment, which had nearly 600 responses from the European private sector, revealed that the ASEAN is considered as a region with the best economic opportunities, at 63 percent, surpassing China, 12 percent, and India, eight percent.

Around 80 percent of the respondents in the survey also view ASEAN as an important region, and approximately 84 percent are keen to increase their trade transactions with ASEAN.