US health minister in Jakarta to strengthen bilateral cooperation

On Monday morning, Leavitt and his entourage visited the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the office of Coordinating Minister for People`s Welfare Aburizal Bakrie where he also met Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari and Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyantono.

"At noon on Monday the US health minister and his entourage will meet with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the State Palace," US Embassy staffer Kresna Soegio said.

He said Leavitt would leave Indonesia again on Tuesday after completing his two-day visit.

"I don`t know whether there will be a new memorandum of understanding between the two countries but the main agenda of Leavitt`s visit is to strengthen bilateral relations," Kresna added.

He said there was close cooperation between Indonesia and the United States in health affairs, especially in bird flu management.

According to US Embassy data, the US was through the USAID implementing a program to support Indonesia`s national strategy to control and promote preparedness to deal with the bird flu pandemic for the 2006-2008 period. The ...