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| Tun Dr Mahathir in Bali in 2003 |
Dr Mahathir returns to Bali as PM 15 years after bidding adieu
Bernama
New Straits Times11 October 2018
BALI: Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad arrived in Bali today to attend the inaugural Asean Leaders’ Gathering (ALG), making a nostalgic return to an Asean meeting at the island resort after 15 years.
It was at the Asean Summit in Bali in 2003 that he bid farewell to the 10-member grouping when he stepped down as the fourth prime minister.
This visit is Dr Mahathir’s second to Indonesia since becoming Malaysia’s seventh prime minister after the country’s historic general election in May.
Upon arrival at 11.45am (Malaysia and Bali time) at the Ngurah Rai International Airport, Dr Mahathir was welcomed by Indonesia’s Minister of Public Works and Housing, Basuki Hadimuljono.
The Prime Minister is accompanied by his wife, Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali; Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah; as well as officials from the Prime Minister’s Office and the Foreign Ministry.
The theme of the ALG is ‘Achieving Sustainable Goals (SDGs) and Overcoming Development Gaps through Regional and Global Collaborative Actions.’
Dr Mahathir is scheduled to deliver his remarks at the gathering, as well as attend an official dinner hosted by Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo.
Other Asean leaders attending the gathering are Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong; Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte; Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei Darussalam; Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha; Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen; Prime Minister of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith; Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc; and Myanmar President U Win Myint.
Dr Mahathir is also expected to hold bilateral discussions with his Asean counterparts on the sidelines of the gathering.
As the meeting is held simultaneously with the annual conference of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank from Oct 8 to 14, the Asean leaders are also set to engage with IMF managing director Christine Lagarde; World Bank president Jim Yong Kim and United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres. © New Straits Times
