PRESIDENT WANTS S SULAWESI TO BENEFIT FROM E ASIAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Makassar, South Sulawesi, March 13 (ANTARA) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has asked South Sulawesi's authorities and people to benefit from East Asian economic development plans to improve their welfare and economic conditions.
"The East Asian region will progress together...I ask that this opportunity not be wasted. Let's benefit from development in the region," the head of state said when visiting the site of the Center Point of Indonesia project at Tanjung Bunga, Makassar, here on Friday.

Speaking after he had listened to South Sulawesi Governor Syahrul Yasin Limpo's expose on the project, Yudhoyono said the Center Point of Indonesia should be beneficial to both businessmen and the public.

The Center Point of Indonesia would have nine development objectives such as economic, history, sports, handicrafts, tourism and public businesses.

He also hoped that South Sulawesi could benefit from business opportunities in the economic, tourism and fishery sectors under the framework of the BIMP EAGA (Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area), which held a meeting in Thailand recently.

President Yudhoyono was accompanied by First Lady Ani Yudhoyono, Minister/State Secretary Hatta Radjasa, Communication and Informatics Minister Muhammad Nuh and Energy and Mineral Resource Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro in the working visit to South Sulawesi.

After staying for 20 minutes at Tanjung Bunga, the president and his entourage returned to Jakarta.