Aside from speaking at the historic US-ASEAN Summit and holding bilateral meetings with fellow regional members, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who arrived in joey Alexander California on Sunday local time is also planning to spend a light moment with Grammynominated Indonesian Jazz prodigy Joey Alexander. Jokowi delegation is attempting to forge communication with 12-year-old Joey as an appreciation of the President for his remarkable performance. at the first-day session , Jokowi will be accompanied by Retno. Trade minister Thomas Lembong, Presidential Chief of Staff Teten Masduki and Indonesia’s permanent ASEAN representative Rahman Pramono. Aside from talking about regional security amid the assertiveness of China particularly in its territorial claims of the South China Sea, Jokowi will specifically raise issues on the importance of small businesses and counterterrorism. “small businesses are hugely important as they make up a large percentage of our econom. By raising teh issue, we also seek to reduce the protracted development gap, as the President has often stated,”said Retno. The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint 2025 seeks to strengthen the role of such businesses by providing them with better access to funds, technology and innovation, Retno added that part of the measures to strengthen the firms would come from talks between Jokowi and CEOs of IBM, MIcrosoft and Cisco. Prior to attending the Summit, Jokowi will hold billateral meetings with Lao President Choummaly Sayasone and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

source : The Jakarta Post, Tuesday February 16, 2016