Kalla and entourage including his wife, Mufidah Kalla, traveled to Brussels by Garuda Indonesia commercial flight from Soekarno-Hatta Airport west of Jakarta to Schipol Airport in Amsterdam, according to a press statement made available to Antara on Thursday.
From Amsterdam, the vice president and entourage will travel to Belgium by Thalys train. They are scheduled to arrive in Brussels on Thursday at 01.08 p.m. local time.
The 12th ASEM will be held on Friday and Saturday under the theme "Europe and Asia: Global Partners for Global Challenges".
At the meeting, European and Asian leaders will try to strengthen dialogs and cooperation between the two continents in the fields of trade, investment, sustainable development connectivity, climate, security challenges and state resilience.
They will also discuss ways to deal with the challenges of terrorism, non-proliferation, cyber security, and unregulated migration.
The meeting will bring together 51 heads of state/government from Asian and European countries. President of the European Council Donald Tusk will chair the meeting which will also be attended by President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker.
ASEM is a forum of cooperation between European and Asian countries to discuss a wide range of issues and increase cooperation in the political, economic, defense, educational and environmental fields.
While in Brussels, Kalla will also meet with Indonesian citizens in Belgium.
The vice president is scheduled to return to Jakarta on Oct 21.
Reporting by Fransiska Ninditya
Editing by Suhartoi, Andi Abdussalam
Reporter: Antara
Editor: Suharto
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