JAKARTA. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is inviting former United States president Barack Obama to lunch at the Bogor State Palace on June 30.

Presidential spokesman Johan Budi confirmed on Tuesday that the invitation had been delivered to the 44th US president.

In a highly anticipated visit, Obama is scheduled early next month in Jakarta to deliver his first speech in Asia since leaving office. He is expected to speak about globalization and pluralism.

Obama is set to open the fourth Indonesian Diaspora Congress held by the Indonesia Diaspora Network Global (IDNG), for which more than 6,000 Indonesians who live abroad have registered to attend. It will be held at Kota Kasablanka Mall in South Jakarta between July 1 and 4.

The speech is not the only item on Obama’s agenda while he is in Indonesia. Muhammad Anshor, the Foreign Ministry’s director general for American and European affairs, said Obama would also be on vacation in Indonesia shortly before the event.

It will be the second visit for Obama to his childhood home after his memorable presidential visit in 2010, during which he charmed thousands at the University of Indonesia (UI) in Depok, West Java, with his speech.

During the visit, Obama and first lady Michelle Obama also visited Istiqlal Grand Mosque in Central Jakarta as a symbolic gesture to reach out to the Muslim world.(Haeril Halim)

Editor: Barratut Taqiyyah Rafie