President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to leave for France on Monday (Oct 31) for a five-day working visit.

In Paris, President Yudhoyono would fulfill the UNESCO director general`s invitation to speak at a special session marking the 10th anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, the president`s special aide for international relations, Teuku Faizasyah said here on Saturday.

The invitation was a manifestation of UNESCO`s appreciation for the Indonesian government`s commitment to protecting and promoting cultural diversity as living assets, he said. Faiza said the President would make the visit a momentum to reemphasize the significance of preserving cultural heritages including the Borobudur and Prambanan temples.

Besides the two temples, a number of cultural sites and nature preserves in Indonesia, including the Sangiran Early Man Site, Sumatra Tropical Forest Park, Ujungkulon National Park, Komodo National Park and Lorentz National Park have also received assistance from the world body.

In addition, a variety of Indonesia`s cultural works such as leather puppets, batik, kris, and angklung traditional music have been put on the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Faiza said all these UNESCO gestures showed the world community`s recognition of the cultural works owned and protected by the Indonesian government and people.

"The Indonesian President`s participation in the UNESCO program will give us a chance to enhance our active role as a bridge-builder and proponent of conflict resolution through inter-cultural cooperation," he said.

From Paris , the President will continue his trip to Cannes where he will attend a G20 Summit on November 3-4.

Faiza said the G20 Summit this time was meeting an urgent need and of great importance now that the protracted financial crisis in Europe had turned into a real threat to global economic recovery.

Hopefully, the G20 Summit could preserve the commitment to implementing agreements achieved at the previous G20 Summits, he said.

He said Indonesia expected the G20 leaders at the Cannes summit to take steps to restore global stability, increase global growth, boost investment and trade and encourage just and sustainable growth.