President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday received an honorary patrons medal from the ASEAN Federation of Engineering Organizations (AFEO) for his success in promoting ASEAN as one of the worlds leading economic zones.

The President received the award during a meeting with delegates to the conference of the ASEAN Federation of Engineering Organizations (CAFEO) at the State Palace here.

The honorary patrons medal is the organizations highest medal, which is only awarded to heads of state and government.

President Yudhoyono is the second ASEAN leader to receive the award, after Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.

AFEO chairman Bobby Gafur Umar, who is also chief of the Indonesian Engineering Association (PII), said after the meeting that President Yudhoyono deserved to receive the award for his success in promoting Indonesia as one of the G20 members and ASEAN as one of the worlds leading zones.

"He has done so by encouraging sustainable development and creating the widest possible relations within ASEAN," he noted.

In addition, President Yudhoyono had been consistent in his efforts to encourage technological and scientific innovations during his terms in office.

Therefore, he added, representatives from engineering institutions in 10 ASEAN member states grouped in AFEO agreed at their mid-semester meeting in Yangon, Myanmar, in May 2013 to choose President Yudhoyono as a recipient of the medal.

The two-day conference was attended not only by delegates from engineering institutions in 10 ASEAN countries, but also by representatives from other countries, including Scotland, Japan, United Arab Emirates and South Korea.