Obama: U.S. building bridge with Muslim countries, seals partnership with Indonesia

[News_Editor]

Obama: U.S. building bridge with Muslim countries, seals partnership with Indonesia

2010-11-09 20:27:35 GMT+7 (ICT)

JAKARTA, INDONESIA (BNO NEWS) -- The U.S. and Indonesia have agreed on a "comprehensive partnership" in which both countries will be expanding their economic, security, and climate change cooperation, both countries said in a joint press conference on Tuesday.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono hoped the long-awaited visit of U.S. President Barack Obama would increase cooperation and partnership between the two countries, and in their bilateral meeting, both have agreed on a number of sectors.

"We hope, with this partnership, we can look forward to relying on a people to people relationship," Yudhoyono said.

In the bilateral talks, both presidents pushed to advance the cooperation of both countries on a wide-range of issues: education, environment, security, science and technology, trade and investment, democracy, human rights, health, energy, food, entrepreneurship, and more.

On trade, they recognized the importance of keeping markets open, as well as facilitation and capacity building programs to increase trade flows including creating and realizing opportunities for small businesses and entrepreneurs. As a result, the leaders welcomed the creation of the Global Entrepreneurship Program in Indonesia.

Furthermore, both presidents reviewed global and regional issues, including the future of ASEAN-U.S. relations, as well as security issues in the region and the Middle East. Yudhoyono welcomed Obama’s decision to join the East Asia Summit as they agreed to continue to work closely together in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

"President Obama and President Yudhoyono are committed to building a democratic partnership that will promote peace, freedom, prosperity, rule of law, and tolerance in the region and around the world," the White House said.

President Obama went on to criticize the recent elections in Myanmar in which the country's largest military-backed party won in its first elections in 20 years. Obama described the election as neither free nor fair, and called for the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Obama, who spent four years of his childhood in Indonesia, which is a Muslim-majority country, said that the U.S. is on the "right path" to better understand the Muslim world, but work remains to be done as certain "misunderstandings and mistrust" have developed.

"What we're trying to do is make sure that we are building bridges and expanding our interactions with Muslim countries," Obama said.

President Obama will be leaving Indonesia earlier than expected due to the Mount Merapi eruptions. Heis scheduled to attend th G-20 summit in South Korea before as part of his Asian tour.

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