Yudhoyono Holds Bilateral Meeting With Rudd

Jakarta (Antara) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono meets with Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd at the Presidential Palace in Bogor, West Java, on Friday. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd arrived in Indonesia on Thursday for an Indonesia-Australia Annual Leaders Meeting, which is the third this year after the one in Bali, Indonesia, and the second in Darwin. The topics to be discussed in the meeting covered bilateral issues such as economic and investment cooperation, President Yudhoyono's special aide for international affairs, Teuku Feizasyah said in a statement on Thursday. They would also discuss regional as well as global issues of common interest such as cooperation in APEC and G20. While in the country Prime Minister Rudd is also scheduled to attend a breakfast meeting between the two countries' chambers of commerce. "The Annual Leaders Meeting is the highest forum in the framework of Indonesia-Australia bilateral relations. The forum is strategic because it is aimed at evaluating various progresses in the bilateral cooperation under the framework of comprehensive partnership. Through this forum the two heads of government could give policy direction over various issues for implementation of the countries' government," Faizasyah said. President Yudhoyono and First Lady Yudhoyono had already been in Bogor since Thursday after receiving a courtesy call from Prime Minister Rudd accompanied by First Lady Therese Rein at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta. After the annual meeting President Yudhoyono and First Lady Ani Yudhoyono are scheduled to hold a state dinner in honor for Prime Minister Rudd and First Lady Therese Rein. (*) reporting by gnc aryani (Tz. G003*P008/H-YH/a014)