President Yudhoyono Hold Talks With Gillard

Darwin - Visiting Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono held a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard at the Northern Territory's Parliament House here on Tuesday. President Yudhoyono arrived at the Parliament House at 9.15 am local time and was greeted by Gillard ahead of the bilateral meeting. The meeting in Darwin is a follow-up to the first Indonesia-Australia Annual Leaders' Meeting that was held in Bali on November 20, 2011. At a banquet hosted by Gillard for President Yudhoyono on Monday night, the two leaders agreed to step up cooperation between the two countries. Speaking at the banquet, President Yudhoyono said Australia was a strategic partner of Indonesia and, therefore, the bilateral meeting would lay a strong foundation for the two countries' relations. "With strong bilateral relations, we can enhance cooperation in various sectors while seeking and creating new opportunities, including cooperation in addressing regional and global issues," he noted. The head of state invited Australian business people to invest in the Indonesian government's Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia Economic Development (MP3EI) projects. "I would like to invite Australian businessmen to actively get involved in the MP3EI projects in Bali-West Nusa Tenggara-East Nusa Tenggara corridor-5 and Maluku-Papua corridor-6," Yudhoyono said. (*)