Remarks by President Obama and President Yudhoyono of the Republic of Indonesia Before Bilateral Breakfast Meeting

Toronto Convention Center
Toronto, Canada

8:27 A.M. EDT

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Good morning, everybody.  Selamat pagi.
It is wonderful once again to see my good friend, the President of Indonesia, and members of his delegation.  I obviously have enjoyed our interactions here, although my hope and wish was that I was going to be seeing him in Jakarta.  Because of the crisis that we’ve had in the Gulf, I’ve had to delay the trip.  But graciously, for a second time now, the President has re-extended the invitation, and I am confident that we are going to get there.

We’re having breakfast this morning because the friendship between Indonesia and the United States has always been strong, and it is our intention to continue to make it even stronger.  Working within the G20, we have been able to stabilize the world economy.  I was just hearing from the President the progress that’s been made in getting back to pre-crisis levels in Indonesia with respect to economic growth and employment, inflation.  But obviously, we have many challenges that still have to proceed.

Two areas where we are particularly interested in working together is on the issue of climate change, where we are helping to create a climate change study center in Indonesia that I think can provide enormous support for not only studies there but also in the region and around the world.

And the second area is education, where we’re looking to put an additional $160 million into joint programs that can enhance cooperation on educating our youth, which is obviously one of our top priorities in terms of future development.

So I just want to once again thank the President for his graciousness, his cooperation, and reaffirm the great friendship between our two countries.

Mr. President.

PRESIDENT YUDHOYONO:  Thank you.  Good morning.  I am very pleased to meet again once again Barack Obama this morning to discuss issues of common interest, both bilaterally and multilaterally.

Indonesia and America are entering and developing a comprehensive partnership which is elevating and transforming our relations based on the equal partnership and aim to meet the challenges of the 21st century — promoting peace, reforming the world economy, addressing climate change, as well as promoting harmony among civilizations.  A stable, dynamic, and strong relations between Indonesia and the U.S. is good for our region and for our world.

I appreciate the leadership of President Barack Obama and I thank to him for his friendship and goodwill toward Indonesia.

I want to thank you.

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Okay.  Thank you, everybody.

END           8:33 A.M. EDT