RI, AUSSIE FOREIGN MINISTERS TO MEET IN SINGAPORE

Brisbane, Nov. 9 (ANTARA) - Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith will hold a meeting with his Indonesian counterpart, Marty Natalegawa, in Singapore this week.

"I look forward to formally meeting with Dr Marty Natalegawa for the first time in his capacity as Indonesia's new foreign minister," Minister Stephen Smith said in a press statement at the Australian foreign ministry on Monday.

He did not elaborate issues to be discussed in the upcoming meeting with Natalegawa but most likely it would include that of Sri Lankan asylum seekers currently staying on board an Australian ship anchored in Indonesian waters.

Smith said the Indonesian new foreign minister who succeeded Nur Hassan Wirajuda last October 22, was 'a friend of Australia'.

The Australian foreign minister said he looked forward to close cooperation with Indonesia because in this decade and in the future Indonesia played important role regionally and globally.

Minister Smith will visit Singapore from 10 November to 12 November to participate in the 21st APEC Ministerial Meeting. This year is APEC?s 20th anniversary.

"APEC advances the prosperity and security of Australia and the Asia-Pacific region," he said in the press statement.

APEC?s 21 member economies are home to more than 2.7 billion people and represent approximately half the world?s GDP and trade.

"During the APEC Ministerial Meeting I will pursue a range of Australia?s regional foreign policy priorities, including regional architecture and APEC members' efforts to promote economic recovery and growth," he said.

He is also scheduled to take part in the APEC 20th Anniversary High-Level Symposium. The Symposium will be an opportunity to take stock of APEC's achievements to date and to look to its role in the region's future.

Before leaving for Singapore, Minister Smith is to visit Sri Lanka on Monday (9 November).

"This will be the first visit to Sri Lanka by an Australian Foreign Minister since 2003. My counterpart, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama, visited Australia in October 2008," he said.

Smith and Bogollagama will discuss bilateral and regional cooperation on people smuggling and ways in which Australia will continue to assist Sri Lanka rebuild after decades of internal conflict.