RI, NZ TO STEP UP BILATERAL RELATIONS

Singapore, Nov 14 (ANTARA) - Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key held a bilateral meeting here on Saturday morning to step up already good relations between the two countries.

The meeting was held at the Marina Mandarin Hotel's Gemini Room at 8:30 a.m. local time in the run-up to the 17th Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

Presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal, after accompanying the president at the meeting, said the two government leaders were satisfied about the two countries' partnership in various fields and agreed to further strengthen their relations.

"Trade between Indonesia and New Zealand from 2006 to 2008 grew by 30 percent," Patti Djalal said.

He added that President Yudhoyono on the occasion also expressed his gratitude for New Zealand's support for the Bali Democratic Forum in December and cooperation to hold an interfaith dialog.

"Indonesia will next year host a 'Regional Asia Pacific Interfaith Dialog', and it will be a typical cooperation between Indonesia and New Zealand," Djalal said.

He said the two leaders also discussed developments in the run-up to the climate change conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, and agreed on the need for a breakthrough.

During the 30-minute meeting, President Yudhoyono and Prime Minister John Key also discussed possible renewable energy cooperation in which New Zealand had a profound interest.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister John Key said Asia was the world's economic future and therefore New Zealand should approach and unite with Asia.

Besides the bilateral talks with the New Zealand prime minister, President Yudhoyono also held similar meetings with several other heads of state/government, among others with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Chinese President Hu Jintao, and Papua New Guinean Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare.

The APEC economic leaders from 21 member countries are scheduled to hold a summit in Singapore on Nov 14-15 to discuss among other things regional free trade uniting process, and the Bogor Goals for developed countries in 2010.

APEC is a forum for 21 Pacific Rim countries to cooperate on regional trade and investment liberalization and facilitation with the objective of enhancing economic growth and prosperity in the region and strengthening the Asia-Pacific community.

In January 1989, Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke called for more effective economic cooperation across the Pacific Rim region.

This led to the first meeting of APEC in the Australian capital Canberra in November, chaired by Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Gareth Evans.

Attended by ministers from twelve countries, the meeting concluded with commitments for future annual meetings in Singapore and South Korea.

The first APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting occurred in 1993 when US president Bill Clinton, after discussions with Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating, invited the heads of government from member economies to a summit on Blake Island.

He believed it would help bring the stalled Uruguay Round of trade talks on track.

At the meeting, some leaders called for continued reduction of barriers to trade and investment, envisioning a community in the Asia-Pacific region that might promote prosperity through cooperation.
The APEC Secretariat, based in Singapore, was established to coordinate the activities of the organization.

During the meeting in 1994 in Bogor, Indonesia, APEC Leaders adopted the Bogor Goals that aim for free and open trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific by 2010 for industrialized economies and by 2020 for developing economies.