Yudhoyono : RI, Brazil should help solve global problems

Thursday, 20 November 2008 18:05 WIB
WASPADA ONLINEBRASILIA - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has said that Indonesia and Brazil need to develop the potentials they have in common in order to contribute to the solution of global problems such as the present world financial crisis. "Indonesia and Brazil are not merely a natural partner but also a partner in seeking for important contributions and solutions to global issues," the president said after a bilateral meeting with his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva, here on Wednesday. After the bilateral meeting, the relevant ministers of the two countries signed several memorandums of understanding (MoU) in the framework of a strategic partnership cooperation agreed earlier. The MoUs among other things contained agreements to cooperate in the fields of energy, agriculture and poverty eradication. The president said that the partnership cooperation would further step up meaningful relations and cooperation in various fields particularly in the current global financial crisis. "This endeavor is increasingly important amid the global financial crisis which needs our common efforts to overcome it. I see the need for us to unite our respective potentials, excellence and experience," Yudhoyono said. He said that Indonesia and Brazil as a country with big agricultural potentials could exchange and complement their respective products. The president said that the two-way trade between the two countries in the last nine months reached US$1.7 billion and needed to be further increased. In the meantime, President Lula also hoped that the trade volumes of the two nations would be increased in order to improve the welfare of both nations. President Lula said that the trade volumes of the two states were recorded at US$1.5 billion in 2007. This year it was expected to reach UA$2 billion and US$3 billion next year.(ann)