President Bush Meets with President Yudhoyono of Indonesia

September 8, 2007,10:08 A.M. (Local),PRESIDENT BUSH: Mr. President, I admire your leadership, I admire your strength of character, and I appreciate -- I appreciate our conversation today. First, I thank you very much for your strength in this struggle against extremism. You understand firsthand what it means to deal with radicalism¹, and you've done it in a very constructive² way. On the one hand, you've brought people to justice who deserved it; on the other hand, you've worked to improve the human condition., And we're proud to stand with you on matters such as education. You've got a very constructive education reform package in your country that we believe will make a difference, and I thank you for that.,Today we discussed our bilateral³ relations and the importance of military-to-military relation. I think it's important that officers in the Indonesian army and the Indonesian military come to the United States. I think it's important for our military folks to interface⁴ with your officers. After all, Mr. President, if I remember correctly, you spent some time in Kansas. And I think it's in the country's interest that we interface with our friends, the Indonesians, in this way.,I want to thank you for your leadership on climate change. We had a good discussion on climate change. Interestingly enough, the President is in the lead when it comes to coral reef protection, and we want to help you. And you've also got an aggressive plan to stop deforestation. As a matter of fact, you're one of the leaders in the world when it comes to these practical applications of environmental quality and environmental progress. And the United States wants to help. We're working on a $20 million initiative to help you on your preventing deforestation, and it's a good use of our taxpayers⁵' money, particularly since we've got such a strong champion as you in the lead.,I also thank you very much for our discussion on Doha. Trade will help our respective nations. And your Minister and I had a discussion yesterday, and I want to thank you for your leadership on this key issue.,All in all, Mr. President, I'm proud to be with you today, and I want to thank you for your time.,PRESIDENT YUDHOYONO: Thank you, Mr. President. We have discussed a lot of things constructively⁶, productively, this morning. I have to be thankful for your roles and leadership in fostering our bilateral friendships and cooperation.,Thankful your willingness to cooperate and assist Indonesia in managing our forests, in preserving our coral, and in other things in saving our planet with a framework of cooperation -- effective cooperation, and thankful for that.,Also for our good cooperation in the field of education, and also military-to-military cooperation is progressing well, that benefit both for the U.S. and for Indonesia.,And thank also for your understanding on the ongoing⁷ talk on the WTO. Indonesia, with other developing countries, will play -- (inaudible) --constructively, finding a proper solution good for both developed nation and developing countries. And once again, thank for this cooperation with your roles, and looking forward to having other action and cooperation between our two countries.,PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you, sir. Thank you, Mr. President.,END 10:12 A.M. (Local) ,