LEADERS' BILATERAL TALKS MARK FIRST DAY OF APEC SUMMIT

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Oct 7 (Antara) - The two-day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit was opened by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday, as the first day was marked by bilateral meetings among APEC economic leaders.          In his opening address, President Yudhoyono stressed the importance of APEC's role in the development of the region's economy amid today's uncertain economic conditions.          "APEC is increasingly playing an important role in the economic recovery of the Asia-Pacific region. The Asia-Pacific economy will maintain global economic growth," added the president.          Prior to the opening of the summit, President Yudhoyono, who was accompanied by First Lady Ani Yudhoyono, officially greeted the leaders of the 21 APEC member economies on Monday at 8:20 a.m. local time.          Leaders present during Yudhoyono's greeting included Australia's Tony Abbott; Brunei Darussalam's Hasanal Bolkiah; the President of Chile, Sebastian Pinera; the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, C.Y. Leung; Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak; Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe;, the President of Peru, Ollanta Humala; the President of Mexico, Enrique Pena Nieto; the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper; the President of China, Xi Jinping; New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key; and the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Peter Charles Paire O'Neill.          In addition, President Yudhoyono welcomed Philippines' President Benigno S Aquino III; the Prime Minister of Thailand, Yingluck Shinawatra; the Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong; the President of Vietnam, Truong Tan Sang; the President of South Korea, Park Geun-hye; and China Taipei's Representative, Vincent Siew.          The United States was represented by Trade Minister Penny Pritzker during the greeting session, while Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived at noon and joined the APEC session.          On Monday, most APEC leaders held bilateral meetings to discuss economic cooperation and other matters of mutual concern.          Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott held meetings with economic leaders from Papua New Guinea, Singapore and Thailand at the Softiel Hotel in Nusa Dua.          At a separate location, South Korean President Park Geun-hye met with Chinese leaders, while President Susilo Bambang Yudoyono conducted talks with leaders from Vietnam, Russia, Peru and Japan.          Also, according to the official schedules, Australia's Abott met Canadian and Mexican leaders, while the South Korean President met with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.          During closed-door meetings lasting about 30 minutes, the economic leaders were expected to discuss efforts to reinforce bilateral economic cooperation, which will be achieved through multilateral cooperation.          Also, among leaders President Susilo Bambang Yudhyono met on the sidelines of the APEC summit was Russian President Vladimir Putin.          President Yudhoyono said relations between the two countries have continued to develop and "our meeting this time is aimed at enhancing the cooperation."     President Putin shared President Yudhoyono's views, saying relations between the two countries appear strong.          "There are bright prospects in the relations in various fields, including transportation development, industry, and others," he said.          Apart from leaders¿ bilateral meeting, APC members were also involved in economic partnership deals.          For instance, Indonesia signed an action plan with Papua New Guinea on the implementation of a partnership between the two countries. The plan was signed by Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa and his PNG counterpart, Rimbink Pato, in the presence of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Prime Minister Peter Charles Paire O'Neill.          "As we know, the action plan is a follow-up to PNG prime minister's visit to Indonesia several months ago to step up bilateral relations between the two countries," said Marty, after signing the plan.          He noted that with the signing of the plan, steps toward a more complete partnership were increasingly clear and more measurable.          With Hanoi, Jakarta signed a plan on the implementation of a strategic partnership for the 2014 to 2018 period. The document was signed by Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa and his Vietnamese counterpart, Pham Binh Minh, in the presence of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang.          Natalegawa pointed out that the plan contains detailed steps that will be taken by the two countries to achieve a strategic partnership.          "This is the elaboration of the steps, as we want to take sure and concrete steps," he said The two countries want to achieve clear and measurable targets by signing the plan, Natalegawa added.          A Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) was also signed between Indonesia and South Korea.          "We hope that negotiations on CEPA can be completed as scheduled, since both countries have agreed to several things," Indonesian Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan said, after holding bilateral talks with the South Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Yoon Sang-jick on Sunday night.          At the meeting, Yoon Sang-jick praised the Indonesian government for paying more attention to the importance of CEPA for the two countries, Wirjawan said.          Trade between the two countries has seen an upward trend since 2008. During the past five years, trade between the two countries has always favored Indonesia. Bilateral trade between the two countries reached US$26.9 billion in 2012, with Indonesia enjoying a surplus of US$3.1 billion.          With Peru, Indonesia signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on agricultural cooperation. The MOU was signed by Indonesian Agriculture Minister Suswono and Peruvian Foreign Affairs Minister Eda Rivas in the presence of the presidents of both countries.          The two countries also established cooperation in the management of international agreements. The agreement was signed by Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa and his Peruvian counterpart, Eda Rivas.          Earlier, Mexico and Indonesia agreed to establish a comprehensive partnership in recognition of the strategic value of bilateral relations by improving political dialogue at all levels and promoting connectivity, trade and investment.          In addition, the two countries plan to expand technical cooperation, social-cultural exchanges and health, sports, education and people-to-people contacts, the leaders of the two countries stated in a joint statement issued in Bali on Monday.          The first-day of the APEC leaders¿ summit saw many bilateral agreements signed, because members prioritized economic cooperation through partnership programs to boost economic development in the region.          According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,  all members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) had prioritized partnerships to help further boost cooperation.          "We are mindful that all APEC members have built partnerships and displayed a spirit of cooperation since the Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) and following the ministers' talks," Abdurrahman Muhammad Fachir, the Director General of Public Diplomacy and Information at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Monday.          All the meetings held at the SOM level, the ministerial level and the private businesses level, have been conducive, especially in the run-up to the leaders' meetings. "Delegates have respectively emphasized the common interest of all members," Abdurrahman stated.***3*** (T .A014/INE/B003) (EDITED BY INE)       (T.A014/A/BESSR/Bustanuddin) 07-10-2013 21:47: