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Obama Says Expanding Indonesia Trade Is Crucial for U.S. Jobs

Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. President Barack Obama trumpeted Indonesia’s growing economic and strategic clout, saying trade between both nations is critical to creating jobs at home, just hours after the White House announced he’ll cut short the trip to his boyhood home to avoid volcanic ash from Mount Merapi.
In a press conference with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Obama also looked ahead to this week’s Group of 20 summit in South Korea, saying that while the forum has stabilized the global economy, it hasn’t secured balanced growth because some countries are intervening “very significantly in the currency markets.” Obama didn’t single out China, which the U.S. is pushing to allow its currency to rise, saying an undervalued yuan gives China’s exports an unfair advantage.
Obama arrived in Jakarta today from India, where on Nov. 6 he began a four-country tour of Asia focused on economic issues and boosting exports. As China’s economic and diplomatic clout grows, Obama has made a priority of engaging other Asian states, particularly the 10 countries that make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. With a population of about 600 million, Southeast Asia was America’s fifth-largest trading partner and the fourth-biggest market for U.S. goods last year.
Obama said Indonesia, a member of the G-20, the world’s third-largest democracy, and the largest democracy in Southeast Asia, presents a dynamic marketplace to expand security cooperation and trade, investment and commercial ties.
Pillars of Partnership
“From our prosperity, expanding partnerships between our people and deepening political and security cooperation, these are the pillars of our new partnership,” Obama said. “Our two nations have only begun to forge the cooperation that’s possible.”
Indonesia’s benchmark Jakarta Composite Index has risen 46 percent this year compared with a 12.1 percent gain for the MSCI Asia Pacific Index.
The two presidents today initiated a five-year program to enhance a partnership on issues including climate change, counterterrorism, combating Iran’s nuclear program and territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
Obama said he would like to see the East Asia Summit -- a forum of 16 nations -- become the “premier” structure to work on security issues and “how various maritime issues, conflicts, can get resolved in a peaceful fashion.”
East Asia Summit
The U.S. is preparing to formally join the East Asia Summit as part of its strategy to assert leadership in the Asia-Pacific region.
“Asia is the fastest growing part of the world. It’s the fastest growing in terms of population, it’s the fastest growing set of economies and so there’s enormous potential and enormous promise,” Obama said.
The White House also announced a plan to provide $165 million over five years for education and establishing partnerships with 25 U.S. institutions including Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Columbia University in New York. The Obama administration also plans to provide $136 million for a joint project that would establish a climate- change center in Indonesia.

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