[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 47 (Monday, November 27, 2006)]
[Pages 2082-2085]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Joint Statement Between the United States of America and the Republic of 
Indonesia

November 20, 2006

    President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and President George W. Bush 
today reaffirmed the strength and vitality of the bilateral relationship 
between Indonesia and the United States, and reviewed the highly 
positive development of U.S-Indonesia relations over

[[Page 2083]]

the past two years. The two Presidents recognized the special and 
enduring bonds between the two countries and their people, demonstrated 
recently by the close cooperation following the devastating tsunami in 
Aceh and Hurricane Katrina. President Bush expressed his admiration for 
the resilience and determination of the Indonesian people and government 
in rebuilding areas affected by the earthquake in Yogyakarta and Central 
Java.
    The two Presidents reaffirmed that Indonesia and the United States 
are bound by a broad-based democratic partnership based on equality, 
mutual respect, common interests and shared values of freedom, pluralism 
and tolerance. The Presidents committed themselves to broadening and 
deepening such partnership.
    President Bush congratulated Indonesia on the successful signing and 
implementation of a Memorandum of Understanding that has brought peace 
to the province of Aceh, and renewed the United States' firm support for 
Indonesia's peace-building efforts in Aceh. President Bush also re-
emphasized the United States' strong support for Indonesia's national 
unity and territorial integrity, and opposition to secessionist 
movements in any part of Indonesia. President Bush stressed the 
importance of a united, democratic, pluralistic and prosperous Indonesia 
to the region and beyond.
    President Bush congratulated President Yudhoyono on signing an 
agreement with the Millennium Challenge Corporation for a $55 million 
Threshold program, noting that it represents a resounding endorsement of 
President Yudhoyono's anti-corruption program and ``pro-growth, pro-job, 
and pro-poor'' economic strategy. President Bush expressed confidence 
that the threshold program will have a transformative effect on 
Indonesia's development and international competitiveness.
    Noting the strength and importance of educational and cultural 
links, the Presidents reviewed the excellent work being done through the 
US$157 million U.S-Indonesia Education Initiative on basic education, 
the cornerstone of U.S. assistance to Indonesia and a symbol of our 
forward-looking partnership. The Presidents highlighted the importance 
of education for democracy, tolerance and economic progress and 
reaffirmed their commitment to working together to revitalize their 
cooperation in education. The Presidents also expressed their desire to 
encourage more people-to-people contacts through travel, educational 
exchanges, and tourism between Indonesia and the United States.
    President Yudhoyono and President Bush noted with satisfaction the 
continuing development of U.S-Indonesia economic and trade relations. 
They welcomed the strong support by APEC Leaders for the conclusion of 
an ambitious Doha Round agreement and noted their joint commitment to do 
everything possible to realize the development goals of the Doha 
negotiations. President Yudhoyono briefed President Bush on his 
government's program to strengthen the investment climate by improving 
infrastructure, reducing red tape, enhancing the rule of law and respect 
for contracts. They welcomed a number of positive developments since 
their May 2005 meeting in Washington DC, including:
 <bullet>    The establishment of the ASEAN-U.S. Enhanced Partnership;
 <bullet>    Signing of a U.S.-ASEAN Trade and Investment Framework 
            Arrangement (TIFA);
 <bullet>    The June 2006 extension of U.S. Export-Import Bank coverage 
            to private Indonesian corporations for the first time since 
            1998;
 <bullet>    The upgrading of Indonesia from the Special 301 Priority 
            Watch List in November 2006 based on steps to improve 
            intellectual property rights enforcement; and
 <bullet>    The strengthening of our dialogue through our bilateral 
            Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) to further 
            promote and facilitate trade and investment.
    The Presidents praised two recently signed MOUs, one on Cooperation 
in Trade in Textile and Apparel Goods and another on Combating Illegal 
Logging and Associated Trade in the context of the TIFA between the two 
countries. They also applauded the resumption of cooperation and 
capacity building activities between the U.S. Forest Service and the 
Indonesian Ministry of Forestry.

[[Page 2084]]

    The two Presidents discussed the grave threat posed by Avian 
Influenza (AI), and President Yudhoyono reiterated his Government's firm 
commitment to combating its spread. He briefed President Bush on 
Indonesia's completion of a unified national response plan, increase in 
the AI budget for 2007, and active participation in the International 
Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza. President Bush announced 
the United States would increase its AI assistance to Indonesia to 
expand animal surveillance and response efforts and strengthen nation-
wide public awareness. President Bush confirmed that the U.S. Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention and Animal and Plant Health 
Inspection Service would assign permanent staff to Indonesia to build 
more effective partnerships with their counterparts in Indonesia. 
President Yudhoyono thanked President Bush for the United States' work 
in support of the Indonesian Ministry of Health's efforts to identify 
human AI cases and investigate AI outbreaks. The two Presidents stressed 
the imperative of continued and enhanced cooperation between Indonesian 
and American health workers and medical scientists to fight infectious 
diseases, including through the Naval Medical Research Unit (NAMRU-2), 
which has been in operation since 1968. They agreed that negotiations to 
extend the research work of NAMRU-2 should be expedited.
    President Bush and President Yudhoyono reviewed the expanding 
partnership between the U.S. and Indonesia in the area of disaster 
management, emergency preparedness, and mitigation. The two Presidents 
noted the steady progress on constructing the west coast road in Aceh 
Province that will restore communication and economic links to 
communities that were devastated by the tsunami, and agreed on the 
importance of expediting land acquisition so that the road can be 
completed on schedule. President Bush applauded the significant progress 
made in reconstructing Aceh, paving the way for sustained peace and 
economic growth. President Bush and President Yudhoyono also welcomed 
the recent agreement between their two governments to cooperate on the 
development of a tsunami early warning system that will safeguard 
Indonesia's tsunami-prone areas by 2009.
    The two leaders noted the tremendous opportunities for cooperation 
between Indonesia and the United States in the areas of alternative 
fuels and environmental protection. President Yudhoyono briefed 
President Bush on his ambitious biofuel development initiative and the 
Presidents endorsed the U.S.-Indonesia Energy Policy Dialogue as a forum 
to discuss ways and means to acquire clean and safe alternative energy, 
including biofuels.
    As the leaders of two nations which have both suffered terrorist 
attacks on their soil, the two leaders reaffirmed their solidarity in 
defeating the scourge of terrorism. Both Presidents expressed 
satisfaction at the successful arrest and conviction in Indonesia of 
suspects involved in the 2002 incident in Timika, and agreed to begin 
negotiations toward a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty.
    President Bush and President Yudhoyono discussed a broad range of 
regional and global security issues. President Bush and President 
Yudhoyono welcomed the successful restoration of bilateral military 
ties, and pledged to make such ties sustainable and mutually beneficial 
in the support of peace and stability. They agreed that such ties would 
be primarily targeted at increasing coordination on disaster relief, 
exchanges and training on the role of militaries in democratic 
societies, increasing mutual professional development and enhancing 
regional and maritime security. They agreed to explore the possibility 
of a Status of Forces Agreement.
    President Bush congratulated Indonesia on its election as a non-
permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Both Presidents 
pledged to work closely together on issues before the Council in order 
to maintain international peace and security, especially the challenge 
posed by North Korea's nuclear weapons program. President Bush applauded 
Indonesia's participation in maintaining peace in southern Lebanon by 
volunteering forces to join UNIFIL. The two Presidents also discussed 
the Arab-Israeli conflict, and both Presidents stressed their support 
for the establishment of a viable,

[[Page 2085]]

independent, democratic and sovereign Palestine state that would live 
side by side in peace with Israel.
    The two Presidents stressed the importance of inter-civilizational 
and inter-faith dialogues. The two Presidents expressed their concern to 
see growing religious intolerance in some parts of the world and their 
common desire to work against it. President Bush expressed great 
admiration and respect for Indonesia's long history of religious 
tolerance and moderate Islamic thought.

Note: An original was not available for verification of the content of 
this joint statement.