Obama plans to visit Indonesia this year: Yudhoyono

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 04/03/2009 11:22 AM

Back to the battle: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono speaks at a news conference Thursday night on board a Garuda Indonesia flight returning from the G20 Summit in London, as First Lady Ani Yudhoyono (right) looks on. The President arrived back in Indonesia on Friday and immediately headed to Surabaya, East Java, to campaign for his Democratic Party a week ahead of the legislative elections. Courtesy of Presidential Office/Abror Rizki

US President Barack Obama has planned to visit Indonesia this year, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told reporters during a flight from London to Surabaya, East Java, on Thursday night.

Obama told his plan to his Indonesian counterpart when the two leaders sat next to each other at a working breakfast during the G-20 summit in London on Thursday morning local time.

"When I told Obama that the people of Indonesia were awaiting Obama's visit, he said he planned to do so this year," Yudhoyono said as quoted by Antara news agency.

In response to Obama's plan, Yudhoyono said if it was realized, the US president would again meet his former elementary school friends in Jakarta.

According to Yudhoyono, Obama still remembered lot of Indonesian words.

On a moment during the G-20 summit, Obama surprisingly tapped Yudhoyono on the shoulder and asked, "Feeling tired?"

"Then I said, 'No, I am OK.' He still remembers a lot of Indonesian words such as 'apa kabar' for how are you, and 'capek' for feeling tired," Yudhoyono said.

When speaking about Indonesia's view and attitude toward the current global financial crisis at the working breakfast, Yudhoyono used Bahasa Indonesia.

In his introduction, Yudhoyono said he hoped Obama could understand what he said.

"Obama then laughed and said, he had to learn to speak Bahasa Indonesia again," Yudhoyono said.

According to him, the US president was a good listener and was able to approach anybody.

"I saw that Obama continued to listen attentively to anybody, and hopefully it will be a new chapter for the United States to see our common views," Yudhoyono said. (dre)