President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. (ANTARA/Widodo S. Jusuf/*)
Spokesman of Indonesian Embassy in Canberra, Raudin Anwar, confirmed on Monday that President Yudhoyono would make his second visit to Australia after the first one in 2005.
"The Indonesian embassy in Canberra and related Australian officials are still following up preparations for President Yudhoyono`s visit," Raudin Anwar said.
He said Yudhoyono`s visit to Australia would be part of a tour that would also include visits to o Timor Leste and Papua New Guinea after attending an Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Singapore on November 14-15, 2009.
Meanwhile, Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said earlier that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd had twice invited President Yudhoyono to visit Australia.
In an interview with Barrie Cassidy on ABC television on Sunday, Smith said the first invitation was extended by Rudd when he congratulated Yudhoyono on the latter`s reelection as president for the second term in the July 2009 presidential election.
"Rudd again invited President Yudhoyono at a meeting in Jakarta recently," Smith said.
Smith said President Yudhoyono would be warmly welcomed in Australia.
The Australian foreign minister said Yudhoyono`s visit would mark not only the strength and warmth of the two countries` relations but also indicated Indonesia`s emergence as a powerful country in the world and the region.
During President Yudhoyono`s first visit to Australia in 2005 when John Howard was prime minister, a joint declaration on strategic partnership between the two countries was signed.
The cooperation between the two countries got even stronger after an Indonesia-Australia security agreement, known as the Lombok Treaty, was put into effect in February 2008.
The Lombok Treaty covers defense cooperation, law enforcement, counter terrorism, intelligence, maritime security, and the prevention of prodccusion of weapons of mass destruction.(*)
