Remarks at The Dinner in Honor of The Honorable John Howard MP and Madame Janette Howard

TRANSCRIPT
REMARKS
H.E. SUSILO BAMBANG YUDHOYONO
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
AT THE DINNER IN HONOR OF
THE HONORABLE JOHN HOWARD MP
AND MADAME JANETTE HOWARD
BATAM, 26 JUNE 2006



Bismillahirrahmaanirrahim,
Assalammu’alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarrakatuh,

The Honorable Prime Minister John Howard,
Madame Janette Howard,
Excellencies,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Good evening and welcome to all of you,

Let me begin by saying how pleased I am to be with you tonight at this dinner in honor of Prime Minister John Howard and Madame Janette Howard.

Before I forget, John, I would be most appreciative if you can help pass on my most sincere message of congratulations to Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban for their wedding yesterday. It seems like every time I turn on CNN and Channel News Asia, that’s all they talk about. That and of course the World Cup in Germany.

And here John, I would like to express my deepest sympathy and sorrow for your 2-0 loss to football superpower Brazil. Of course I hate to tell you that I sort of predicted the result before the game.

I wish the best of luck to the Australian Socceroos in their game against the Italian Azurris tonight and I want you to never stop believing in miracle. Remember, Argentina beat the US in basketball at the Olympic, remember and maybe someday, Australia will beat Indonesia in badminton, although that will not likely to happen in this decade.

We held very good bilateral talks this afternoon, Mr. Prime Minister. And I think you would agree with me that our meetings went well and that we were able to arrive at a better understanding to address our bilateral issues in a spirit of candor and robust friendship. We spoke last year of Comprehensive Partnership and I think today we prove that ours is a resilient relationship, the way it should be between close neighbors.

You have my word, Mr. Prime Minister that my Government will work closely with your Government to advance this relationship that is so full of promise and prospects. We both believe that, as close neighbors, the security and prosperity of Indonesia and Australia are inseparable. Let us continue to promote our Comprehensive Partnership so that we can together maximize our potentials in ways that which will mutually benefit us in all aspects of our rich relationship.

We recognize that in building this relationship, in the future, as neighboring countries, there will be as many opportunities as there are challenges. However we should not let these challenges and differences hinder us from taking advantage of the opportunities which lie ahead. We must work together the challenges, I should say we must work through the challenges to transform them in a positive manner.

Having said that, I must say that tonight is not about long speeches. It is about warm conversations and simply enjoying the company that we have done likely. Besides, I sense that the closer we are to 10 pm tonight, which is when the Socceroos are playing Italy tonight, the harder we are able to get you to listen to us.

So good luck. Thank you for honoring us with your presence here tonight. Have a safe and productive travel to China and come back and see us soon.

Thank you very much.


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Bureau for Press and Media
Presidential Household