JAKARTA. Garuda Indonesia’s Boeing B737-500 carrying President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his entourage took off from Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force base in East Jakarta for Darwin, Australia, where he will meet with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard later on Monday.

In the Australian city closest to Indonesia, the President and his Australian counterpart will discuss the two countries’ bilateral cooperation including trade and investment ties in the second Indonesia-Australia Annual Leaders’ Meeting. The first was in Bali on November 20, 2011.

“With Gillard, we have a priority agenda which we will focus on, particularly on the economy, which includes cooperation in the cattle-farming sector and infrastructure development,” Yudhoyono told a press conference at the airport before boarding the plane.

Besides First Lady Ani Yudhoyono, included in the President’s delegation were Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto, Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa, State Secretary Sudi Silalahi, Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Admiral Agus Suhartono, Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro, Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan, and State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan.

Four governors were also in the delegation, namely Made Mangku Pastika of Bali, Frans Lebu Raya (East Nusa Tenggara), Zainul Majdi (West Nusa Tenggara) and Abraham Oktavianus Atururi (West Papua).

“I invited the governors to come with me because, in the future, provinces in eastern Indonesia will have stronger cooperative ties with Australia,” Yudhoyono said.

Yudhoyono’s visit comes amid heightening political tension in Australia concerning the prolonged asylum seeker issue. Presidential foreign affairs spokesman, Teuku Faizasyah, said the issue might be discussed during the bilateral meeting, although it was not on the agenda.

Yudhoyono will make a stopover in Waingapu, the capital city of East Sumba regency in East Nusa Tenggara on Wednesday before returning to Jakarta the following day.

“We will intensify what we have developed in East Nusa Tenggara; the livestock sector in particular. I have noticed that it has decreased despite its great potential,” the President said, adding that it would be his first visit to the regency. (Bagus BT Saragih/ The Jakarta Post)

Editor: Edy Can