GERMANY LAUDS SBY’S ROLE IN CLIMATE TALKS

Erwida Maulia ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Berlin
Germany has joined a host of other countries backing Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to mediate for the different interests of developed and developing countries at the Copenhagen climate change summit.
erman Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday that Yudhoyono’s experience in saving at the last minute the 2007 Bali climate conference from failing was expected to help reach a deal at the Copenhagen summit, if delegates reach deadlock, as is widely feared.
“We’re convinced that the conference can be a success although there are still some obstructions,” Merkel said at a joint press conference with Yudhoyono after their meeting at her office in Berlin.
“We thank [Yudhoyono] for his leading role in Bali to fight against climate change.”
In response, Yudhoyono said he supported a partnership between developed and developing countries to tackle climate change.
He added Indonesia had set a 26 percent emissions cut target by 2020, achievable using its own resources, and which could be boosted up to 41 percent if international funding was forthcoming.
Yudhoyono earlier said the setting of the target, which many have dubbed overly ambitious, was to set an example for other developing countries and to urge the commitment of developed countries.
He said both Indonesia and Germany had agreed to cooperate to ensure that the Copenhagen talks would not be fruitless.
Besides discussing the prospects for the talks, the two leaders have agreed on enhancing bilateral
economic cooperation by reviving the Indonesia-Germany economic forum.
“We’ve agreed on reviving the existing forum to expand further our cooperation in the field of trade and investment,” Yudhoyono said.
At a separate event, Yudhoyono said Germany was Indonesia’s lar-gest partner in the EU, with two-way trade amounting to US$5.5 billion in 2008.
“Germany is our second-largest export market and the largest source of our imports in the EU,” he said in a public lecture at the Adlon Kempinski Hotel in Berlin, which drew hundreds of German participants.
“Germany is also an important investor in Indonesia in automotive and industrial machinery and chemical products.”
Both Yudhoyono and Merkel have also agreed on developing interfaith and intercultural dialogues between Islam and the West.
“There are more Muslims in Indonesia than in the entire Middle East,” the President said.
“We’re proud of the fact that in our country, Islam, democracy and modernity have grown together easily and harmoniously. This is why we believe Indonesia can play a strategic role in world affairs.”
Prior to his speech, the moderator of the public lecture pointed out how Indonesia had survived the global financial crisis and recorded positive growth while most other countries in the world were experiencing a downturn.
Before meeting with Merkel, Yudhoyono paid a courtesy call on German President Horst Kohler at the Schloss Bellevue Presidential Palace, where he was welcomed with military honors.
He held an audience with Indonesians living in Berlin on Tuesday evening.
From Berlin, Yudhoyono will fly direct to Copenhagen for the climate talks with around 100 other world leaders.
He had earlier been scheduled to visit Warsaw on the invitation of Polish President Lech Kaczynski, but had to cancel after the latter fell ill.
He will return to Indonesia on Dec. 19.
Germany was Yudhoyono’s third European stop, following visits to  Belgium and France.