Obama : U.S. Has Stake in Indonesia’s Prosperity

President Barack Obama said the U.S. has a stake in Indonesia’s continued growth.

In a speech to an audience of about 6,000 people at the University of Indonesia in Jakarta, Obama said Indonesia’s “extraordinary democratic transformation” and its religious tolerance stand as examples to other emerging economies.

“America has a stake in an Indonesia that is growing, with prosperity that is broadly shared among the Indonesian people,” Obama said in the text of his address, “because a rising middle class here means new markets for our goods, just as America is a market for yours.”

The president lived in Jakarta from 1967 to 1971. He greeted the audience with remarks in Bahasa Indonesia, drawing cheers. “Let me begin with a simple statement: Indonesia is part of me,” he said.

Obama arrived in Indonesia yesterday, the second stop on a four-country tour of Asia that has focused primarily on expanding trade in the region and boosting U.S. exports to create jobs at home.

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Posted by admin on Nov 10 2010. Filed under Asia, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.