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`Apa kabar, masih jetlag?', asks Obama

"Selamat datang, apa kabar *welcome, how are you*?", US President Barack Obama said, shaking the hand of his Indonesian counterpart

Abdul Khalik (The Jakarta Post)
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA
Sat, September 26, 2009 Published on Sep. 26, 2009 Published on 2009-09-26T12:06:38+07:00

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`Apa kabar, masih jetlag?', asks Obama

"Selamat datang, apa kabar *welcome, how are you*?", US President Barack Obama said, shaking the hand of his Indonesian counterpart.

"Masih jetlag?", he added, asking if Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was still suffering from his long flight, prompting his visitor to smile even wider. Thursday's meeting was the second between the two leaders, the first being in April at the London gathering of leaders of the Group of 20 economies.

Known as "Barry" to former classmates in a Jakarta elementary school, Obama got to show off his Indonesian again to the first directly elected president of the country where he stayed as a boy. He lived in Jakarta from 1967 to 1971 after his mother Ann Dunham Sutoro, who studied small businesses in rural areas, remarried to an Indonesian. Obama's first known visit to the country since then is scheduled for November, a short stopover before attending a regional meeting in Singapore.

Obama greeted Yudhoyono as host of the working dinner at the Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh, the leaders' gathering for the G20 summit representing the world's 20 largest economies. First Lady Michelle Obama also played her role for the first time as international host at a dinner for the leaders' spouses, sitting next to Indonesia's Kristiani Herawati at a farm just outside the city.

Presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal said Yudhoyono had expressed the need for the G20 to guarantee capital flows and liquidity support for emerging economies despite reports of recovery in Asia.

"The President is there not only to represent Indonesia but also ASEAN and other emerging economies in Asia," Dino told reporters, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

He said Yudhoyono had earlier met with Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, the current ASEAN chairman, at which both leaders had said they would raise similar problems reflecting the needs of the grouping's 10 member states.

As the G20 leaders began their summit, their finance ministers and central bank governors arrived at the final stages of negotiation.

Leaders of the G20 developed and developing nations have agreed to make the International Monetary Fund more representative by increasing the voting power of countries that have long been under-represented in the world financial body.

The G20 also agreed the head of the IMF should be selected based on qualifications and not nationality, according to the draft communique obtained by Reuters.

The decision is significant because the head of the IMF has always been a European, while the president of the World Bank has always been an American.

G20 countries also reached a consensus on a proposal to limit bankers' compensation by the end of this year. The income of top executives and the gap between those received by CEOs of the rich West nations and by poorer countries have come under the spotlight in the wake of the economic recession.

The summit was marred by protests as police clashed with demonstrators who rolled trash bins and threw rocks. Police said 17 to 19 people were arrested, but there were no reports of injuries.

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