RI, Brazil to cooperate on biofuels, education

Desy Nurhayati ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sun, 07/13/2008 10:06 AM  |  Headlines

Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Saturday agreed the two countries should cooperate on a number of issues, including biofuel, climate change and education.

After their meeting at Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, both leaders witnessed the signing of the memorandum of understanding on technical cooperation for ethanol production by Indonesian Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyantono and Brazilian Minister of External Relations Celso Amorim.

"We have agreed to cooperate on the production of alternative energy. Brazil has succeeded in developing ethanol to be used as biofuel and Indonesia will learn from the country, especially from its research and development," Yudhoyono said in a joint press conference.

Indonesia will send delegates to Brazil in November to attend an international seminar on bioethanol, he said.

Yudhoyono and Lula also witnessed the signing of an MOU on education by Indonesian Education Minister Bambang Sudibyo and Amorim, under which Indonesia will send more university students on scholarships to Brazil to study agriculture and alternative energy sources.

The two countries also agreed to work together to increase food production to take advantage of increased global food prices.

The Brazilian president said rising global commodity prices presented a great opportunity for developing countries, including Indonesia and Brazil.

"In this moment, when inflation is pulling back, developing countries with the characteristics that Indonesia and Brazil have, should not judge this crisis as only a problem. We have to see this moment as a great opportunity," Lula said.

"We do have land, we have sunlight, we have water resources, we have technology and, thank God, the poor of the world have started to eat more, three meals a day, so they demand more food production."

The presidents also discussed the need for the two countries to take action to prevent climate change. Brazil and Indonesia have the largest and second largest rain forest areas in the world, respectively.

"It is our responsibility to preserve the forests without neglecting the responsibility to increase the welfare of our people using the resources we have," Yudhoyono said.

"We have reached a joint agreement on climate change. No one wants to preserve our forests more than ourselves."

Lula said: "The most polluting countries must start discussing this issue more seriously, especially on how they can diminish emissions of green house gasses.

"The agreement we signed today -- I should say that this is just the beginning of our major working progress that Indonesia and Brazil will do together, because we all have the same issues. All of us want to live with dignity, and this is the challenge that Indonesia and Brazil are facing."

During his two-day visit in Jakarta, Lula also met People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Hidayat Nur Wahid and House of Representatives Speaker Agung Laksono.

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