The U.S. and Indonesia agreed to set up working groups to develop "specific initiatives" in areas such as intellectual property rights, agricultural and industrial goods, services and investment, said a statement from the office of U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab last week.
Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest nation, is the 31st largest trading partner of the United States. Two-way trade totaled $16.5 billion last year, a 9.3% increase over 2005. U.S. foreign direct investment in Indonesia hit nearly $10 billion in 2005, the latest data available.
The two ministers also discussed joint efforts to advance integration of the 10 nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) -- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2007
