Merkel's ally meets Indonesian president

Aug 25, 2010, 15:28 GMT

Jakarta - Indonesia and Germany should work together as fellow members of the Group of 20 major economies to strengthen the global economy in the wake of the recent crisis, a key member of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's party said Wednesday.

Volker Kauder, the parliamentary leader of Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), was in Indonesia as part of a week-long tour of South East Asia that was also to take him to Singapore and Malaysia.

'My hope is that we can together, in the context of the G20, promote ideas to strengthen the global economy, trade and capital markets,' Kauder said after talks with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta.

'I had an exchange of views with the president on how to strengthen the global economic structure so that a similar crisis like the recent one will not happen again,' he said.

Kauder told the German Press Agency dpa ahead of the visit that he hoped his South East Asian tour would broaden German political and economic ties to the region.

'I want to send a signal to this region that we understand Asia to be more than just China, India and Japan,' Kauder said.

Kauder, 60, said the region as a whole was an important German export market, offering opportunities to provide technology and innovation to encourage economic development.

Kauder's trip follows a visit to Japan earlier this year, as well as a trip to China and South Korea in 2009. Last month, Merkel also undertook a four-day visit to China.