Indonesian president cuts short Silicon Valley tour

Previously, Indonesian Trade Minister Thomas Lembong said Indonesia will be ready to join the trade deal in about two years as it still needs to boost its competitiveness in order to compete with TPP members. Only 4 percent of Indonesians live without electricity, but consumption of electricity was only 730 kWh per person in 2012, according to the most recent data from the World Bank.

“If the government of Indonesia cares for its people, its economy, its wildlife and for people elsewhere in the world, it immediately must do more”, he said.

Indonesia and other countries that have expressed interest in joining the trade pact likely will have to wait until it has been ratified by the initial group of countries.

“We discussed the importance of working through forums like ASEAN and the East Asia Forum to encourage further strengthening of the rules and an worldwide order governing the behavior of nations in the maritime area”, Obama said, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Indonesia is the de facto leader.

Across the region Indonesia’s haze crisis has been causing havoc – schools in neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia have been shut down, flights have been grounded, events cancelled and Indonesian products boycotted, as millions try to avoid the intense smoke.

More broadly, Indonesia had work to do on cutting red tape, addressing barriers such as local content and local packaging requirements, eliminating import and export restrictions and protecting intellectual property rights, Froman said.

In surviving even that long, he has defied skeptics who predicted he would quickly flounder in the oligarch-infested waters of Jakarta politics.

In the Oval Office, Obama offered his own endorsement, praising the economic reform efforts of a fellow 54-year-old who, like him, swept to power as an outsider promising change.

“The Indonesian government invites the U.S.to build a [mutual] culture of tolerance and at the same time fight against extremism”, he wrote in a statement Saturday. Widodo is asking Washington for help to upgrade Indonesia’s coast guard.

He provided no other details, but described the Indonesian economy as open. He said they should focus instead on how the issue will be dealt with quickly.

Although Indonesia ratified a regional agreement to reduce forest fires-induced haze, the law has yet to be enacted locally.