Regional News
(Reuters) – President Barack Obama will visit Australia and the Indonesian island of Bali in mid-November, the White House said on Monday.
It will be Obama’s first stop in Australia — after scrapping a visit twice last year because of domestic concerns — and his second presidential visit to Indonesia, where he spent part of his childhood.
Obama will be in Australia from November 16-17 after hosting the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in his home state of Hawaii and will then travel to Bali for an East Asia summit, the White House said.
Obama last visited Indonesia, a major oil producer and the world’s most populous Muslim country, in November during a tour of Asia.
In Australia, one of the closest U.S. partners in the region, Obama will mark the 60th anniversary of the ANZUS alliance and hold talks with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on cooperation to foster global economic growth, trade and jobs, the White House said.
Obama canceled a visit to Australia in March 2010 to stay home and push his U.S. healthcare overhaul plan through Congress. Another visit was called off in June of last year so that Obama could deal with the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
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By: Matt Spetalnick, Editing by Sandra Maler
Source: Reuters, Sept. 12, 2011
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