U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rhodam Clinton met with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono here on Thursday ahead of her trip to South Korea, Xinhua reported.
Clinton praised Indonesia for its harmonization among Islam, democracy, modernity and women's rights, Indonesian presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal told a press conference after the meeting.
"Clinton also spoke highly Indonesia's leadership on recent international meeting and effort to combat the impact of the climate change," he said.
During the meeting, President Susilo conveyed the importance of dialogue process to terminate the dispute in the Middle East, which has been a concern of the most of Muslims community in Indonesia, the biggest Muslim country, Dino said.
"President Susilo said both developed and developing countries must do more in the effort of reducing climate change,"said Dino.
President Susilo hailed the plan of U.S. President barrack Obama to outreach Islamic community and stressed the importance to resume and intensify interfaith dialogues, which could be a bridge between the West and Muslim world, he said.
The president asked the United States to play more roles in creating peace in the Middle East, he said.
"The president said that the ongoing cease-fire in Gaza now is still vulnerable and it is necessary to make it sustainable,"said Dino.
Susilo pledged that Indonesia will take part in the meeting on Gaza reconstruction in Egypt, in which Clinton had said that she would present at the meeting, the spokesman added.
On economy, President Susilo stressed that it is necessity to maintain the sustainability of the trade relation between Indonesia and the United States.
Trade volume between Indonesia and the United States had reached 20.1 billion U.S. dollars and the U.S. investment in Indonesia reached 10.6 billion U.S. dollars up to 2008, according to Dino.
Earlier, during her talks with Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda, Clinton mentioned the possibility of assistance from the United States in the form of a currency swap agreement and contingency funding to help Indonesia.
Indonesia's export to the United States has been decreased over a half as the global recession has slumped demand.
The U.S. Secretary of State will leave Indonesia for South Korea later on Thursday to continue her Asian trip.