"This cooperation agreement is one of the agenda we discussed with President Barack Obama at a meeting in Jakarta in 2010," President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said after the signing ceremony.

Yudhoyono expressed his appreciation for those taking the initiative to bring to reality the cooperation especially after a US$25 billion agreement reached last year between Boeing and Indonesia`s largest private airline Lion Air .

"Indonesia offers many things in the business world, economic growth, opportunities and partnership and mutual benefits," he said.

He said based on a survey last year by BBC of 24,000 people in 24 countries, Indonesia was the most preferred place for business.