Gillard leads historic talks in Laos

Prime Minister Julia Gillard is scheduled to attend the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) on Monday and Tuesday. Picture: AP Source: AP

JULIA Gillard has arrived in one of the poorest countries in South-East Asia as she begins a week of diplomatic meetings in which she will promote her new commitment to reach out to the region.

The Prime Minister will today join leaders from across two continents at the Asia Europe Meeting summit in Vientiane, Laos.

After the two-day summit, Ms Gillard will turn her attention to Indonesia - one of the key countries singled out by the Asian Century white paper - where she will co-chair the Bali Democracy Forum with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The PM's six-day overseas trip is her first since the release of the white paper, which sets ambitious targets to make Australia more Asia-literate by 2025, including giving every student the chance to learn Mandarin, Hindi, Indonesian or Japanese.

Formal talks in Laos will range from the European financial crisis and free trade to counter-terrorism and global security.

The Bali talks will revolve around democratic reforms in the region.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard arriving at Wattay International Airport in Vientiane, Laos, on Sunday. Picture: AP Source: AP

For Ms Gillard, the summits will provide an opportunity to showcase her government's new plans to engage with Asia.

She is planning a series of bilateral meetings, including with European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, European Council president Herman Van Rompuy and French President Francois Hollande.

Ms Gillard will also hold historic talks with Burma President Thein Sein, which will be the first meeting between the leaders of Australia and Burma for almost three decades.

The meeting comes after Australia eased economic sanctions against the isolated country in April after by-elections that saw Aung San Suu Kyi elected as Opposition leader.

The Bali Democracy Forum was set up by Indonesia to encourage other countries in Asia to embrace democratic reforms.

This will be the second time an Australian prime minister has co-chaired the forum after Kevin Rudd helped run the first meeting in 2008.

The meeting in Laos will give Ms Gillard the chance to talk with European leaders about financial instability on the continent which, together with problems in the US, is threatening further global economic turmoil and could imperil her government's promised Budget surplus.

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