Rudd off to climate, soccer, saint talks

(AAP) Climate change, the soccer world cup and the canonisation of Australia's first saint will feature in Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's latest overseas trip.

Mr Rudd leaves early on Monday for talks in Malaysia and Germany before he meets
world leaders attending the 17-nation Major Economies Forum (MEF) to be held in the
earthquake-hit Italian town of L'Aquila.
It is expected the MEF meeting of developed nations will take a major step towards
bedding down world agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions at the United
Nations summit in Copenhagen in December.
Mr Rudd will begin his six-day trip with a stopover on Monday in Kuala Lumpur where
he will hold his first face-to-face talks with new Malaysian Prime Minister, Datuk
Seri Najib Tun Razak.
These talks are likely to include discussion on ways to curb people smuggling, the
impact of the global recession on the region and Mr Rudd's campaign for a new Asia
Pacific Community.
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith will also visit Malaysia on Monday and Tuesday and
sit in on the meeting with Mr Najib.
He admitted it was unusual for both the PM and foreign minister to visit
simultaneously.
"But we want to underline the importance of the relationship we have with Malaysia,"
Mr Smith told the Nine Network.
"It has of course in the recent historical period had its moments. But we have a
much better relationship with Malaysia now and we want to reinforce and underline
that."
Relations between Kuala Lumpur and Canberra were particularly rocky in the 1990s,
after former prime minister Paul Keating infamously labelled Malaysia's then prime
minister Mahathir Mohammed a recalcitrant for his opposition to APEC.
From Malaysia, Mr Rudd will head to Berlin where he will have talks with German
Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday and attend an Australian business roundtable in
the German capital.
Also while in Berlin, Mr Rudd will take time out to visit an allied war cemetery and
the Holocaust museum.
Before attending the MEF in Italy, Mr Rudd will make a quick stop in Zurich on
Wednesday to meet the head of the world soccer governing body FIFA, Sepp Blatter, to
discuss Australia's bid to host the world cup in 2018 or 2022.
In Rome on the same day, Mr Rudd will be granted an audience with Pope Benedict XVI
where he is expected to discuss the impact of the global recession, religious
freedom and the potential canonisation of the founder of the Josephite order, the
Blessed Mary MacKillop.
Mr Rudd will also meet Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Rome before
attending the MEF in the town of L'Aquila, north-east of Rome, which was hit by a
severe earthquake in April.
At the MEF, Mr Rudd will be accompanied by Climate Change Minister Penny Wong for
talks on strategies aimed at bedding down a world agreement to reduce climate
change.
The leaders are expected to discuss technology transfer, renewable energy sources
and financing aimed at helping developing nations adapt while reducing greenhouse
gas emissions.
The MEF talks will be one of a series of meetings in the lead-up to Copenhagen.
The next major meeting ahead of Copenhagen on climate change will be days before the
G20 scheduled for Pittsburgh in the US in September.
Mr Rudd is due to return to Australia next weekend.