Indonesia’s newly re-elected president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, promised in his formal acceptance speech on Thursday to lead south-east Asia’s largest economy to fresh heights and correct the mistakes of his first term.

Mr Yudhoyono, who won the July 8 election with 60.8 per cent of the valid vote, was bullish about his nation’s future. It was “no longer at a crossroads but on the threshold of greater heights”.