premise: WASHINGTON, Nov. 11 (Xinhua)-- US President George W. Bush on Friday had a telephone discussion with Australian Prime Minister John Howard over Iraq's upcoming elections and the agenda for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) informal economic leaders' meeting scheduled for November 18-19, the White House said.
  "The two leaders compared notes on Iraq's upcoming elections and progress in the training of Iraqi security forces. They exchanged views on the upcoming US-Australia defense and foreign policy ministerial (meeting)," US national security council spokesman Fred Jones said.
  "They reviewed the agenda for the APEC meeting in Busan, Korea on November 18-19, including initiatives on avian flu, trade liberalization and energy cooperation," said Jones.
  "The president looks forward to continuing his conversation with prime minister Howard when they see each other at the APEC leaders' meeting this time next week," said the spokesman.
   How did Bush and Howard prepare for the meeting?
hypothesis: continuing his conversation