Mega calls for Asia-Africa unity<\/p>\n
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Bandung<\/p>\n
Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri called on Asian and
\nAfrican countries to stand together in the face of new challenges
\nboth in the economic and political fields.<\/p>\n
Underlining the inability of both continents to compete with
\nthe developed countries, Megawati said that cooperation among
\nAsian and African nations could overcome various security and
\neconomic problems they were facing.<\/p>\n
\"When 20 percent of the human race controls 80 percent of the
\nwealth, and 80 percent must live on 20 percent of the wealth, it
\nis very justifiable for us Asians and Africans to unite,\" the
\nPresident said in her opening remarks at the ministerial meeting
\nof the Asia Africa Sub-Regional Organizations Conference (AASROC)
\nhere on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Quoting the speech her father, founding president Sukarno,
\ndelivered during the Asia-Africa Conference in 1955, Megawati
\ncalled for \"the liberation of man from physical, spiritual and
\nintellectual bonds, which have for too long stunted the
\ndevelopment of humanity's majority\".<\/p>\n
Megawati said the two continents were currently struggling
\nagainst massive debts, the inability to compete on the world
\nmarket, poverty, disease, food insecurity and environmental
\ndegradation.<\/p>\n
She criticized globalization and the \"cult\" of the market
\neconomy, which she said had not delivered the promised benefits
\nto poor nations.<\/p>\n
Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country, has been
\ncritical of developed countries on various issues. It called for
\nworld opposition to the U.S.-led attack on Iraq.<\/p>\n
Last week at the opening of Asia-Europe Meeting in Bali,
\nMegawati warned that cooperation between developing and developed
\ncountries should be conducted based on mutual respect and parity.<\/p>\n
In a similar mood on Tuesday, Megawati pointed out that the
\ndomination of powerful countries in both political and economic
\nfield had created new forms of \"colonialism\" and \"imperialism\" in
\nthe world.<\/p>\n
\"We have to be fully united not only in the political sphere
\nbut in the economic and socio-cultural spheres. That means we
\nhave to work together to address the problems of peace, and
\neconomic and social development that beset the two continents,\"
\nshe said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia and South Africa are co-hosting the first
\nministerial meeting of AASROC, which serves as a preparatory
\nforum for the commemoration of the 1955 Asia-Africa Conference in
\nBandung in 2005,<\/p>\n
The second preparatory meeting of the conference will be in
\nJohannesburg next year.<\/p>\n
During the 50th anniversary celebration of the Bandung
\nmeeting, the countries are expected to adopt a new strategic
\npartnership on political and economic cooperation.<\/p>\n
\"The strategic partnership will unite more than a hundred
\ncountries, representing four billion of the world's population of
\nsix billion, with the world's largest wealth of natural
\nresources,\" South African foreign affairs minister Nkosazana C.
\nDlamini Zuma said.<\/p>\n
She said that despite the end of the cold war, both continents
\nwere facing new economic and political challenges that could be
\novercome by their own will and measures.<\/p>\n
She underlined that for Asia and Africa, multilateralism was
\nthe major way to enhance the two continents' capabilities to
\ncompete in a world characterized by globalization.<\/p>\n
\"We have to reactivate the spirit of Bandung, eliminating the
\nnegative impacts of the globalization. We need to ensure that we
\nare the architects of our own destiny,\" the minister said during
\nthe opening ceremony.<\/p>\n
Some 15 ministers and 19 deputy foreign ministers from both
\ncontinents are participating in the conference, which is slated
\nto asses various problems that hamper cooperation between them
\nand to find new formats for their relationships.<\/p>\n
\"For today, the countries are beginning to work together
\ntoward a shared destiny, which is also the destiny of the rest of
\nthe world: a regime of durable peace and stability, social
\njustice and equitably shared prosperity,\" Indonesian foreign
\nminister Hassan Wirayuda said his speech.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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