A dummy's guide to the Asian-African Summit

A dummy's guide to the Asian-African Summit

Indonesia hosts one of the biggest gatherings of world leaders outside of the United Nations. Below is a quick guide to the conference that will bring together leaders and senior officials from 106 countries.

FROM BANDUNG 1955 TO JAKARTA 2005

The 1955 Asia-Africa Conference in Bandung, West Java, was a landmark meeting where the Third World sought to assert itself for the first time.

One aim of this week's meetings is to commemorate the conference in Bandung 50 years ago, the first world summit that gathered former colonized Asian and African nations. A total of 29 countries attended that event, which led to the creation of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in 1961.

The Summit in Jakarta is an opportunity to close a gap in global relations and boost economic and trade ties between the two continents, building on the "Bandung spirit" of solidarity by creating something tangible.

THE MEETINGS Foreign ministers will meet today in Jakarta, with their countries' leaders gathering on Friday and Saturday this week. The leaders will take a nostalgic trip to Bandung on Sunday.

WHO IS COMING? More than 106 nations will send representatives, including observers from countries such as the United States and Russia. Around 60 heads of government are expected. Other notable attendees include UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

A FEW FACTS ON ASIA AND AFRICA Asia dwarfs Africa in population and economic size. Africa is home to approximately 850 million people, compared to the Asian population east of Afghanistan of around 3.5 billion. Africa's gross domestic product in 2004 was US$633 billion. eastern Asia's GDP's was nearly $9 trillion.

SURVIVORS OF THE ORIGINAL CONFERENCE? Only one, Cambodia's retired King Norodom Sihanouk, who attended as a youthful 32-year-old leader. Indonesia has said it wanted to invite the now ailing Sihanouk to attend the summit, but he declined to meet with representatives from Jakarta. --Reuters/JP