Advertorial; for Tuesday

Advertorial; for Tuesday

African-Asian Summit 2005: Reinvigorating the Bandung Spirit

When Nehru and Zhao Enlai arrived for the Asia-Africa Conference in Bandung 50 years ago, they represented two Asian countries that were struggling to stand on their own feet economically and politically. But now, no one doubts that these two countries have become the world's rapidly growing economic giants.

The world has undergone a dramatic change after fifty years. The current South Africa was far different from the one represented by South Africa's Moses Kotane fifty years ago when the country's blacks and colored were still suffering under the apartheid system.

Nehru, Zhao, Nasser, Sukarno and Moses Kotane left the world stage a long time ago, and Asian and African nations have witnessed the emergence of many new independent states on the two continents, including the former French colonies of Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria.

The deadly competition between the communist block and the capitalist West has disappeared. Colonialism has largely disappeared from the face of Asia and Africa.

With all of these changes, will a new summit of Asian and African nations still have relevance? Will it still have the same significance as it had fifty years ago? Will it be able to rekindle the spirit of unity and solidarity among people of different political ideologies, religions, cultural and economic situations?

These were among many questions that emerged when Indonesia and South Africa decided to make a bold move to initiate and sponsor another Asian-African Summit with the theme "Reinvigorating the Bandung Spirit: Working towards a New Asian- African Strategic Partnership" in Indonesia on April 22-23, 2005.

Certainly, the 1955 Asia-Africa Conference was a defining moment in history for many newly independent states on the two continents.

Although many goals have been achieved in the fifty years after the conference, Indonesia and South Africa as the sponsoring states agree with the general feeling felt by many other Asian and African nations that the spirit of Bandung still needs a more concrete means and efforts to fully realize it.

This feeling has been widespread among the leaders, although they all firmly believe that the spirit of Bandung provides a strong basis for Asian and African nations to forge closer cooperation. However, such strong basis has been weakened by some factors.

These factors include a lack of political will as well as structured means, an emphasis on inward-looking nation-building processes, and the bipolar politics of the Cold War. All of these have left many Asian and African countries at the margins of the world's economic globalization.

This situation has emphasized the importance and relevance of this year's Asian-African Summit in the Indonesian capital on April 22-23, 2005. All national leaders from the two continents basically agree that the Bandung Spirit with its core principles of solidarity, friendship and cooperation remains very much relevant, giving birth as it did to South-South cooperation and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

New Partnership

With the changing world, the direction of partnerships among Asian and African countries is also expected to take a different route to the one after the 1955 conference. Rather than the politically oriented NAM, the coming conference is expected to bring about the New Asian-African Strategic Partnership (NAASP).

The desired NAASP will be a partnership based on a solid basis, namely common historical roots and shared experiences, and a mutual desire to move forward. The goals of this partnership are peace, prosperity, and progress.

The term "New" in the NAASP signifies an innovative interpretation of the ideals and vision outlined in the Ten Principles of Bandung. If the ten principles were declared in response to conditions at the time, the NAASP will be based on the new situations of the changing world and, therefore, new responses are expected.

In addition to this, while the 1955 Bandung Conference pointed at the injustices of that era's international system, the NAASP will strive to overcome such similar conditions by enhancing multilateral interactions.

Within this framework of multilateral interactions, Asian and African leaders are expected to form concrete and structured, but not institutionalized, practices, programs and activities. This framework of multilateral interaction is needed to avert the dominance of any particular power in international politics.

Being a strategic partnership, NAASP will have a well- envisioned, well-planned, and comprehensive program. However, the program should also emphasize what can be developed and achieved through such a program.

The term strategic also indicates a desire to pursue a common goal, namely results from a greater understanding of the common concerns of today's Asia and Africa. This strategic partnership should also be a sustainable one that is not only relevant but also effectively functioning in the long term.

The word "Partnership" signifies an interaction that stands on an equal-footing. Unlike a "donor-receiver" relationship, the Asian-African partnership will be based on recognition of the equal status of the countries on the two continents.

As partners, these countries will be responsible for guiding each other towards a brighter future through maximizing their resources, comparative advantages, and best practical experiences. This diversity will certainly breed mutual strength, not weakness.

Constructing Bridges

The golden jubilee is to be a historical moment for most Asian and African nations. The period of fifty years is a time for both celebration and reflection in most traditions. The jubilee is also a time to make resolutions for future actions.

With this in mind, Asian and African leaders are expected not only dwell on past experiences but also to enter into new cooperative arrangements.

Three bridges are expected to be built to facilitate interactions among the countries of Asia and Africa. Those bridges will enable interactions in political, economic, and socio-cultural fields of the peoples of the two great continents.

Such different levels of interactions recognize the increasing importance of non-governmental elements in fostering bilateral and multilateral cooperation among Asian and African countries. Only by involving all of these elements can the strategic partnership remain relevant and directly beneficial to the people of the two continents.

Those three main bridges are expected to enable Asian and African countries move together to face increasingly complex challenges, including terrorism, cyber crimes, drug trafficking, and new forms of colonialism in the present world.

Complementary

The proposed NAAPS will play its role among Asian and African nations along with other regional or sub-regional organizations already in place, such as the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), Organization of African Unity (OAU), and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

However, the NAAPS does not have any pretensions of being an umbrella organization for all of these regional and sub-regional organizations. Instead, the NAAPS will complement these organizations.

The role of NAAPS is to be internally directed to strengthen the cooperation among Asian and African nations without absorbing existing regional and sub-regional organizations.

That is why sub-regional organizations will be included in the three tiers of Asian-African interactions, namely Inter- Governmental Forum, Sub-Regional Organizations and People-to- people interaction involving the elements of business, academia and civil society.

Attended by 103 countries representing 4.6 billion Asians and Africans, the NAASP is expected to uplift the welfare of Asians and Africans, many of whom still live in poverty and at the margins of world society.

Hopefully, the NAASP will boost the role, dignity, prosperity and peace of Asian and African nations in the post-Cold War era of the world. Welcome to the New Asian-African Strategic Partnership!