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!