Asia-Africa conference delayed

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia and South Africa have agreed to delay the initial Asia Africa Subregional Organization Conference (AASROC) meeting in Bandung due to global political instability and the threat of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

In a statement sent to The Jakarta Post on Tuesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the conference would be delayed until August 2003.

"Recent global political and security situations are not conducive for the holding of a conference that is expected to make an important contribution to the future of Asian and African countries," the statement said.

The conference was supposed to be co-hosted by Indonesia and South Africa.

The Iraqi war and SARS have caused worldwide chaos, causing several major international events to be delayed or canceled.

The International Energy Conference to be held in Malaysia this week was canceled for the same reasons.

The conference was scheduled to be held on April 16 and April 17 in Bandung, the host of the 1955 Asia-Africa Conference.

The meeting, an effort to enhance cooperation between countries of the two continents, received positive responses from 32 countries and 17 regional subcontinental organizations.

Twenty-nine institutions were also invited as observers, among them were donors and prominent international organizations.

During last year's summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri launched the idea of reviving Asia-Africa ties.

She said the spirit of the Asia-Africa conference in Bandung in 1955 must be rebuilt.

Former minister of foreign affairs Ali Alatas and senior diplomat Nana Sutresna have been appointed to promote the event worldwide.

The 1955 Asia-Africa conference was the nucleus of the establishment of the Non-Aligned Meeting (NAM).

First president Sukarno, the late father of Megawati, was among the founding fathers of the 1955 Asia-Africa Conference.