Asia-Africa conference delayed
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.