Asia and Africa join forces in pursuing fair world
Asia and Africa join forces in pursuing fair world
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Bandung
Asian and African countries vowed on Wednesday to pursue a common
view and collective action to ensure the fair and equal sharing
out of advantages among nations in the world in the wake of
globalization.
Underlining the weak bargaining position of most countries on
the two continents in facing both political and economic
challenges, the participants in the Asia Africa Sub-Regional
Organizations Conference (AASROC) agreed to enhance cooperation
among themselves.
"The conference noted with concern that despite the
opportunities offered by globalization, countries in Asia and
Africa continue to be marginalized," the co-chairs statement
released on Wednesday said.
"In this regard, the Conference stressed that trade
liberalization, including the current negotiations in the World
Trade Organization (WTO), should directly address the development
needs and objectives of developing countries," it said.
The statement wrapped up the two-day ministerial meeting of
AASROC, the first preparatory meeting of the summit in 2005 also
in Bandung. The second ministerial meting will be hosted by South
Africa next year, when participating countries are expected to
agree on a series of action plans for strategic cooperation.
Co-chaired by Indonesia and South Africa, the Conference
expressed a new spirit by third world countries to stand on their
own feet and demand the right to have more access to the world's
wealth.
"AASROC can play a role in complementing various
initiatives/mechanisms and promoting accelerated growth and
prosperity in both Asia and Africa," the statement remarked.
Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said
during a joint press conference after the conference that the two
continents would be realistic in determining the areas of
cooperation between them.
His South African counterpart Nkozana C. Dlamini Zuma added
that the grouping was "aimed at doing something in the long run
that will be of benefit to humanity".
The conference was officially closed on Wednesday with both
co-chairs disclosing a plan to set up various working groups to
further detail possible economic, social and security cooperation
between the two continents.
In the statement, the participating countries also noted that
the millennium goal of improving the welfare of third world
countries remained just an ideal.
"There is therefore an urgency to further promote an enabling
international environment and to bolster cooperation between Asia
and Africa to ensure that these international goals in the
interests of Asia and Africa are met," the statement said.
The participating countries in the conference also expressed
concern over current unilateralist trends, saying that the United
Nations should continue to play the central role in maintaining
world peace and security.
"The Conference emphasized the importance of the multilateral
approach in international relations and the need for countries to
strictly abide by the principles of international law, in
particular the UN charter," the final document said.
AASROC is aimed at restoring the spirit of the Asia-Africa
Conference back in 1955, which formed the embryo of the Non-
Aligned Movement.
Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri, whose father,
founding president Sukarno, was one of the Asia-Africa Conference
initiators, said in her opening remarks on Tuesday that the
spirit of the first meeting remained relevant in the era of
globalization.