Businesses 'key to AA partnerships'
Zakki P. Hakim and Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Businesses in Asia and Africa have been told to take a central role in the partnership between the two continents and help create a more equitable and participative economic architecture in the world.
Opening the Asian-African Business Summit on Thursday, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said he hoped the partnership between Asia and Africa would make the Indian Ocean -- which lies at the heart of the region -- "a two-way street of economic cooperation".
"Through partnership we can also have a bigger voice in the reform of multilateral institutions, including the United Nations, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization," he said.
"We can also jointly call for the commitment of developed countries in achieving the Millennium Development Goals in Asia and Africa by 2015 by delivering on their promise of increased aid and debt relief."
The Business Summit, along with the Asian-African Trade Fair organized by the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, are among the events accompanying the Asian-African Summit that opens on Friday in Jakarta. The summit is a golden commemoration of the landmark 1955 Asia-Africa Conference in Bandung.
A number of heads of state spoke at the business summit on Thursday, including Nigerian President Olusegum Obasanjo and Chinese President Hu Jiantao.
Speaking at a dinner reception, Hu vowed to expand and deepen China's mutually beneficial cooperation with Asian and African countries and increase its assistance to the "underdeveloped countries" of the two continents.
"We are ready to work with other countries in Asia and Africa to carry on the Bandung Spirit and contribute to the continuous progress in Asia and Africa," he said, referring to the 10-point declaration issued at the Asia-Africa Conference in Bandung, West Java, in 1955.
In his speech, titled "Seize the Opportunity for All-Around Cooperation and Common Development", President Hu urged the nations of the two continents to strengthen their cooperation to meet global challenges and achieve common development. Hu offered three main ideas in achieving these objectives.
First, he said the nations should share each other's experiences, carry out institutional reform and innovation, and take advantage of market mechanisms.
Second, the nations should open their markets to one another, actively work for free trade agreements and harmonize economic and trade policies. He also proposed the nations work together to raise funds for development and deepen industrial cooperation.
Last, he said the nations of Asia and Africa should urge developed countries to show more concern for the interests of developing countries and take concrete steps to assist these countries, such as providing debt relief and no-strings development assistance.
Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for the Economy Aburizal Bakrie and Minister of Trade Mari Elka Pangestu hailed President Hu's speech, saying that China's strengthening economy was an attraction for other Asian and African countries.
"The more China expands its trade the more opportunities for countries like Indonesia," Aburizal said after the dinner.
Mari also applauded China's vision of assisting its neighbors and other countries in the region and in Africa.
"China does not want to have high growth by itself, it desires to have other countries in the two continents grow along with China," she said.