Businesses 'key to AA partnerships'

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.