Delegations commit to business networks
Zakki P. Hakim and Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Representatives of businesses participating in the Asia-Africa Business Summit signed a joint declaration on Friday aimed at, among other things, promoting economic and technical cooperation and business networking among the participants.
The joint declaration on "Enhancing Cooperation for Progress between Asia-Africa Business Community" was signed by 15 businessmen representing their respective countries on the two continents.
Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) vice chairman John A. Prasetio told reporters that the joint declaration would be presented to the leaders of the two continents at the Asian-African Summit on Saturday to be adopted later in the day.
"We have proposed that the private sector will commit to implementing the joint declaration, as long as the governments of Asia-Africa take responsibility for ensuing sustained momentum," he explained.
He said that private sector's commitment would not be enough to bring about an economic relationship between the two continents without support from governments.
John said that in reviving the Bandung Spirit in the economic cooperation field, the private sector recommended that the nations of the two continents first enhance exchanges of information, set up a working group to identify feasible areas for economic cooperation and harmonize policies between countries to smooth trade and investment.
Earlier, Kadin chairman Mohamad S. Hidayat said the Business Summit was aimed more at familiarizing the private sectors of the participating countries with each other. After that, it would depend on the political will of each government to facilitate its private sector in pursuing trade between the two continents.
The Business Summit, organized by Kadin, was attended by 768 CEOs and business leaders from 24 Asian and African countries.
Meanwhile, the signatories were the representatives of chambers of commerce from Brunei, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mozambique, the Philippines, Singapore, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Uganda, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.
John said that other countries would follow suit in signing the joint declaration.
John said that the delegates at the Business Summit had recommended that nations organize an Asia Africa business conference every two years, which should include the public and private sectors, as well as academics, so as to intensify future cooperation and enhance trade and investment opportunities in Asia-Africa.
It was proposed that the next meeting be held in Cairo in 2007.
SIDEBAR...
The delegates to the Asia-Africa Business Summit recommend the following common strategies and commit to work in cooperation with their governments on implementation of these strategies:
1. Strengthen the commitment to promote South-South Cooperation among countries in Asia and Africa on the basis of equality and mutual benefit.
2. Take real measures to increase direct trade between Asia and Africa and scrutinize the prospects and challenges of an Asian- African business partnership and networking, including to take initiatives necessary to address those challenges.
3. Exchange information and share experiences on best practices, competitiveness, development issues, business and investment potentials, such as through establishing an Asia-Africa business centers.
4. Set up a working group to identify viable areas of economic cooperation and harmonize policies to support closer collaboration of our respective regions.
5. Focus cooperation on investment promotion, product quality, marketing and skills development in important and basic sectors like tourism, agriculture, fisheries and forestry, and information technology.
6. Strengthen commitment to multilateralism and cooperation in international fora, such as the World Trade Organization, to ensure greater benefits of globalization that are equitably distributed and will serve to improve the quality of life of all peoples.
7. Give high priority to facilitating increased public and private sector investment in regional infrastructure and develop efficient road, rail, sea and air transportation and telecommunications systems to facilitate greater movement of goods and people.
8. Promote cooperation in human resources development, through training and capacity building programs, strengthening of institutions, and entrepreneurship development, especially for small and medium enterprises.
9. Promote constructive dialogue and interaction with our development partners, such as the G-8, the World Bank, the European Union, African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank etc., to ensure that the urgent concerns of Asian African countries on matters such as poverty eradication, debt relief, financing for development, disaster support continue to be properly addressed and supported.
10. Foster collaboration between government and business to improve governance, transparency and bring about a fair and competitive environment.
11. Organize, every two years, an Asia Africa business conference which shall include the public and business sectors as well as academics to intensify future cooperation and to enhance greater trade and investment opportunities in Asia-Africa.