Developing states told to boost ties

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia which currently chairs the 111-nation Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) yesterday called on developing nations to further enhance their cooperation as a means of promoting their economic development.

In his opening address to the Asia-Africa Forum yesterday, President Soeharto asserted the importance of South-South cooperation as a strategic alternative in development due to the similar conditions among Asian and African states.

"Enhancement of South-South cooperation is a strategic endeavor for developing countries in the face of the increasingly strong globalization and economic openness today," he said during the opening ceremony at the State Palace.

One hundred senior officials from 43 African and 10 Asian states are here to engage in a five-day conference aimed at promoting sustainable development in Africa through the Asian experience.

The main issues to be discussed are human resources development, methods of increasing agricultural production and the promotion of the modalities and finances of development cooperation.

Yesterday's formal opening at the State Palace heralded the beginning of the conference in Bandung, West Java, today.

The advent of the Forum itself is a follow-up of last year's Tokyo International Conference on African Development which produced the "Tokyo Declaration".

The Forum is jointly sponsored by the Japanese government, the United Nations Development Program and the Global Coalition for Africa.

Stressing the need for cooperation, Soeharto said that although each nation is confronted with different conditions in the development process, much could be gained from communication with each other.

"Experience so far proves there are general policies of development applicable in various countries at different times," he said.

Soeharto thus expressed confidence that the Forum will have a positive impact in accelerating development in the respective countries.

"Our colleagues from Africa will have the chance to conduct a dialog with their Asian colleagues on various development issues," he said.

Chief executive assistant to the NAM chairman, Nana Sutresna, said the theme adopted for the Forum is "Asian experience, African development".

Though not an immediate derivative of NAM, the Forum is an outgrowth of the South-South cooperation strategy which Indonesia and the Movement strongly advocate.

It also signifies a shift from the traditional "western centric" development approach that has dominated development thinking for many years.

"Economic cooperation among developing countries is one of the keys to the success of our nation's development," Soeharto said of Indonesia's own experience.

Soeharto also noted that by compiling the wisdom of Asia's development, the African nations can elude errors previously encountered.

"Development is the work of human beings ... their work is not entirely free from faults and shortcomings. It is by learning from them that can we avoid doing unnecessary things," he said.(mds)