Indonesia, S. Africa determined to make success of new partnership

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia and South Africa, co-hosts of the recent Asian-African Summit, agreed on Tuesday to implement the summit's results with "modest but realistic actions" in the near future, the Indonesian foreign minister said.

Hassan Wirajuda told a seminar entitled "The Afro-Asian Movement and the World of Tomorrow" that he met his South Africa counterpart, Nkosozana Dlaminizuma, at his office on Tuesday morning to discuss implementation issues.

He said the ministers discussed the role of the summit's co- chairs over the next four years in guiding the process of implementation of the summit's results -- those embodied in the New Asia-Africa Strategic Partnership (NAASP).

"We will implement the results of the Summit," he told the seminar, organized jointly by The Jakarta Post and the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

He added that both ministers wanted to start with "modest but realistic actions" that could translate into a success story.

"It's still early stages. We must nurture it well to produce concrete results in the near future so people will believe that this partnership can produce something concrete, a realistic outcome," Hassan said later.

To begin with, Indonesia plans to set up a virtual secretariat -- not a physical secretariat -- to support the partnership, he said.

It will connect Indonesia with South Africa and other countries in Asia and Africa to enable them to keep in touch with one another.

"No more (conventional) secretariats; we have agreed about that. They're expensive and complicated," the minister said.

Human resources development and trade are the top priorities.

In human resources development, the ministers planned to identify countries in Asia and Africa that need to improve their human resources and countries that could provide scholarships or training.

"We will identify our capability to help each other in this sector," Hassan said, adding that some countries may also conduct training with the financial support from a third party.

Both ministers also suggested that whenever a country sends a government delegation on a diplomatic mission, they should also include several people from the business sector.

"It's not only to introduce them (to the foreign community), but in this way the government can give support to business transactions," he said.