Indonesia to host wold development seminar

Indonesia to host wold development seminar

Ivy Susanti, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Indonesia will host the Asia-Pacific ministerial meeting on the
United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) at the
Jakarta Convention Center from Aug. 3 to Aug. 5.

Sudjadnan Parnohadiningrat, foreign ministry's secretary
general, said that participants of the meeting, which is the
first to be held in conjunction with the Millennium project,
would discuss strategies for the region to accomplish the MDGs.

"The strategies will be endorsed in a declaration, to be
called Jakarta Declaration. This declaration will be brought for
discussion in the high-level plenary meeting, at the 60th UN
General Assembly Summit in September," he told a joint media
briefing with Erna Witoelar, the UN Special Ambassador for the
Millennium Development Goals in the Asia-Pacific, here on Friday.

Indonesia, he said, has proposed an Asia-Pacific cooperation
strategy called "Regional Compact" that involves the wealthy
nations of the region such as Japan.

The plenary meeting at the UN Summit will review the progress
of the MDGs, declared in the Millennium Summit in 2000. The MDGs
targets poverty eradication and living standards improvement, all
to be completed by 2015.

Erna expressed hope that the Asia-Pacific countries'
initiative would encourage UN members to put more effort into
development issues.

"At present, the world's attention is concentrated on Africa.
But the Asia-Pacific has more important issues to resolve, as the
poor people in this region outnumber those in Africa," said the
former minister of resettlement and regional infrastructure.

She said that 741 million (57 percent) of 1.3 billion poor
people around the world resided in Asia-Pacific region, which
added to the complexity of the MDGs.

Earlier this month, the Group of Eight wealthy nations agreed
to wipe out US$41 billion of debt in 18 impoverished countries in
Africa, and to increase the aid twofold to $50 billion a year by
2010.

Erna said that the Asia-Pacific should work out a more
"elegant" way to lift themselves out of poverty. While the
Indonesian government would not beg for debt relief because it
would disadvantage the country, it should find other ways to
finance its development aside from debt, she said.

"They could ask for more trade access or cooperation in the
real issues of the region, such as health or environment."

"And though the amount of Overseas Development Assistance
(ODA) from developed countries will increase according to their
pledges to the Millennium declaration, I think Indonesia would
not need much of it. We have enough money to pay for our
children's school fees, to prevent mothers from dying after
giving birth and poverty alleviation. At the end of the day, it
is corruption that has hindered this country in achieving the
Millennium Development Goals," she said.

Ministers and high ranking officials from 53 countries in the
Asia-Pacific region, as well as representatives of UN special
agencies (such as UNDP, UN-DESA, UN-ESCAP and UNCTAD), vice
presidents of the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank, had
confirmed their participation in the meeting, Sudjadnan said.

Prof. Jeffrey D. Sachs, UN Millennium Project's director and
special advisor to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on MDGs, will
speak at the Jakarta's meeting. Other speakers will be
Indonesia's Minister of Trade Marie Elka Pangestu, Coordinating
Minister for People's Welfare Alwi Shihab, Minister of National
Development Planning and chairperson of the National Planning
Agency Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Erna Witoelar President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to open the meeting.

There will be an exhibition on poverty eradication and other
MDGs achievements on the sidelines of the meeting at the Jakarta
Convention Center.