Jakarta prepares for historic meeting
Jakarta prepares for historic meeting
Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
After successfully hosting a series of high-profile meetings
during the first 75 days of this year, Indonesia is gearing up to
host one of the biggest meetings of this century involving around
105 countries, including 70 heads of state/government from Asia
and Africa.
The meeting, known as the Asian-African Summit (AAS), will be
held on April 22 and April 23 in Jakarta. A series of meetings
will be held in the next month or so to prepare for the summit.
In addition to 70 Asian and African states, delegations from
25 members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) from other
continents will also attend the golden jubilee celebrations of
the 1955 Asia-Africa Conference in Bandung, West Java, on April
24.
"We hope about 70 heads of state and heads of government from
Asia and Africa will attend the conference (AAS). So far, as many
as 45 leaders have confirmed their presence at the event," Bali
Moniaga, director for African affairs at the ministry of foreign
affairs, told a media workshop in Jakarta on Tuesday.
The workshop was organized by the foreign ministry as part of
its preparations for the summit.
"But the most important thing is that all the key countries of
the first summit have confirmed their attendance at the April
conference," Bali said, without mentioning the names of the key
countries.
At the Bandung conference in 1955, 29 countries from both
continents were present.
Among the countries confirmed so far to attend the summit are
Japan, China, India, Pakistan, all the ASEAN (Association of
Southeast Asian Nations) member countries, Yemen, Bahrain, Saudi
Arabia, Nigeria and Tanzania.
The summit, which is jointly co-sponsored by Indonesia and
South Africa, will also be attended by United Nations
Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
On the sidelines of the conference, the organizers will also
host a series of events, such as an Asian-African business summit
and seminars on women and youth issues.
Bali said that senior officials of the two continents would
gather in Jakarta from March 30 to March 31 to prepare for the
summit.
Foreign ministers from Asia and Africa will meet on April 20
to discuss documents that will be issued during the summit.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Embassy's Deputy Chief of Mission Yu
Hongyao, who was also one of the speakers at the workshop,
confirmed the presence of Chinese President Hu Jintao to the
Asian-African Summit.
"President Hu Jintao will lead a 135-member Chinese delegation
to Jakarta," he said.