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.