Leaders urged to solve pressing problems at int'l summit
Leaders urged to solve pressing problems at int'l summit
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
In the relative seclusion of a paltry meeting room inside a
three-star hotel, a gathering on Wednesday of some 50 people
representing civil organizations from Asian and African nations
decided to draw up action plans to be submitted for discussion in
the upcoming Asian-African Summit.
The two-day gathering, termed the Asia-Africa Forum 2005, was
opened with a reflection on interfaith solidarity and was
followed with a somehow reluctant singing of John Lennon's
Imagine.
Next agenda? How to resolve the lingering economic
colonization of most Asian and African countries, five decades
after the 1955 Asia-Africa Conference where leaders from 29
countries vowed to break away from all forms of colonization.
"It's true that these countries have been liberated from
colonialism, but a new face of imperialism has taken place in the
form of economic colonization, depriving us of an equal position
in international economic forums," gathering initiator from the
Christian Conference Asia (CCA) Josef Widyaatmadja said.
As part of the rival Asian-African Summit events, the
gathering is aimed at discussing the economic colonization and
its effects.
The results, said Josef, would be submitted to the government
and hopefully be addressed by dignitaries attending the summit,
considering that civil organizations -- or "the people" as Josef
put it -- are not invited to participate in the Asian-African
Summit.
He suspected that the upcoming three-day government summit, to
be held next week in Jakarta and Bandung, would serve as a mere
nostalgic celebration without resulting in concrete ideas of how
to address the aforementioned issues being faced by the two
continents.
"Poverty is mainly seen on these two continents, and the
future world seems to belong to those who comply to the free
market, the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Bank or the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) led by Western countries," said
Josef.
Therefore, he added, Asian and African countries should form a
stronger cooperation and network to gain a more considerable
position in international economic institutions against developed
countries.
Josef's opinion was shared by globalization observer H.S.
Dillon, saying that what occurred in Cancun should be a well-
learned lesson by developing countries and a proof of power in
unity.
A 2003 WTO meeting in Cancun concluded with no results after
developed and developing countries sustained intensive arguments
to defend each other's interests in global trade.
Dillon added that Asian and African countries should revisit
the notion of the 1955 conference that newly independent nations
had yet to emerge as equals to their former masters.
"They then understood the need to establish a new emerging
force as a counteracting power. Today it's obvious that the same
solidarity should once again create effective partnership in the
fight against global injustice," he said.