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.