New Asian-African partnership may increase int'l leverage: RI
Ivy Susanti, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
An Asia and Africa partnership will increase the countries' leverage in international negotiations, particularly in relation to economic affairs, a high-ranking official has said.
The new partnership, called the New Asian-African Strategic Partnership (NAASP), will be based on mutual benefit that aims at improving the welfare of the African nations in particular. It will be formally launched during the Asian-African Summit, to be held from April 22 to April 23.
"We agree to strengthen our leverage, as a group of countries who share common interests in negotiations on various issues. The focus is to maintain solidarity, particularly when addressing certain issues, such as economic issues. Our unity, our willpower, can determine our success in any forum," Sudjadnan Parnohadiningrat, the secretary-general of the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Thursday.
He added that the summit would not be a forum for seeking donors or recipients.
"We invite donor countries but it is not our intention to solicit donations. We invite them to work together to find the areas of cooperation that Asia, Africa and donor countries could develop in the future."
Sudjadnan was accompanied by Ayanda Ntsaluba, the Director General at the South African Foreign Affairs Ministry, during the press briefing at the end of the three-day Asian-African Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) here on Thursday.
The meeting discussed the drafts of two declarations, the NAASP -- to be signed by heads of state on April 23 and the joint ministerial statement on NAASP's plan of action.
The SOM was attended by around 260 officials from 68 Asian and African countries.
Sudjadnan said that the declaration would be a "statement of intent", which could serve as the rules of the game in the new partnership that will take the form of a loose grouping and not be legally binding.
He said the partnership will focus on three main areas of cooperation: political solidarity, economic and socio-cultural relations.
Political solidarity will require the committed nations to seek ways to maintain peace and stability in the Asian and African continents, to prevent conflict and build peace, promote and protect human rights and make joint efforts to combat transnational crimes and terrorism.
"In the area of economic cooperation, we're seeking to resolve the issue of poverty through mobilizing resources, economic growth and so on," said Sudjadnan, who is also the secretary- general of the Summit's national organizing committee.
In the field of socio-economic relations, participating countries will make a commitment to promote cultural diversity.
"These are some concrete measures that are aimed at working together for the betterment of the people from the two continents," he said.
As of Wednesday, 54 leaders from 106 countries invited to the event had confirmed their attendance at the summit, themed Reinvigorating the Bandung Spirit: Working Towards A New Asian- African Strategic Partnership. A commemoration of the Golden Jubilee of the Asia-Africa conference will follow the summit in Bandung, West Java, on April 24.
The idea of the partnership was raised during the ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh in November 2002 by South African President Thabo Mbeki in his capacity as the then chair of the African Union (AU).
He called on ASEAN leaders to cooperate with Africa on the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), an AU program for poverty eradication, socio-economic development and growth.
In response, Indonesian president Megawati Soekarnoputri proposed to co-host the first Asian-African Sub-Regional Organizations Conference (AASROC) with South Africa to set the ground for Asian-African cooperation. The first conference took place in 2003 in Bandung, and the second was in 2004 in Durban, South Africa.