New Asian-African partnership may increase int'l leverage: RI
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.