Partnership helps forge economic independence
Zakki P. Hakim and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The new Asian-African partnership will help developing countries in both continents achieve economic independence, the United Nation's special envoy for UN reform, Ali Alatas, has said.
"Political independence without economic independence can in no way free the teeming millions of the developing world from the poverty trap they are in," the veteran diplomat said on Tuesday.
During a seminar entitled The Afro-Asian Movement and the World of Tomorrow, held jointly by The Jakarta Post and the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), he pointed to the fact that many countries from both continents still have no economic freedom, although the 1955 Bandung spirit had inspired Asian and African countries to become independent
Most Asian and African countries are still struggling amid the challenges of their national development agenda, against poverty, ignorance, disease and the degradation of the environment, he said.
Some of them are also troubled by debt burdens and their inability to access the markets of advanced countries or to compete on the world market.
According to former foreign minister Alatas, the problems are mostly caused by the imbalances and inequities of international economic relations.
"There has also been a profound transformation of the world economic situation as a result of the pervasive phenomenon of globalization, which has caused the further marginalization of many countries in Asia and Africa," he said.
The problems widen the divide between the haves and the have- nots, Alatas added.
He concluded that challenges such as true independence, justice and equitable development, can only be met if Asian and African nations summon the necessary political will, pool their resources and act together in addressing those challenges.
"We have learned that political independence is a necessary but not an adequate condition for economic freedom," Alatas said.
Delegates from 89 countries in Asia and Africa inked the New Asian-African Strategic Partnership (NAASP) during the Asian- African Summit, which concluded last week.
The 1955 Asia-Africa Conference, which was attended by 29 leaders, inspired countries in both continents to gain their independence.
To date, however, most of the now-independent countries continue to battle against poverty.
Other speakers in the seminar highlighted various challenges facing Asian and African countries, particularly in implementing the partnership envisaged in the summit.
The countries face more complicated challenges as conditions are markedly different than those of 1955, with most of the countries having gained independence, the speakers said.
Amitav Acharya from the Singapore-based Nanyang Technological University said developing an Asian-African framework for dialog and cooperation was vital in implementing the partnership.
Countries in Asia and Africa must be able to articulate a normative basis for a regional and international order marked by "tolerance of diversity, mutual accommodation and the softening of ideological conflicts and rivalries", he said.
Indonesianist from Australia Jamie Mackie noted that Asia and Africa are blessed with so many differences, including in political systems, which could in one way or another hinder partnerships.
Mackie, nevertheless, noted that he would rather see Asia and Africa forge closer cooperation without sacrificing their diversity.