'Partnership leads Asia-Africa to true destiny'

'Partnership leads Asia-Africa to true destiny'

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono officially opened the Asian-
African Summit 2005 on Friday, marking the 50th anniversary of
the 1955 Asia-Africa Conference. The following is his opening
address.

At long last, at long last, we are all gathered here. It took
fifty long years for this conference to happen, but Asia and
Africa have finally assembled here again.

Today, the sons and daughters of Asia and Africa stand
together, in this Hall as equals. And we stand tall, proud and
free.

Let us therefore begin by giving a big applause, to honor the
first generation of Asian and African leaders, who started it all
in Bandung in 1955.

What they did was truly remarkable. At a volatile time when
the new world was searching for order, they awakened the
collective spirit of Asia and Africa, they set forth a new
course, and they ignited a new sense of solidarity and activism,
that transformed our two great continents.

In short, what they did was no less than to change the world,
and shaped the second half of the 20th century.

Alhamdulillah (Thank God), the gathering which in 1955 began
with 29 countries -- 3 from Africa, 26 from Asia and the Middle-
East -- now have grown into a large conference of 106 independent
countries.

But we do not come here to reminisce, nor to bask in self-
romanticization. Nor are we here to exchange pleasantries, or to
lament our problems.

We come here, because we need to ask hard questions and find
real answers, about how Asia and Africa can adapt and respond to
the challenges of today's world.

We must ask : Why did it take 50 years "a lifetime" for Asia
and Africa to reconvene, after the success of the first Summit
in 1955?

We must ask: Does the Bandung Spirit mean the same in 2005 as
it did in 1955? If the Bandung spirit has served us well over
the years, how can we adapt that spirit to today's circumstances?

And we must ask: now that Asia-Africa is reconvened in great
numbers and with robust confidence, how can we make it relevant
-- relevant to us, and relevant to the world?

The sad fact of history is that, while the Bandung Spirit
lived on after 1955, the Asia-Africa process stumbled. The last
time we heard of the "Asia-Africa" conference was in 1965, when
the attempt to reconvene the second Asian African Summit in
Algiers faltered.

What we need to remember here is that "Asia-Africa" faltered
not for lack of spirit, but for lack of process, for lack of
planning, and perhaps --perhaps -- for lack of prudence.

But for those who question whether the Bandung Spirit is still
relevant, I would say that the case for Asia-Africa solidarity
today is, even more compelling than it was 50 years ago.

Let us not forget: as we entered the new millennium, Asia-
Africa remains the missing link, in the worldwide structure of
inter-regional relations.

Across the Atlantic Ocean, there is the formal alliance
between Europe and North America.

Across the Pacific Ocean, there is the formal linkage between
Asia and the Americas, through APEC and the ASEAN Regional Forum.

But across the Indian Ocean, none exists between Asia and
Africa, despite the success story of the first Asia-Africa Summit
in 1955.

Our meeting here today is therefore, an inauguration of that
new bridge across the Indian Ocean, that new bridge between the
wonderful worlds of Asia and Africa.

Indeed, the international environment today is much more
conducive, for the coming together of Asia and Africa.

Asia and Africa are no longer burdened by the Cold War, which
in 1955 pulled the Asian and African participants in Bandung in
different directions.

Asia and Africa are now much more accustomed and open to each
other, we have developed better skills of cooperation and
interactions, and we are much more integrated into the world
economy than 50 years ago. And of course, television, radio,
internet, fast airplanes, trade, sports and tourism have brought
our peoples closer.

Asia and Africa are also now home to important regional and
sub-regional organizations, as well as to the proliferation of
bilateral and multilateral ties.

And beyond Asia-Africa, in contrast with 1955, we now see a
world much more sympathetic to our problems, and eager to work
and engage us.

Which is why in today's international context, the real
challenge of Asia-Africa is not about developing the power to
confront, but the power to connect.

Asia-Africa must connect with itself, but it must also connect
with other international and regional groupings.

Thus, we can do much more with Asia-Africa in 2005 compared to
1955.

Just think about it: 106 countries now grace the continents of
Asia and Africa, comprising more than one-half of the membership
of the United Nations, encompassing an area that is almost half
of the world. We speak for 4.6 billion people, or 73 percent of
the world's population. Our combined Gross Domestic Product
amounts to $9.3 trillion.

But being too impressed with demographics or economic
statistics, will not get us very far.

The renewed Asia-Africa process that we are trying to nurture,
will matter only if we can make it relevant to the problems and
opportunities of Asia-Africa.

And the problems of Asia and Africa are plenty.

But the most persistent among them is the enduring fight
against poverty.

Africa is the only continent where poverty is on the rise,
where 40 percent of all Sub-Saharan people live on less than a
dollar a day. Asia also has vast pockets of poverty, where
people living in extreme poverty, outnumber those in Africa by
several hundred millions.

And of course, Asia and Africa's problems do not stop there.
25 million Africans, and 7.5 million Asians, are victims of the
HIV/AIDS epidemic. Millions of our peoples do not have access to
clean water, proper education, energy, healthcare.

Environmental degradation is pervasive. Armed conflicts of
various kinds kill our people, and distort our national
development. Terrorism and trans-national crimes are on the rise.
Corruption retards our national growth. And the people of
Palestine, after all these years, are still deprived of the
independent and sovereign State, which is rightfully theirs.

And that is why today, in 2005, we have to sound a different
battle cry. In 1955, the battle cry of the day was "Freedom",
which made perfect sense given the persistence of colonialism
back then. But now that Asia and Africa are free, we must take on
the next phase, of that battle for human dignity.

That battle is called: the quest for good governance. And the
struggle for good governance is not necessarily easier than the
struggle for freedom.

If Asia and Africa can learn anything from the past five
decades, it is that the success or failure of governance,
explains the success and failure of states. It also explains the
success or failure of peace, the success or failure of
development, the success or failure of nation-building.

Good governance is what will fulfill the promise of freedom
that our fathers struggled for. And good governance is what will
truly "liberate" Asia and Africa, and unleash our true
potentials.

The vision of Asia-Africa therefore, should be a vision that
enhances good governance.

But the worst thing you can do to a great vision is to deprive
it of practical detail.

Thus, as we reaffirm our faith in the Bandung Spirit, now we
must care to give it flesh and form.

Let us now therefore build a Strategic Partnership, that will
bind our two continents in a vibrant, pragmatic and forward-
looking way.

That partnership should cover evenly three broad areas of
cooperation: political solidarity, economic cooperation, and
socio-cultural relations.

It should promote human resources development, enhance
capacity building, and technical cooperation, to create an
constructive environment for the region.

That partnership should promote rich interaction at three
levels: at the intergovernmental level, at the level of sub-
regional organizations, and at the level of people-to-people
contact. That is why for that partnership to work, it will demand
the active involvement of the business sector, the academia,
civil society and the mass media.

The operation of that Strategic Partnership should be based
on, and guided by a wide range of agreed principles, that the
nations of Asia and Africa passionately believe in. Foremost of
these principles are the Dasa Sila of Bandung, laid down by the
Asian-African Conference of 1955.

And as a practical measure, the mechanics of our cooperation,
must give allowances to the immense diversity of our social and
economic systems, and levels of development.

We should never be inward-looking. We should be non-exclusive,
and be willing to cooperate with all stakeholders. In particular,
Asia-Africa must be at the forefront of the global cooperation,
to reach the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals by
2015.

The Strategic Partnership should also serve as an instrument
for the promotion of a just, democratic, accountable and
harmonious society. Thus, we can strengthen the process of our
own nation-building and state-building, as well as social
integration.

Moreover, we must take it upon ourselves, to promote and
protect human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Not the least of these is the most basic of human rights "the
right to live!" No Asian or African should die, because he or
she is too poor to live.

And in the various multilateral forums where our interests are
at stake, we should coordinate our moves, and speak with one
strong and clear voice. Acting as one community, we can make sure
that, even the smallest among us will not be marginalized.

I am glad that through this Summit, Asia and Africa remains
unyielding in supporting our Palestinian brothers and sisters, in
their epic struggle to gain their independent, sovereign state,
where they can be assured freedom, justice and peace.

So these, brothers and sisters, are the principles that form
the hallmark of the Strategic Partnership, which will lead us to
our true destiny.

You know, in 1955, Indonesia's founding father and first
President, Sukarno, declared in Bandung that "Asia-Africa would
unleash the moral violence of nations, in favor of peace."
I believe that in 2005, Asia-Africa can be, and must be, more
than a "moral force".

Much more.

Through this Strategic Partnership, Asia-Africa can be
transformed, no longer just as a geographical expression, but as
a true geopolitical and geo-economic reality.

I believe that, if we revive and adapt the Bandung Spirit in
our hearts, and make this Partnership work for us, the story of
Asia-Africa in the 21st century, can be very different from its
20th century past.

Asia-Africa will be a non-exclusive concert of nations living
in peace and harmony, bonded in partnership and conscious of its
historic and cultural roots.

And Insya Allah (God willing), it will be one big caring
society, where our peoples will live in comfort and dignity, free
from fear of violence, oppression and injustice. We will all be
free from the clutches of poverty, and at liberty to rise to our
fullest potential.

That will be the ultimate freedom.

I look forward to working, and sweating, with all of you to
achieve that Strategic Partnership, and to write the future
history of Asia-Africa.

Thank you.