South Africa wants to host next AAS
South Africa wants to host next AAS
Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The South African government has expressed its readiness to host
the next Asian-African Summit expected to be held some time in
2009, a senior official at the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs said.
Sudjadnan Parnohadiningrat, the ministry's secretary-general,
said that the decision would be made by the heads of
state/government of the two continents during the Asian-African
Summit (AAS), which will be held from April 22 to April 23 in
Jakarta.
"South Africa has stated its wish to be the next host of the
summit and we hope the Asian and African leaders will take a
decision about it during the summit here," he told The Jakarta
Post.
In an attempt to foster closer cooperation between the two
continents, the leaders of Asian and African countries are
scheduled to meet every four years, while ministerial level
meetings will be held every two years.
Indonesia and South Africa are the initiators of this month's
summit, which is believed to be the one of the world's largest
meetings of this century, bringing together some 106 countries.
This is the first summit meeting since the original Asia-
Africa Conference, which was held in April 1955 in Bandung, West
Java.
Sudjadnan, who is also the head of the national organizing
committee for the Asian-African Summit, added that the success of
the summit would give a boost to Indonesia's image on the
international arena.
"It's a big challenge to organize this gigantic summit amid
the current unconducive climate in our country, including the
financial difficulties we face and the unexpected tsunami
catastrophe. We were actually quite pessimistic about the
responses from Asian and African leaders after the Dec. 26
tsunami," he said.
The deadly tsunami disaster hit the Indian Ocean on Dec. 26.
Indonesia's northern Aceh province and North Sumatra were worst
hit, with more than 230,000 people killed.
"After the tsunami, our concentration on holding the summit
was disrupted by the one-day tsunami international summit, which
a number of world leaders attended," he said.
However, Sudjadnan said it was Japanese Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi who asked the Indonesian government to press
ahead with the summit as per the original schedule in order not
to lose momentum.
This "Japan factor", according to Sudjadnan, had rekindled the
spirit of the national organizing committee to work all out to
bring the summit to fruition.
"Now, with some 56 heads of states having confirmed their
attendance at the summit, we can be more confident that Indonesia
still counts for something in the international arena," he said.
Sudjadnan said that the government was financing the summit
out of its own resources.
"The funds are from the state budget. Japan has actually
offering to help finance the summit but we have not yet
responded," he said.
State Secretary Yusril Ihza Mahendra earlier said that the
government had allocated some Rp 206 billion (US$22 million) to
fund the summit.
The money will be spent on building infrastructure, including
a toll road linking Jakarta and Bandung, the expansion of
Bandung's Hussein Sastranegara Airport and the renovation of the
Independence Building where the jubilee celebrations of the
original Asia-Africa conference will be held.
The money will also be used to provide accommodation for
summit participants and buy 60 Toyota Camry luxury sedans to
transport them.
Sudjadnan said that the government would also provide extra
security for the summit.
"Over 19,000 members of the Indonesian Military (TNI) and
police will be deployed to provide security," he said.