Thousands to attend AAS and related events
Thousands to attend AAS and related events
Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
In commemoration of the 1955 Asia-Africa Conference in Bandung,
West Java, Indonesia will host the Asian-African Summit and more
than half a dozen related events within the next two weeks.
The Golden Jubilee celebrations to mark the Bandung conference
will be held in the West Java capital on April 24.
Thousands of people, including 56 heads of state/government,
ministers and senior officials, businesspeople, non-governmental
organization activists, scholars and journalists, from Asia and
Africa are expected to attend these events, which will be held in
Jakarta and Bandung.
The events are aimed at boosting people-to-people interaction
between the continents.
The first sideline event will begin on April 18, when
stakeholders in the energy sector are to meet to explore
opportunities to promote renewable energy.
The four-day Asian-African symposium on renewable energy will
look into the possibility of establishing an Asian-African
Renewable Energy Community.
In addition to the conference organized by the Indonesian
Renewable Energy Society, there will be an energy exhibition
displaying the latest products in the Jakarta International Expo
Center in Kemayoran, Jakarta.
To promote the trade and investment sector, a giant business
summit and trade fair will be held from April 18 to April 22.
The events to be attended by businessmen from the two
continents is hoped will play a significant role toward the
establishment of a new Asian-African strategic partnership, given
the fact that most of the countries in two continents are still
developing nations.
Meanwhile, In a bid to promote the role of women and youth as
well as civil society a one-day workshop with the theme
"Strengthening Asian-African Strategic Cooperation in Promoting
the Status and Role of Women and Youth both as Actors and
Beneficiaries of Human Centered Sustainable Developed within the
Context of an Increasingly Globalized World" will be held in
Jakarta.
The April 19 workshop will be opened by Indonesian State
Minister for Women's Empowerment Meutia Farida Hatta Swasono.
As the heads of state or heads of delegation are expected to
arrive in Jakarta a few days before the summit, the organizing
committee will hold a special program starting from April 20 for
the spouses of the heads of state.
During the four-day event, all the spouses of heads of state
or delegations as well as special envoys are invited to join the
spouse program.
The Asian-African Summit, which is co-hosted by Indonesia and
South Africa, is believed to be one of the world's biggest
conferences bringing together some 106 countries.
Around 25 member countries of the Non-Aligned Movement --
mostly from Latin America -- 20 sub regional organizations and
several donor countries will attend the Asian-African Summit,
which will be held from April 22 to April 23, as observers.
The ministers of the Asian and African countries are scheduled
to meet on April 20 to finalize the preparation of the documents
that will be signed by the heads of state during the summit.
Outside the summit and side events, hundreds of activists from
several NGOs are planning to organize international conferences
in a number of cities across Indonesia.
The meetings will be held in Jakarta, Bandung, Garut and
Yogyakarta, involving at least 15 foreign and local NGOs.
Bonnie Setiawan director of the Institute for Global Justice
(IGJ) earlier said that the conferences would discuss "important,
substantive issues neglected by the government" in the summit.
The Christian NGO's Network in Indonesia will hold a summit
expected to be attended by at least 50 representatives from the
NGOs and religious institutions from the two continents.
The interfaith conference will take place from April 11 to
April 15.