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.