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articipants of the fourth Bali Democracy Forum from 82 countries acknowledged on Friday the power of technology as a new tool to spread the values of democracy and agreed to use the momentum of the so-called Arab Spring to promote democracy.

Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said that recent events occurring around the world have shown that democracy keeps evolving.

“Democracy is a never-ending process. And this forum has given the opportunity and views on what is happening in every country,” he said before the closing ceremony of the forum.

“From yesterday’s and today’s sessions, we have heard the needs of countries to be able to respond to the people’s voices or the interests of democratization. Otherwise, the impact could be more serious than what happened in the Middle East,” Marty said.

In its second day, the forum had two closed interactive sessions that highlighted the power of social media and the involvement of civil society in democracy.

The first session, chaired by former foreign minister Hassan Wirajuda, was titled the “Ability of State to Respond to the Voice of Democracy”, highlighting the widespread use of social media through which people can instantly exchange information.

Participants also expressed support for the growth of democracy on the Asian continent and around the world as exemplified by the Arab Spring.

The second session, chaired by Dewi Fortuna Anwar, was titled “Ensuring Democratic Space for Civil Society”. Participants agreed that there was need for the consolidation in the areas in which civil society was involved and therefore adequate space was needed to support civil society.

Marty praised this year’s interactive sessions, saying that the sessions had never been so lively.

“In our trade in international relations, the interactive session is usually not interactive. But it was an interactive, frank, candid and dynamic discussion,” he said.

Foreign Ministry information and public diplomacy chief A.M. Fachir said that another forum held simultaneously with the BDF, the Bali Media Forum, determined that there was an opportunity for the people to take a greater role in enhancing democracy.

The Bali Media Forum is an annual event held in conjunction with the BDF to highlight the role of a free, independent and pluralistic media in building and strengthening democratic society in the region.

“We have come to learn and better appreciate that there is not ‘one size fits all’. All of us have our own respective unique national circumstances. This is not to belittle the fact that the commitment to democratic principles is a universal one,” Marty said while closing the forum.

Earlier on Friday, Marty held bilateral meetings with the US undersecretary of commerce for international trade, New Zealand’s immigration minister and the deputy chairman of the Council of Federations of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. He said the meetings also generated several comprehensive partnerships talks.

“With Russia, we exchanged views on the APEC, as they will host the summit in 2012, and we will continue in 2013,” he said.

“We also discussed the need of direct flights from Russia to Bali in line with the increasing number of Russian tourists coming to the island.”

Meanwhile, the US delegates conveyed the outcome of the visit of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Myanmar late last month and discussed the launch of a commercial dialogue with Indonesia to improve bilateral trade relations.