Indonesia will propose the establishment of a center to enable discussions, knowledge exchange and cooperation to strengthen relations between itself and countries in Africa
ndonesia will propose the establishment of a center to enable discussions, knowledge exchange and cooperation to strengthen relations between itself and countries in Africa.
Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi revealed the plan during a seminar titled 'Bandung Conference and Beyond: Rethinking International Order, Identity, Security and Justice in A Post-Western World' at Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta on Wednesday.
'Indonesia cannot do this alone. We need others to assist us,' Retno said in her remarks at the conference.
The seminar was jointly organized by UGM's Institute of International Studies and the University of Queensland's School of Political Science and International Studies, to mark the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Asian-African Conference, to be held this month in Bandung, West Java.
Some 80 experts from nine countries joined the seminar to review the legacy, lessons learned and limitations of the 1955 conference to help solve today's global problems, including those linked to human rights, security and economy.
'Cooperation between Asia and Africa must be strengthened. The spirit of the Bandung Conference should be implemented in concrete cooperation. South to South cooperation can contribute to world peace and prosperity,' Retno said.
Meanwhile, UGM expert on international politics, Mohtar Mas'oed, said that so far no special cooperation forum had existed between Asian and African countries because countries in both regions had different policies and orientations.
He said Indonesia had not been capable of initiating such cooperation due to its limited facilities and funds.
'The most important agenda item that Indonesia must push is the establishment of an Asia-Africa cooperation institution,' Mohtar said.
Separately, the Bandung administration has organized the Asia-Africa Smart City Summit (AASCS) 2015 to be held in the city on April 22-23 during the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the 1955 conference.
The summit will see city government heads from Asian and African countries share experiences to help them better understand urban issues.
'From this we will learn from one another and seek solutions together,' AASCS 2015 general chairman Suhono Harso Supangkat said in Bandung on Wednesday.
Bandung City Communication and Informatics Agency secretary Yayan Brilyana said that of the 300 invitations sent, so far 125 had confirmed attendance at the summit.
Of the confirmed participants, 107 were domestic mayors, academics and industry representatives. Of the rest, nine were from the Netherlands, four from Morocco, two from Japan and one each from South Korea, Spain and Vietnam.
Among the topics to be discussed, according to Suhono, included smart city models, smart transportation, smart young generations and entrepreneurs, smart residents, smart payments and smart health.
'All discussions are expected to deliver solutions that can be implemented,' Suhono said.
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