Roundup: Asian-African summit to focus on pragmatic economic, trade cooperation

Delegates from 109 Asian and African countries will discuss new opportunity on pragmatic economic and trade cooperation while commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Bandung conference.

The Asian-African summit and a series of events under the theme "Strengthening South-South Cooperation to Promote World Peace and Prosperity" will be held in Jakarta and Bandung on April 22 to 24.

The forum is aimed to bridge Asian and African nations to stronger partnership and to share experience in enhancing both regions' economic development, according to analysts here.

It's also an opportunity to discuss solutions to overcome common challenges through strengthening South-South cooperation.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi told the ministerial meeting ahead of the 60th anniversary of the Asian-African Conference (AAC), also known as Bandung Conference, that a Bandung Message is expected to be released during the commemoration later this week.

"To implement it (the Bangdung Message), we will have the NAASP (the New Asian-African Strategic Partnership). To support the NAASP, we have the South-South cooperation," said the minister.

The New Asian-African Strategic Partnership (NAASP) is not a new concept, which was launched at the commemoration of the golden jubilee of the Asian-African conference in 2005.

The NAASP serves as the blueprint to bolster pragmatic collaboration of two continents in the future. As a venture to build a bridge between Asian and African, NAASP focuses its cooperation on the three broad pillars of partnership namely political solidarity, economic cooperation and socio-cultural.

As agreed by the leaders on the Summit 2005, NAASP follow up mechanism will be consisted of Summit back to back with business Summit for every four years, Ministerial Meeting for every two years and Ministerial Technical Meeting when it deems necessary.

However, the Summit has always been delayed, and related cooperation have not been implemented due to lack of substantial mechanism.

Some officials said Asian and African countries should seize the opportunity of the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of Bandung conference to push forward the NAASP institutionalization, promote pragmatic cooperation between the two continents, and invigorate the Bandung spirit.

In 1955, 29 Asian and African countries agreed in Bandung on the principles to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations and to promote Asian-African economic and cultural cooperation.

Six decades later, Asia and Africa are home to some of the world's fastest-growing emerging markets.

Asia and Africa are "the developing engine" and "hopeful continents," said Yuri O Thamrin, Indonesian Foreign Ministry's Director General for Asia and Africa, "Foreign direct investment and trade have increased tremendously between the continents, growing from 2.8 billion U.S. dollars in 1990 to 270 billion dollars by 2012."

The countries in both regions want to take a greater role in setting global development agendas, he said.

"What we need to do right now with Bandung is to move away from just political struggle and make sure that we strengthen and fortify economic cooperation, we need more economic cooperation into these world than before," said Pakamisa Sifuba, South African ambassador to the ASEAN.

The Ambassador of India to Indonesia Gurjit Singh said that the commemoration conference should solve the challenges such as the weak global economic recovery and uneven distribution of global wealth, adding that all the participants should promote the maritime connectivity and multilateral energy and security cooperation under the framework of Asian-African conference.

Thamrin said that both continents do not have mechanism to implement the Asian-African economic cooperation until the declaration of the NAASP.

The commemoration of the 60th anniversary of Asian-African conference will further promote Asian and African countries to seek cooperation opportunities and step up efforts on investment cooperation.

Umar Juoro, Chairman of the Center for Information and Development Studies in Jakarta, said that China's "Belt and Road" initiative will bring a lot of benefit to other countries in the region and will provide a new model of mutual benefit and common development for Asian-African countries.

The "Belt and Road" initiative and the new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will help Asian and African countries develop their infrastructure and upgrade their connectivity capability, which meet their requirements of economic development and go with the tide of win-win cooperation, said Li Zhuohui, an Indonesian political analyst.

Therefore, the "Belt and Road" initiative which connects Asia, Europe, Africa and adjacent seas and the AIIB are expected to be discussed in the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of Bandung conference, said Li.

"Growing together is a must," said Marsudi. "One day we want to see that the cooperation will not only narrow the development gap among countries but will contribute to world peace and prosperity. " Endi