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Roundup: Afro-Asian biz leaders pledge better role of private sector in development

Xinhua, April 21, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Asian-African Business Summit (AABS) concluded here on Tuesday, with participants vowing to give better play to the private sector's role in advancing economic growth and sustainable development in Asia and Africa.

A joint declaration was signed at the summit, which reaffirmed the role of the private sector "as an equal and complementary partner of the government" in identifying solutions to challenges and taking actions to promote development effectiveness.

Signatories will give particular attention to boosting investment in priority sectors, such as agriculture and agro- business, manufacturing, construction, maritime, tourism, financing as well as handicraft and home industry, according to the declaration.

Given the infrastructure bottlenecks hampering growth in most Asian and African countries and the need for better connectivity in the regions, signatories from both continents will encourage more efforts to mobilize private sector investment in infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, air and sea ports, railway, electricity, transport and telecommunication, the declaration said.

They will also take other joint actions to expand trade, eliminate trade barriers and boost investment.

Some 500 representatives including government officials, diplomats and business leaders from Asia and Africa attended the one-day business summit, according to Noke Kiroyan, member of the organizing committee of the AABS.

Participants agreed that there were untapped opportunities in Asia and Africa, Indonesia's Chief Economic Minister Sofyan Djalil told a press conference after the summit.

"A strong bridge needs to be established so that Asian and African countries can work together and benefit from each other through cooperation," Sofyan said.

He hailed the business summit and the joint declaration as " decisive steps that all of us, political leaders, members of business communities, have taken to reignite the strong relationship between Asia and African countries, which commenced some 60 years ago."

Participants also decided to establish an Asian-African Business Council, an open-ended body that will meet annually on a rotational basis in Asian and African countries, said Noke, also deputy chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Industry and Commerce (KADIN).

With its secretariat based in Indonesia and co-secretariat in South Africa, the business council is designed to strengthen future economic and business collaboration between private sectors in Asia and Africa.

"The business council will help support communication and build networking," KADIN chairman Suryo Bambang Sulitso said. Endi