Indonesia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi (second, from right) speaks at a media gathering. (Photo: 43rd ASEAN Summit Communication and Media Team)Jakarta (VNA) –Indonesia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi on August 28 revealedfour main pillars of his country’s Chairmanship in the 43rd ASEAN Summit andrelated meeting slated from September 5-7.
In her statement afterinspecting the readiness of the 43rd ASEAN Summit’s Media Centre in Jakarta,the minister said that first and foremost, it is important to uphold thelong-term vision of the region.
She added that the visionmust be carried out considering that it is vital to serve as guidance andensure the future of ASEAN.
ASEAN adopted the ASEANDeclaration of Concord I in 1976, the Declaration of ASEAN Concord II in 2003, and the Declaration of ASEAN Concord III in 2011, and negotiations are stillongoing to ratify the Declaration of ASEAN Concord IV as the foundation forASEAN Vision 2045 at the upcoming summit.
The second pillar is strengthening ASEAN’sresilience in facing the challenges.
The third pillar is promotingASEAN as a centre of economic growth.
Retno further said thatIndonesia will highlight the strengthening of food security in the region asone of its essential elements of economic growth, while underscoring that it isalso in line with Indonesia’s ASEAN Chairmanship’s theme “ASEAN Matters:Epicentrum of Growth”.
The last pillar is making theIndo-Pacific a region of peace and security.
To that end, Indonesia willencourage the other ASEAN member countries to promote the ASEAN Outlook on theIndo-Pacific (AOIP) to ASEAN partners during the upcoming summit.
Regarding the fourth pillar,according to Retno, on the sidelines of 43rd ASEAN Summit, the ASEAN Chair willorganise the ASEAN-Indo-Pacific Forum (AIPF), bringing together decision-makingofficials and the private sector to discuss economic cooperation in theIndo-Pacific region. This is one of the important moves to implement andconcretise the AOIP.
Indonesian Deputy ForeignMinister Pahala Mansury added that the AIPF aims to encourage cooperation,shifting from the previous focus on security cooperation to specific economic one. The AIPF will focus on discussing three main areas including greeninfrastructure and supply chain resilience; digitalisation and creativeindustries; and funding sources. In particular, the first two areas areexpected to become the growth engines of the ASEAN and Indo-Pacific regions inthe future.
ASEAN needs to ensure innovative sustainable funding for growth inthe infrastructure sector.
According to Pahala, thetotal value of projects within the framework of AOIP is now up to 120billion USD. Currently, 93 projects with a total value of 38 billion USD arefeasible while others are still in the potential category. The AIPF will beofficially opened by President Joko Widodo on September 5 and is expected to becomea forum to discuss and introduce ongoing or potential projects./.
