A man sprays pesticides on his red onion field in Salu Dewata village in South Sulawesi on April 30, 2023. (Photo: Antara)Jakarta (VNA) –Indonesia, chair of ASEAN in 2023, has announced that the 42ndASEAN Summit, set to take placeon May 10-11 in Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara, will produce a document on a “village network” in the bloc.
At the 34th Senior Officials Committee for the ASEANSocio-Cultural Community (SOCA) meeting on April 28, Indonesia called for theacceleration of village development. A region-wide network in which thevillages can exchange knowledge and explore partnership opportunities can bethe impetus for development in ASEAN’s villages.
Joko Kusnanto Anggoro, a special stafferto the chief cultural affairs minister, said at the meeting that ASEAN needsto strengthen its capacity and preparedness to maintain the stability andprosperity within ASEAN as the epicentrum of growth in the Indo-Pacific region.ASEAN must make sure that people from all walks of life enjoy the benefit ofthis growth.
In early February, Indonesian Chief Cultural Affairs Minister MuhadjirEffendy met with the ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn in the former’sJakarta office, emphasising ASEAN’s socio-cultural pillar, which also focuses on thevillage network.
According toMuhadjir, this networking of villages aims to spur inclusive socio-economicdevelopment. It can also pave the way for a more prosperous region.
Indonesia ishome to at least 74,000 villages. Indonesia places its villages in fivecategories based on their self-sufficiency, namely self-sufficient, advanced,developing, behind, and very behind. Most villages in Indonesia have the“developing” status, reaching about 33,892 villages as of 2022, government datashows.
A “developingvillage” refers to Indonesian villages that have the potential to become advanced,and have social, economic, as well as ecological capital. However, the villagehas yet to take full advantage of its potential to boost the villagers'prosperity and quality of life, and address poverty./.
