Bringing The 'Global South' Message In The G7 Mitra Working Session, President Jokowi Encourages Equality And Inclusiveness

President Joko Widodo (Jokow) while attending the G7 Summit Partner Working Session in Hiroshima, Japan, Saturday, May 20. (Photo via ANTARA/HO-Biro Press of the Presidential Secretariat)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) encourages equality, collaboration, and inclusiveness in global cooperation while attending the G7 Partner Working Session in Hiroshima, Japan, Saturday, May 20.

On this occasion, Jokowi brought a global social message or the southern global countries. "Cooperation means equality. Working together means inclusiveness, and we can only work together if we understand each other," said President Jokowi, in a written statement.

Jokowi, then questioned whether equality, inclusiveness and mutual understanding had become a spirit to be developed together. "We must dare to speak honestly, we have to improve many things," he exclaimed.

Furthermore, the President explained that the pandemic has taught the world about the importance of involving more countries in the global supply chain. For this reason, President Jokowi called for the termination of the monopoly policy.

"Discriminatory policies towards developing country commodities must also be stopped. The right to development of each country must be respected," he stressed.

According to President Jokowi, it is now not an era where global countries of society are only given space as exporters of raw commodities, because the world is no longer in colonialism.

"Is it fair that natural resources (natural resources) like Indonesia are prevented from enjoying the added value of their natural resources? Are they prevented from processing their natural resources?" he said.

The President also emphasized that more than 270 million Indonesians who are anchors of peace, democracy, and the economy in Southeast Asia and Asia Pacific must be prosperous.

Therefore, Indonesia does not close itself, but rather works hard to increase cooperation in other forms that are more equal and with results that are equally beneficial for all.

"I hope that G7 countries can become partners in downstreaming this industry and it is time to form a kind of OPEC for other products such as nickel and palm oil," he said.

At the end of his speech, President Jokowi reiterated the invitation to collaborate and highlighted the big role of the G7 in this regard. According to him, what the world needs now is not polarization.

"I want to emphasize that what the world needs right now is not a divided polarization, but rather a unifying collaboration and the G7 state has a big role in creating concrete and equal collaboration," he explained.