Bali To Host The AIS Summit To Handle Marine Problems

NUSA Dua - Bali will host the Summit for the State of the Island and Islands (AIS) to handle four marine problems scheduled for Nusa Dua, Badung Regency on October 11, 2023.

"So far, 13 heads of state will attend, we hope that close to October 11, more and more will be confirmed," said Director General of Information and Public Communication of the Ministry of Communication and Information (Kemenkominfo) Usman Kansong on the sidelines of the Media Briefing regarding the AIS Summit and the World Water Forum (WWF) in Nusa Dua, Badung, Bali, as reported by ANTARA, Wednesday, August 9.

Usman explained that several heads of state who confirmed their attendance at the AIS Summit, which was first held, included Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and Vanuatu.

According to him, the AIS Summit, which is a forum for the cooperation of 51 island and archipelago countries, is not only a meeting but emphasizes concrete solutions related to four problems, namely climate change mitigation, blue economy, handling plastic waste at sea and maritime governance.

Indonesia, he said, paid important attention to the issue, including related to waste at sea, considering that Indonesia also contributed that plastic waste at sea reached 12.5 million metric tons, based on a survey in 2015 and there has been no recent survey changes.

Meanwhile, on the same occasion through a video conference, Assistant Deputy for Maritime Zone Delimatization and Border Area of the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Sora Lokita, revealed that the four issues were formulated through state identification in the AIS forum.

He revealed that the AIS forum was an Indonesian initiative whose idea first emerged in 2017 considering that Indonesia is one of the largest archipelagic countries in the world.

So, he continued, Indonesia can contribute to island and archipelago countries because they have the same geographical characteristics and challenges.

In addition to the four issues, he said, there are two other challenges, including maritime pollution, connectivity, and empowerment of coastal communities.

"Indonesia has many best practices, we don't want to save but want to make a global movement where this smart way can be moved, hopefully the movement will be more massive so that we can overcome the challenges together," he said.

Meanwhile, Senior Advisor to Climate Governance at the UN Agency regarding the Indonesian Development Program (UNDP) Abdul Wahid Situmorang hopes that the solution offered or cooperated is a solution that can be used by all developing countries and developed countries.

"Therefore, the AIS Forum Secretariat, we collect various solutions by stakeholders, we collect them as AIS Pedia, we use them as a forum for cooperation with island and archipelago countries," he said.

Indonesia is again hosting a world meeting, a world trust in the leadership of the country after several important events were held, including the G20 Summit, the ASEAN Summit in Labuan Bajo and Jakarta, as well as in the near future the AIS Summit and the 2024 World Air Forum (WWF).

Apart from being attended by delegates and other stakeholders, the AIS Summit is also estimated to be attended by around 500-1,000 journalists, both from within and outside the country. "This will benefit the Balinese economy because there is a circulation of money, including the implementation, hotel, car rental, souvenirs," said Usman Kansong.