President Jokowi Scheduled to Open R20 Forum in Bali

Ketua Panitia Pelaksana Religion of Twenty (R20) Ahmad Suaedy dalam konferensi pers R20 di Jakarta, Rabu (7/9/2022). ANTARA/Tri Meilani Ameliya.

JAKARTA - Head of the Religion of Twenty (R20) Organizing Committee Ahmad Suaedy said President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) is scheduled to open the R20 Forum which will be held from November 2 to November 3, 2022, in Nusa Dua, Bali.

"R20 will be opened by Mr. President Joko Widodo and he will give a speech beside Gus Yahya (General Chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama Executive Board KH Yahya Cholil Staquf)," said Suaedy at the R20 press conference in Jakarta reported by ANTARA, Wednesday, September 7.

So far there are 50 religious leaders from various parts of the world, such as Europe, the United States, Latin America, Africa, Asia, Southeast Asia, and Australia who have stated that they are ready to attend R20. This number, according to Suaedy, will continue to grow by around 70 to 100 religious leaders.

In addition to world religious leaders, Suaedy said that his party invited non-religious leaders, namely scholars and scholars from various parts of the world, such as the Middle East, Africa, Europe, the United States, including Indonesia.

"Yesterday there were about 20 or 25 leaders of Islamic and non-Islamic religious organizations who were committed to attending," he said.

Suaedy said the guests were scheduled to be present in Nusa Dua, Bali, which is the location for the R20 on November 1, 2022.

"The event will begin when guests arrive on November 1, 2022. There will be around 400 participants, God willing," he said.

Suaedy said that the implementation of R20 would not stop in 2022 with Indonesia as the host. He said the next R20 will be held in India in 2023 and Brazil in 2024.

For that, he said, at the close of the first R20 later, the committee planned to hold a session to hand over the opportunity to host R20 from Indonesia to India.

R20 is one of the activities in the G20 series as well as a series of NU Centennial commemorations. R20 aims to build discussions among world religious leaders so that religion can be a solution to various problems.