Receiving the MIKTA Leadership Battalion, Indonesia Prioritizes Multilateralism to Digital Transformation

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and the MiKTA foreign ministers met in India. (Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia)

JAKARTA - Indonesia has prepared three priorities when it received the baton for the chairmanship of MIKTA (Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey, Australia) from Turkey at the MIKTA meeting in New Delhi, India Thursday.

In her remarks during the handover of the chairmanship, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia Retno Marsudi conveyed three priorities for Indonesia's chairmanship at MIKTA.

First, Indonesia's priority is strengthening multilateralism. Foreign Minister Retno explained that currently, multilateralism is under pressure.

Therefore, according to him, MIKTA must be at the forefront of maintaining multilateralism in order to promote security, stability, and common prosperity.

"Indonesia believes that multilateralism is the best way to ensure that all countries stand on the same level and prevent the arbitrariness of those in power," said Foreign Minister Retno, quoted from a statement by the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on March 3.

Indonesia's next leadership priority is inclusive recovery. Foreign Minister Retno explained that developing countries continue to face dismal prospects due to various global challenges. If this continued, the world would never be able to truly recover.

Therefore, she continued, MIKTA must coordinate actions to realize a strong and inclusive global recovery.

"The goal of sustainable development remains MIKTA's core agenda which is strengthened by inclusive dialogue with external partners," she explained.

Finally, the priority for Indonesia's chairmanship for the next year is digital transformation. Foreign Minister Retno said that digitalization is the future of a prosperous MIKTA economy. Digitalization creates great opportunities but also comes with challenges, such as misinformation and disinformation.

"This year, MIKTA must intensify its efforts to build norms, share best practices and galvanize a collective response," said the Foreign Minister.

Foreign Minister Retno added that with Indonesia as chairman of MIKTA and ASEAN, she hopes that the two forums can become a bridge and a positive force in the global political arena.

It is known that this time the MIKTA meeting resulted in a Joint Communiqué and was carried out on the sidelines of a series of meetings of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs (FMM) of the G20 countries in New Delhi, India.