Puan Said, The RI-Pacific Parliament Forum Presents Dialogue With Melanesia Countries

Chairman of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Puan Maharani. Photo: Doc/Andri

JAKARTA - Said DPR Speaker Puan Maharani, the Indonesia-Pacific Parliamentary Partnership (IPPP) session will present a dialogue with Melanesia's clumpy countries. IPPP itself is an Indonesian parliamentary forum with archipelagic countries in the Pacific which was initiated by the DPR.

"There are 8 Speakers of Parliament who are present from 12 countries, and 1 regional organization, namely the Melanesian Spearhead Group, which was present at the second IPPP meeting," said Puan, Wednesday, July 24.

The 2nd IPPP session will be held on July 24-26, 2024 in Jakarta. IPPP itself is a DPR diplomacy initiative forum to involve parliaments of archipelagic countries in the Pacific Ocean, which so far have not been explored much.

According to Puan, the main objective of holding the IPP Session is to strengthen parliamentary diplomacy in building cooperation with Pacific countries in fields that are shared priorities, such as maritime, blue economy, connectivity and construction of SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) or sustainable development goals.

"Another goal is to strengthen the Pacific acceleration strategy which we simply interpret as Indonesia's effort to continuously improve and strengthen Indonesia's presence, through friendship and partnership with countries in the Pacific," he said.

The 2nd IPPP session in Jakarta has the theme Partnership for Prosperity: Fostering Regional Connectivity and Inclusive Development. At the IPPP hearings tomorrow, the parliament of passive countries will discuss a number of global issues.

Some of the issues raised at the 2nd IPPP Session are related to how to tackle climate change, promote sustainable development, and support for the blue economy and sustainable tourism.

Then the parliament of passive countries will also discuss efforts to strengthen the role of women and youth as well as friendship to inter-cultural cooperation. This event will also hold a parliamentary dialogue event with countries with Melanesia clumps that are members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) organization.

As is known, there are several provinces in eastern Indonesia that enter the Pacific region and there are also Melanesia clumps, namely Maluku, North Maluku, NTT, and 6 provinces in Papua.

"Indonesia is an inseparable part of the Pacific community from both aspects of identity and geographical similarity," explained Puan.

Apart from Indonesia, the parliamentary dialogue between MSG members will be attended by the leaders of the Fiji parliament, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea. Puan believes that the solidity between Indonesian countries can continue to grow through meetings at IPPP.

The IPPP delegates have started arriving in Jakarta today. Apart from Indonesia, the parliament of the Pacific countries that will attend the 2nd IPPP Session is from the Cook Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, Bribery, Kiribati, and the Republic of Fiji.

Meanwhile, the Vanuatu, Nauru, Palau, Frenchmen and New Caledonia state parliaments have not been able to attend invitations.

"Therefore, I believe that this IPPP meeting can provide added value in the relationship between Pacific countries and Indonesia," said Puan. "This added value will be obtained if we succeed in contributing to voicing the aspirations of the people to build a conducive Pacific region," added Puan.

On the third day of the meeting, the delegation will be invited to take a field trip to the Science & Techno Park of the Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB) and Kebon Raya Bogor. This field trip aims to introduce Indonesia's flora wealth and show various studies on how Indonesia does downstream marine products.