Foreign Minister Retno: Indonesia Disrupts South Global Solidarity To Become A Motivater Of Change

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi. (Source: Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

JAKARTA - Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said Indonesia took advantage of the 2nd Indonesia Africa Forum (IAF) title to call for global South solidarity to be the driving force for change.

This was said by Foreign Minister Retno when giving information on the sidelines of the 2nd IAF event in Badung, Bali on Monday.

"This morning until this afternoon, the President of the Republic of Indonesia has chaired the Joint Leaders' Session High-Level Forum on Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships (HLF-MSP) and the 2nd Indonesia Africa Forum (IAF 2)," said Foreign Minister Retno, in a statement from the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Monday, September 2.

"After the Leaders session is over, the HLF-MSP and IAF meetings will continue and will continue until tomorrow. Activities are not only in the form of plenary meetings like this morning, but also in the form of Leaders' talk, business matching, panel discussions and also side events," he continued.

He further explained that the total delegates who attended the two events reached more than 1,400 people from 29 countries.

Prior to this year's IAF event with the theme "Bandung Spirit for Africa Agenda 2063", the IAF was previously held in 2018.

The main goal is to strengthen mutually beneficial economic cooperation. Moreover, political and historical relations between Indonesia and Africa have been built firmly since 1955.

"Through the IAF Indonesia, we call for South Global solidity to be the driving force for change. We know that global conditions are currently increasingly worrying. This has resulted in the global economy becoming uncertain," said Foreign Minister Retno about the importance of the IAF event.

"And developing countries, countries from Global South, are the most affected. Therefore, South Global countries must have the same passion to be an important part of change and be part of solutions through partnerships and more solid cooperation," he explained.

Foreign Minister Retno explained, during today's meeting, the desire to strengthen southern-south cooperation was very clear. And, Spirit Bandung is used as a compass used to navigate southern-south cooperation.

President Joko Widodo, continued Foreign Minister Retno, also said that to be part of the solution to global problems, Indonesia is committed to continuing to play bridge builder, as a bridge between differences.

"And it is also a bridge in defending South's Global interests, as well as continuing to fight for equality, justice for developing countries. It's time for Global South's voice and interests to be heard, and South's Global right to development must be respected," he said.

Foreign Minister Retno said the 2nd IAF was also important to continue to ignite the Bandung Spirit. According to him, historical closeness to African countries must be maintained and the spirit of Bandung needs to continue to be discussed.

He is grateful that the spirit of Bandung remains part of the 'Africa Agenda 2061' which was launched in 2013.

"Several countries even said that Spirit Bandung will become a compass in navigating development efforts and cooperation between southern countries. And next year, it will coincide with the 70th anniversary of the KAA Summit, according to Indonesia's plan to organize the Platinum Jubilee of the Asian African Conference," he said.

Next, Foreign Minister Retno said the IAF was also important because it was one of the vehicles 'to strengthen partnerships with Africa'.

And, the IAF is also important to accelerate the achievement of the global SDGs target.

"Africa is too big not to be of our concern, and Indonesia has stated that it is ready to partner with African countries, especially in the food, energy, health and mineral sectors," said Foreign Minister Retno.