Vice President Ma'ruf Amin Becomes Chairman Of The Indonesian Delegation At The ASEAN Laos Summit

Vice President Ma'ruf Amin/PHOTO BETWEEN HO BPMI SETWAPRES

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Kemlu) has confirmed that Vice President Ma'ruf Amin will take on the role of Chair of the Indonesian Delegation in the 44th and 45th Summits of ASEAN in Laos, next week.

"The Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia will be the chairman of the Indonesian delegation and will be present at all meetings, both the ASEAN plenary session and the ASEAN interface meeting," said Director General of ASEAN Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sidharto R. Suryodipuro, as reported by ANTARA, Friday, October 4.

He explained that the main message that Ma Ruf will bring at the ASEAN Summit is the achievement and follow-up to the results of Indonesia's leadership in ASEAN last year.

The Vice President will convey a message regarding the importance of increasing ASEAN's capacity as a center of world growth and stability and strengthening ASEAN institutions and regional stability.

The Palestinian issue will also be one of the priorities conveyed by Vice President Ma'ruf Amin at the ASEAN Summit.

According to him, this issue is important because it involves the protection of civilians and respect for international norms and laws that must be obeyed by ASEAN countries.

Sidharto ensured that the Vice President would attend an interface meeting with parliamentary representatives through AIPA (ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly), with representatives of the business world through the ASEAN Business Advisory Council, and with youth representatives, in addition to core meetings at the ASEAN Summit and with speech partners.

The presence of Ma'ruf Amin to represent President Joko Widodo in this ASEAN Summit series cannot be separated from the dynamics of Jokowi's transition to President-elect Prabowo Subianto this month.

Sidharto ensured that this had no impact at all on Indonesia's recognition of the importance of ASEAN's position and role in the region, although usually, the chairman of the national delegation at the ASEAN Summit is the Head of State.

Moreover, the commitment to strengthen Indonesia-ASEAN cooperation has been proven by the upcoming government, namely through a series of visits made by Prabowo to a number of countries in Southeast Asia last month even before being inaugurated as president.