COVID-19 Is Far From Over, Jokowi Invites The State To Move Fast Non-Aligned Movement

The President follows virtually from the Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java Province, Monday (4/5). (Photo: BPMI)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) attended the Non-aligned Movement (NAM) High Level Conference specifically to discuss the handling of COVID-19 from the Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java Province, Monday, May 4 evening.

The 2020 NAM Summit was held in Baku, Azerbaijan. The event was preceded by the opening remarks by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev as Chairman of the NAM this year at 18.00 WIB or 15.00 Azerbaijan time.

The NAM summit this time is themed "United against COVID-19". Jokowi also invited heads of state and heads of state for the Non-aligned Movement (NAM) to unite against COVID-19.

"59 years ago the NAM was established to fight the" common enemy "of imperialism and neocolonalism. Currently our "common enemy" is COVID-19, "said Jokowi at the summit which was specially held in the context of handling COVID-19 in NAM member countries.

According to the President, this pandemic is far from over. Therefore, the President invited NAM countries to move quickly, carefully and strategically. The President also conveyed three important things that the NAM countries need to prioritize.

"First, strengthen the political solidarity between us, because only by working together can we win this war," said the President.

Jokowi also invited NAM member countries to fully focus their energy and time to face this COVID-19 challenge. "Second, translate this political solidarity into concrete cooperation. We must strive to get fair and timely access to medicines and vaccines for COVID-19 at affordable prices, "said the President.

Furthermore, the President also emphasized that the patent regime and intellectual property rights related to drugs and vaccines can be applied flexibly for the sake of humanity. In addition, the President also invited to strengthen cooperation in restoring the global supply chain for trade in health products and food needs.

"Third, strengthening global partnerships for developing countries. We need to voice and fight for commitments for development and humanitarian assistance, debt relief, as well as debt payment obligations from official creditors that can be transferred to finance the handling of COVID-19, "said the President.

The President added that the G-20 commitment to defer debt payments for low-income countries needs to be implemented. At the end of his remarks, the President reiterated that multilateralism must remain the basis of international cooperation.

"In the future, developing countries must strive to improve global health governance so that we are better prepared to handle pandemics in the future," said the President.

The NAM Summit this year coincides with the momentum of the 65th Anniversary of the Ten Principles of Bandung in 2020 and the 60th Anniversary of the founding of the NAM in 2021.

The heads of state attended the summit in alphabetical order, namely the President of Azerbaijan as Chairman of NAM Ilham Aliyev, President of the 74th UN General Assembly Tijjani Muhammed Bande, Director General of WHO Tedros Adhanom, Chair of the African Union Commission Mousa Faki Mahamat, President of Afghanistan Ashraf Gani, President of Algeria Abdelmadjid Tebboune.

Then, Cuban President Miguel Diaz Canel, President of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, President of Indonesia Joko Widodo, President of Iran Hassan Rouhani, President of Mauritius Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, President of Nicaragua Daniel Ortega. Also present were Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, Pakistani President Arif Alvi, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Furthermore, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Head of Sudanese Sovereignty Council Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman Burhan, Togolese President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe, President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, and Namibian Vice President Nangolo Mbumba.

The heads of government in attendance were Belarusian Prime Minister Syarhey Rumas, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyidin Yassin, Nepalese Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oil, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, and Bahrain's Deputy Prime Minister. Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa.