APD | Indonesia holds high level dialogue on Indo Pacific cooperation

By APD writer Aditya Nugraha

JAKARTA, March 21 (APD) – Indonesia commenced on Wednesday the 2-day forum of High-Level Dialogue on Indo Pacific Cooperation, aimed at promoting cooperation to create collective prosperity among countries around Indian and Pacific oceans.

The forum themed “Towards Peaceful, Prosperous and Inclusive Region” attended by representatives of 18 countries in the resourceful region.

Speaking in his remarks to open the forum, Indonesia Vice President Jusuf Kalla said that upholding stability in the region is an important task to expand the cooperation in the region.

Sharing of strategies and conducting collective efforts should also be conducted to assure prosperity in Indo Pacific economies inhabited by 3/5 of global population that has combined GDP of 52 trillion U.S. Dollars, he said.

Besides that, collective efforts are essential to support each nation in the region to achieve 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“We have to be able to preserve long-term collaboration among countries in Indo-Pacific region,” Jusuf said in the inaugural forum held in a lavish hotel here.

He added that cooperation in maritime sector is an urgent task need to be established in the region that has massive resources in the sector.

The inaugural forum is attended by representatives from China, Australia, the United States, the Philippines, India, Japan, South Korea, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Russia, New Zealand, Singapore Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand.

Indonesia Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi expects that participant countries can make constructive and interactive communications to source for cooperation between them on openness and transparency principles in the informal forum initiated by Indonesia. 

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)