Ambassador of Algeria and Dean of the Group of African Ambassadors in Jakarta Abdelkader Aziria said that many events had taken place since last year's celebration of African Day at the Algerian Embassy, which marked bilateral relations of the continent with Indonesia.
"These include exchanges of visits from both sides, African participation in several forums held in Indonesia, Africa's support for Indonesia's candidacy to the United Nations Security Council for the 2019-2020 mandate," he said.
The celebration was preceded by the organization of a panel discussion on the theme "Indonesia-Africa Investments and Trade Relations: Opportunities and Challenges".
Ambassador Aziria said exchanges and interactions between Africa and Indonesia have proven potential and broad opportunities to strengthen their relations of cooperation and partnership.
According to him, this was emphasized by most speakers at the panel of discussions, which included prominent academicians, diplomats, media, and other stakeholders.
Participants express their encouragement to the Indonesian investors to invest in Africa and to African investors to invest in Indonesia, he said.
The Group celebrated the 56th anniversary of the creation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) on May 25, 1963, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, by the African founding fathers and which succeeded in July 2002 in Durban, South Africa, the African Union, on the occasion of the 38th OAU Summit.
The reference to many decisions, declarations, resolutions, and others was adopted since the birth of OAU, showing that Africa has managed to achieve significant gains in the continental and international levels during the past 56 years.
These include progress in the area of liberation of African countries and peoples from colonial domination and racial discrimination, the peaceful resolution of conflicts and the promotion of integration, unity and African solidarity.
Ambassador Aziria mentioned some very recent examples of its achievements, such as the launch in 2018 by the African Union of the single market on air transport in Africa, the signing of the agreement on the African continent of free trade and the protocol on the free movement of people and the African passport.
He also said the year of 2018 had been declared as an anti-corruption year. While 2019 is the launch of the theme "Year of Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons for Sustainable Solutions to Forced Displacement in Africa".
"The continued support of Africa and Indonesia for the legitimate struggle of the Palestinian people for their independence must also be emphasized," he said. "In this regard, the African Union adopted at its 32nd Summit a statement on the situation in the Middle East and Palestine," Aziria noted.
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Reporter: Mohamad Anthoni
Editor: Azizah Fitriyanti
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