Jakarta (ANTARA) - Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said on Wednesday that multilateralism is the only way for the world to collaborate in overcoming global challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, conflicts, inflation, and climate change.

"The world has become highly interconnected and global economic shocks will not discriminate against any country, whether it is developed, developing, or an emerging market country," Indrawati told the ADB Annual Meeting Governors' Seminar 2023 in Incheon, South Korea, which was followed online on Wednesday.

She emphasized that policymakers in every country must support multilateralism as the main foundation for cooperation.

A country's ability to cooperate will become the basis of policy making, she said.

She cited the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as an example of multilateralism in practice in Asia, along with other institutions such as the World Bank, African Development Bank, Latin American Development Bank, American Development Bank, and Islamic Development Bank.

"For multilateralism to succeed, capability, instruments, and resources must be created to help member states achieve or address these problems, but for multilateralism to work effectively, governments must have trust and confidence," she said.

Effective and legitimate governance is crucial for supporting multilateralism, she added.

Indonesia is a member of several multilateral institutions, both as a shareholder and borrower, and is playing a positive and constructive role.

As a member country, she said, Indonesia has development experience that can be shared with other countries, as multilateral institutions are not only related to financing, but also to knowledge and experience.

"This will allow countries around the world to work together and learn from each other's experiences so that we can learn faster and not start from scratch," the former World Bank managing director said.

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Translator: Agatha V, Kenzu
Editor: Anton Santoso
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