Director General of Information and Public Communication of the Ministry of Communication and Informatics Usman Kansong made the statement at a press briefing in Jakarta on Monday.
Kansong remarked that the Indonesian government expects that the 2023 AIS Forum Summit will be attended by participants representing 51 archipelagic and island countries, with a target of 25 representatives at the head-of-state or government level and about 30 to 47 representatives at the ministerial level.
The AIS Forum high-level meeting will also be attended by nine heads of international organizations, including the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
In addition, the forum will be attended by heads or leaders from intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, including the United Nations (UN), the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA).
According to Kansong, the main focus of holding this year's AIS Forum high-level meeting is to establish the AIS Forum as an international organization based on a treaty or charter.
The main theme promoted at the 2023 AIS Forum is "Fostering Collaboration, Enabling Innovation for Our Ocean and Our Future."
Furthermore, the forum carries three sub-themes: Blue Economy; Our Oceans, Our Future; and Solidarity.
The "Blue Economy" sub-theme aims to make the blue economy a driver for economic recovery and transformation in archipelagic and island states in order to build community livelihoods based on environmental sustainability.
The "Our Ocean, Our Future" sub-theme aims to emphasize concern about the real threat of climate change that has a crucial impact on the future of the ocean and the future of the population of archipelagic and island countries throughout the world.
Meanwhile, the "Solidarity" sub-theme aims to emphasize the three main principles of interdependence, mutual aid, and mutual benefit. These three principles were adapted from the concept of Indonesia's "gotong-royong," or mutual cooperation.
The 51 countries participating in the AIS Forum are Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belize, Cabo Verde, Cook Islands, Comoros, Cuba, Cyprus, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Fiji, Federated States of Micronesia, Grenada, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Kiribati, Madagascar, Maldives, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Nauru, Niue, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Timor-Leste, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Tonga, the United Kingdom, and Vanuatu.
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Reporter: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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