"The archipelagic and island countries are the most vulnerable to climate change impact," the president stated after closing the First High-Level Meeting (HLM) of the AIS Forum here on Wednesday.
Indonesia's active involvement in the summit that was held on October 10-11 in Nusa Dua, Bali, aims to bolster relations among AIS countries, strengthen global cooperation in the maritime sector, and enhance discussions between the private sector, academia, and communities.
Before the HLM, the AIS Forum Secretariat had held the AIS Youth Conference, the AIS Startup Blue Business Summit, the AIS Blue Economy High-Level Dialogue, and the AIS Research and Development (R&D) Conference.
The president remarked that in order to tackle climate change, AIS participating countries need to find solutions that are based on innovation and technology.
He explained that the forum encourages innovative development in four working areas, namely climate change adaptation, blue economy implementation, marine ecosystem protection, and good maritime governance.
"These can be very beneficial for the people of archipelagic countries because oceans are the resources of life, especially for fishermen. We can apply the innovations that we found. That is what I think is important," he remarked.
In his statement, the president said that implementation of the 1st HLM of the AIS Forum is one of Indonesia's commitments to work on a higher level of cooperation.
He expected that the summit could be a step for AIS to be a treaty-based international organization that can produce concrete cooperation in addressing regional and global issues.
Jokowi expressed hope that through the forum, AIS participating countries would voice the interests of developing, archipelagic, and island nations.
The AIS Forum also agreed on upholding the principles of equality, solidarity, and inclusivity in building potential cooperation.
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Translator: Rangga J, Yashinfa P, Kenzu
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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