"These conditions have led to global economic uncertainties, with countries in the Global South being hit the hardest," Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi said at a press conference on the sidelines of the 2nd Indonesia-Africa Forum and High-Level Forum on Multi-Stakeholder Partnership (HLF-MSP) in Bali on Monday.
Indonesia believes that countries in the Global South should be on the same page about the need to play an active role in bringing improvements and work side by side to identify solutions to existing global problems, she added.
The minister stated that at the Joint Leaders' Session of the IAF and HLF-MSP earlier, President Joko Widodo and National Development Planning Minister Soeharso Monoarfa highlighted Indonesia's determination to strengthen South-South cooperation.
"At the opening of the Joint Leaders' Session, the Indonesian President pushed Global South nations to become a part of solutions to global issues, while underlining Indonesia's commitment to bridging differences and fighting for the interest of the Global South," she informed.
President Widodo also underlined the need for consistency in fighting for equality and justice for developing countries, guided by the belief that the time has come for Global South nations to make their voices heard and their right to development respected, she added.
Marsudi further said that the IAF is being held with the goal of solidifying the mutually beneficial economic partnerships between Indonesia and African nations, which have been well-fostered since the Asian-African Conference in Bandung, West Java, in 1955.
"It should be noted that some countries went as far as saying that the Spirit of Bandung will act as a compass for navigating efforts aimed at pursuing development and South-South cooperation," the minister added.
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Translator: Kuntum Khaira, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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