According to the agenda issued by the Indonesian foreign affairs ministry, as the host of the ongoing NAM Senior Officials` Meeting (SOM), May 23-24, and the 16th NAM Ministerial Meeting, May 25-27, a plenary meeting of the NAM Senior Officials will be organized in the afternoon.
In the evening, Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa will host a dinner reception for NAM foreign ministers at Nusa Dua.
In the minister meeting, NAM is expected to official accept Fiji and Azerbaijan as its new members, bringing the total number of NAM member countries into 120.
The senior officials meeting will be followed by a Commemorative Meeting expected to produce a Bali Commemorative Declaration (BCD) to mark the 50th anniversary of NAM.
Egypt is the current chairman of NAM. The theme of the 16th NAM ministerial meeting and the Commemorative meeting is "Shared Vision on the Contribution of NAM for The next 50 years."
The meeting will review the NAM progress since the Summit in Sharm El Sheik, Egypt, in July 2009.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to officially open the 16th NAM Ministerial Meeting in Nusa Dua, Wednesday (May 25).
At present, almost 60 percent of the United Nations (UN) members are NAM members.
The NAM meeting`s organizing committee has invited 118 member countries, Fiji and Azerbaijan as the new members, 18 observer countries (such as Argentine, Bosnia, Brazil, China, Serbia, Mexico and Ukraine), 10 observer organizations (among others the African Union, the United Nations, and the Organization of the Islamic Conference - OIC), 26 guest countries (such as the United States, Japan, and Russia), and 23 guest organizations (among others UNIDO, UNESCAP, and ICRC).
NAM was founded in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, in September 1961, to forge solidarity, boost confidence and unite visions of 25 developing countries joining the Belgrade meeting. (*)
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
