"We have successfully organized 1.2 thousand capacity building trainings for Palestinians, which surpasses our commitment of one thousand."Jakarta (Antara News) - Indonesia and South Africa will review the New Asian African Strategic Partnership (NAASP) for Palestinian state-building efforts.
"The South African Foreign Affairs Minister will visit Indonesia to attend the CEAPAD II meeting as well as to hold bilateral talks with Indonesia, including the review of the NAASP implementation and to discuss its second phase," stated Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director General of Information and Public Diplomacy A.M. Fachir during the press briefing of CEAPAD II here on Wednesday.
As the co-chairs of NAASP, Indonesia and South Africa had initiated the NAASP ministerial meeting on capacity building for Palestine during 2008, in an endeavor to implement the first pillar of the NAASP on political solidarity.
An agreement for capacity building in training was reached. The program involved offering training to ten thousand Palestinians and ended in 2013. A thousand Palestinians were imparted training by Indonesias support.
According to Foreign Affairs Ministrys Director of Technical Cooperation Siti Nugraha Mauludiah, as per rough estimates, Indonesia had contributed US$ 10 million towards Palestinian capacity building training program during the period of 2008 to 2013.
"We have successfully organized 1.2 thousand capacity building trainings for Palestinians, which surpasses our commitment of one thousand," she claimed.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed that Indonesia had donned the role of a technical provider country, taking into consideration the slight capacity gap among Indonesia and other developing countries.
The NAASP review agenda was incorporated into Indonesias role as the host of the second meeting of Conference on Cooperation Among East Asian Countries for Palestinian Development (CEAPAD II) in Jakarta, on March 1, 2013.
Also, as one of the co-chairs of CEAPAD II with Japan and Palestine, Indonesia expects the CEAPAD II participants to offer concrete contribution on capacity building program of Palestine based on the critical needs in the agriculture, tourism, information and communication technology, and light manufacturing sectors.
As of now, the delegates from Brunei Darussalam, Singapore, Japan, Thailand, Palestine, and United Arab Emirates (UAE) have confirmed their attendance in the CEAPAD II meeting in Jakarta. While the delegates from international organizations such as Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Islamic Development Bank (IDB), World Bank, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), The Arab League, and The Quartet Office (UK) will also attend the meeting. (*)
Reporter: Azi Fitriyanti
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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