Asia-Africa is future of the world, says Jokowi

Indonesian President Joko Widodo. AP FILE PHOTO

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo says equatorial countries and the Asian and African regions, with their huge human resources and economic potentials, are the future of the world; thus, through Asian-African cooperation, they could become developed and prosperous regions.

“I want to convey our belief that the future of the world lies on the equator; our future is on the two continents, Asia and Africa,” he said as quoted by Antara news agency during the opening of the 60th Asian-African Conference Commemoration in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The President said that in current international cooperation and the architecture of international politics, injustice and inequalities among regions had continued to occur.

“The world is now still full of injustice and is facing new challenges [in developing international cooperation] based on justice and equality,” he said.

Jokowi further said that imbalances occurred not only in the global political architecture, but also in international cooperation in the field of economics and other sectors, hampering the development of Asian and African countries.

“To reform the global architecture, there is a need for a collective global leadership,” Jokowi said in his speech.

While highlighting Indonesia’s position as having one of the biggest Muslim populations in the world, Jokowi also said that Indonesia was one of the world’s economic powers; thus, it was ready to cooperate with all countries, especially Asian and African countries, to realize a global order that was more just and equal.

After his speech, Jokowi officially opened the conference by striking a gong, accompanied by Myanmar President Thein Shein and Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi.

Several heads of state and government, including Sultan Hasanal Bolkiah of Brunei Darussalam, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Al Hamdallah, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, King Abdullah II of Jordan, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Thailand Prime Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-ocha, were present.