President Joko Widodo Invites Prime Minister Turnbull to Make ASEAN-Australia Region Resilient
President Jokowi in the series of activities of ASEAN Summit, in Vientiane, Laos, on Wednesday (7/9) afternoon (Picture: Laily/Secretariat of the President)
President Joko Widodo invited Prime Minister of Australia Malcolm Turnbull to make ASEAN and Australia regions resilient. This invitation was delivered by the President at ASEAN-Australia Summit, in National Convention Center (NCC), Vientiane, Laos, Wednesday (7/9) afternoon.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi, quoting the statement of the President, told the journalists that in order to achieve that goal, it needs at least three things. First, efforts or cooperation to fight against Transnational Organized Crime or TOC.
There are two things mentioned by the President in the context of TOC. First, to fight againts extremism and radicalism, through, among others, intelligence cooperation, legislation cooperation, extremism and terrorism eradication, and more moderation actions, Retno told the journalists, on Wednesday (7/9) evening.
Concerning drugs, President Joko Widodo said that he pays special attention to this issue. The President does not want the future of Indonesian and ASEAN young people destroyed by drugs. Therefore, it needs cooperation including supervision in each country border and also intelligence information exchange.
Second, to materialize a resilient region, according to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the President emphasized that it needs to enhance maritime cooperation.The President said that Pacific and Indian Oceans are two oceans that connect ASEAN and Australia. The security in these oceans must be maintained, the Minister said.
The President asked to implement maritime cooperation in the context of East Asia Summit (EAS). According to the President, Indonesia and Australia are the first countries that will implement EAS through a meeting on maritime security to be held in Indonesia on November this year.
Indonesia and Australia, Retno Marsudi added, are two very active countries in maritime cooperation, particularly in the context of Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), since now Indonesia is the Chairman IORA and Australia was the previous Chairman.Australia and Indonesia continue to enhance maritime cooperation in IORA context and Indonesia certainly asks for Australias support during Indonesias chairmanship, Retno said.
ASEAN-Australia Summit Declaration
According to Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi, ASEAN-Australia Summit has produced Joint Declaration for Cooperation to Combat International Terrorism.
I have looked at the Joint Declaration. It mentioned, among others, cooperation echancement in JCLEC (Jakarta Center for Law Enforcement Cooperation) context. So, the Declaration acknowledges the efforts of JCLEC to fight against terrorism, Retno said.
According to the Minister, Prime Minister of Australia Malcom Turnbull mentioned a number of Indonesias roles in terrorism issue. Prime Minister Turnbull has mentioned Indonesias contribution to this issue twice, while he mentioned Indonesia-Australia cooperation once. The deradicalization efforts of President Joko Widodo was also mentioned in PM Turnbulls statement, Retno explained.
There was also a statement about Bali Process. It is one of mechanism that is really useful to prevent or to handle human trafficking.
The Minister said that Australia also proposed to hold Special Leader Summit in 2018 which will be held once in two years. It will be the first Summit after ASEAN and Australia established a strategic partnership in 2014. (EN/ES)(MMB/YM/Naster)
