President Jokowi Opens ASEAN-Indo-Pacific Forum
President Jokowi delivers his remarks at the opening of ASEAN-Indo-Pacific Forum in Jakarta, Tuesday (09/05). Photo by: Media Center of the 2023 ASEAN Summit/Risa Krisadhi/pras.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on Tuesday (09/05) officially opened the ASEAN-Indo-Pacific Forum (AIPF) at Mulia Hotel, Jakarta.
“Our region is not immune from various global challenges and sharpening geopolitical rivalries, especially the potential for conflict in the Indo-Pacific. To that end, the ASEAN-Indo-Pacific Forum aims to change rivalries in the Indo-Pacific region to fruitful cooperation, and to develop habit of cooperation with a win-win formula, without isolating any parties,” the President said in his remarks.
President Jokowi stated that AIPF has three main agendas. First, green infrastructure and a resilient supply chain, including through industrial downstreaming and the development of the electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem.
“The ASEAN economy will grow stronger through industrial downstreaming and the development of the EV ecosystem is a concrete example of regional supply chain development,” the President said.
According to the President, the second agenda is sustainable and innovative financing.
“ASEAN needs US$29.4 trillion for energy transition, and an innovative financing scheme is needed through profitable and sustainable partnership,” the President stated, adding that the third agenda is the digital transformation and the creative economy.
“The digital economy in ASEAN in 2030 is estimated to grow to US$1 trillion, and the adoption of digital innovation needs to be strengthened to support the creative economy and MSMEs,” the President said.
On that occasion, the President extended his appreciation for the support of ASEAN member countries and partner countries for 93 cooperation projects worth US$38.2 billion and 73 potential projects worth US$17.8 billion.
“It reflects our commitment to walk the talk, to build a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific. I hope that our efforts can provide great benefits for the people in the region and the world,” the President said.
In his remarks, the President also stated that ASEAN has great potential to become a center of economic growth and investment.
“We should be grateful that in the midst of a weakening world economy, the ASEAN economy has proven to be resilient and continues to grow beyond the growth of the global economy and beyond the growth in other regions. With a population of 680 million people, ASEAN is also a potential market with promising investment opportunities,” the President remarked.
During the event, a memorandum of understanding was also signed regarding the establishment of a national local currency transaction (LCT) task force. The cooperation framework was one of the agreements in the Leaders’ Declaration of the 42nd ASEAN Summit in Labuan Bajo last May, aiming to support economic stability by encouraging the use of local currencies in bilateral transactions between ASEAN countries. The task force involved 10 State agencies and ministries. (DND/UN) (RI/MMB)
