Remarks of President of the Republic of Indonesia at the 15th BRICS Summit, Johannesburg, South Africa, August 24, 2023

Thank you, President Ramaphosa.

Excellencies,

Today’s world is moving as if without a captain, as if moving without a clear compass. War and conflict have caused humanitarian tragedies; food crisis has resulted in tens of millions of people falling into poverty, not to mention the threat of climate change that lurks on mankind. From the pandemic, we have learned that the global crisis cannot be resolved if we work in a silo or if it is conducted by just a group of countries. It takes collective collaboration and solidarity to overcome it.

My presence here today is not only as the leader of Indonesia, but as a fellow leader of the Global South that represents 85 percent of the world’s population who are seeking a win-win formula.

My presence here is also based on the desire to continue to revive the ‘Spirit of Bandung’ which is still very relevant today, in which solidarity, solidity, and cooperation amongst developing countries need to continue to be strengthened.

Excellencies,

Before we discuss the various cooperation, there is one basic thing that we must agree on. All of us must be consistent in respecting international law and human rights. We are all seeing that the current world economic order is very unfair. The development gap is getting wider. The number of poor and starving people continues to increase. This situation cannot be left unresolved.

Developing countries must unite to fight for our rights. Trade discrimination must be rejected. Industry downstreaming cannot be hindered. All of us must continue to voice equal and inclusive cooperation. BRICS can serve as the forefront in the fight for development justice and the reform of fairer global governance.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

(RY/MUR)