ER
PRESIDENT Joko Widodo (Jokowi) will conduct 13 bilateral meetings during the holding of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Jakarta on 5-7 September 2023.
“The bilateral meetings will so far continue to increase, (so far) there have been 13 (scheduled) bilateral meetings,” said Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, Friday (9/01).
He spoke to the media when accompanying President Jokowi to check the location of the 43rd ASEAN summit at the Jakarta Convention Center, Senayan, Central Jakarta.
In addition to bilateral meetings with partner countries, the Indonesian President is scheduled to preside over 12 summits, namely plenary sessions, informal meetings, the ASEAN-China Summit, the ASEAN-South Korea Summit, and the ASEAN-Japan Summit.
Apart from that are the ASEAN-United States Summit, the ASEAN-Canada Summit, the ASEAN-India Summit, the ASEAN-Australia Summit, the ASEAN-United Nations (UN) Summit, the ASEAN Plus Three Summit (China, Japan, South Korea), and the Asia Summit. East.
“So you can imagine that in three days the President had to chair a total of 25 meetings, 12 of which were summits,” said Retno.
Retno explained that the 43rd ASEAN Summit would be attended by 22 countries, of which 11 ASEAN countries – including Timor Leste – as well as nine dialogue partner countries.
The summit meeting was also attended by two invited countries, namely Bangladesh as chairman of the Association of Indian Ocean Rim Countries (IORA) and Cook Island as chairman of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).
IORA and PIF were invited, said Retno, as part of Indonesia’s priority as chairman of ASEAN to create an Indo-Pacific region that is peaceful, stable, prosperous and embraces all parties.
“So when we talk about the Indo-Pacific, there is the South Pacific side and the Indian Ocean Rim side that we must start to embrace,” said Retno.
The summit, which was held under the big theme “ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth”, was also attended by various international organizations that are ASEAN partners, namely the UN, World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Economic Forum (WEF). [antaranews]
