Indonesia will hold the 144th Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Bali. This international momentum needs broad public support because it is a momentum to explore cooperation with many world parliaments.
In the international world, Indonesia has a wide range of relationships and President Jokowi can freely converse with all the country’s leaders. Indonesia has also joined in many international forums such as the G20 and the IPU. By joining these organizations there will be many benefits, including increasing investment in this country.
The IPU event which will be held in Bali will also benefit Indonesia. The Chairperson of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Puan Maharani, stated that the IPU session would be a momentum for parliaments from various countries to jointly build global commitments in efforts to deal with the pandemic and its impacts. Considering this year’s IPU theme is Getting to Zero, mobilizing parliament to act on climate change.
Puan continued, there will be a meeting to discuss cooperation between parliaments. These include Spain, Ukraine and Slovakia. The cooperation in the fields of education, economy, health, technology, etc. It is hoped that with the cooperation, both parties will be more advanced and equal in the financial and other fields.
Cooperation in the field of education is mandatory because there are many positive things that happened after the IPU meeting in Bali. It could be that later students get special access or even get scholarships to study in Spain or Slovakia. At least there is a student exchange so that there is an introduction to different cultures, thus enriching the treasures of students in Indonesia.
Meanwhile, the most important cooperation is of course in the economic field, because all members of the IPU are equally struggling to overcome the impact of the pandemic. Indonesia can export its superior products such as coffee and other agricultural products to Spain or other IPU member countries. State foreign exchange will increase.
Indonesia can also export fashion collections, especially Muslim clothing, especially soon for Eid. Clothing and hijab collections by Indonesian designers can reach Bahrain and Oman, as well as other Arabian peninsula countries that are members of the IPU. They admire the work of creative designers but the collections still cover their nakedness.
In addition to beneficial cooperation, IPU will collaborate to advance each other. When the IPU was founded, the goal was to achieve equality of progress, so that none of its members were left behind, especially in the field of technology. So the IPU meeting is very important because each delegation can evaluate, is the country developed enough? Other countries will be happy to help, at least make suggestions.
In this forum, the DPR RI represents Indonesia, because in the IPU the delegates are the parliament, not the president or the foreign minister. The DPR carries out its function to represent Indonesia and get along with other delegates, so that relations between countries are getting closer.
Indonesia was very proud when it became the host of the IPU because despite its status as a developing country, it was trusted to be the committee for international events. This shows the trust of the international community. So that it will be answered by being a good committee, who welcomes delegates and prepares events with strict health protocol standards.
The Inter Parliamentary Union is not just an ordinary forum, but an international organization whose goals are mutually beneficial among its members. Indonesia will reap many benefits, because there will be cooperation in the fields of economy, education, technology, and so on. Therefore, with the smoothness and success of the event, it is hoped that it will have a positive impact on the people.
Alya Rohali, Author is a contributor to the Circle of the Equator
