Bali – Indonesia has once again demonstrated its capacity as a good host with the official launch of two prestigious international forums, the High-Level Forum on Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships (HLF MSP) and the 2nd Indonesia Africa Forum (IAF), which will take place in Bali on 1-3 September 2024.
These two events are not only important venues for discussion and decision-making, but also evidence of Indonesia’s commitment to strengthening diplomatic and economic relations with countries around the world, especially Africa.
President Jokowi also welcomed the delegates who became a symbol of warm diplomacy typical of Indonesia.
“Indonesia is honored to host the High Level Multiparty Partnership Forum and the 2nd Indonesia-Africa Forum to advance inclusive and sustainable global development,” said the President.
The President said that cooperation and solidarity between Indonesia and African countries are important because the relationship between the two has been well established and must be continued.
“Indonesia remains committed to strengthening cooperation and solidarity with countries in the African region, and this will continue to be continued by the next government,” said the President.
According to the Deputy for Politics, Law, Defense, and Security of the Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas) Bogat Widyatmoko, all stakeholders in the forum were facilitated to create innovative solutions and real action.
“With the theme ‘Strengthening Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships for Development: Towards a Transformative Change,’ this forum facilitates all stakeholders in creating innovative solutions and real actions, so that Global South countries can achieve sustainable progress,” he said.
He continued that one of the initiatives to be discussed is the Global Blended Finance Alliance (GBFA), a collective mechanism that aims to provide sustainable and inclusive funding for MSMEs.
According to him, this alternative funding mechanism is very important to encourage the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030, increase inbound-outbound investment, and strengthen microfinance.
“This mechanism not only helps MSMEs access funding, but also strengthens their involvement in the global supply chain, so that they can contribute more to the national economy,” he added.
Meanwhile, according to Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (Wamenlu) Pahala Mansury, African countries have an increasingly important role in the global economy, especially for Indonesia.
“African countries are recorded as having 10% of the world’s oil reserves and 8% of gas. In addition, they are also rich in critical minerals such as 55% of the world’s cobalt reserves, 48% of manganese reserves and 22% of the world’s graphite reserves,” he said.
Pahala hopes that Indonesia’s role as host can invite the participation of participating countries to jointly develop the natural resources of each country so that they are not exploited by other parties and can be enjoyed by the people of their own countries.