Bali – The Islands and Small Islands Summit (Summit) or Archipelagic and Islands States (AIS) Forum provides an opportunity for island and archipelagic countries throughout the world to collaborate in overcoming challenges and problems, especially in the sectors of marine development, climate change mitigation and overcoming pollution in the sea.
Assistant Deputy for Delimitation of Maritime Zones and Border Areas of the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Kemenko Marves), Sora Lokita, said that a number of island and archipelagic countries would participate in the first edition of the AIS Forum Summit on October 11 2023 in Bali.
According to him, Indonesia has an important and strategic role in the AIS Forum.
“Indonesia’s leadership is urgently needed to bridge collaboration between developed and developing countries in AIS. “Indonesia’s position makes it possible to encourage concrete and inclusive collaboration between countries without looking at differences in economic status or territorial size,” said Sora Lokita.
The Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi emphasized two things in the context of the AIS Forum collaboration, including the importance of the spirit of collaboration in overcoming global challenges.
“The AIS Forum must become a platform for collaborating to overcome global challenges, including through synergy with other initiatives,” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Second, the importance of strengthening unity to achieve common goals.
“A sustainable marine economy is a common goal that unites us. “We all depend on the sea as a source of food and life, but at the same time the sea also presents big challenges,” he explained.
Furthermore, Retno revealed that among these challenges are rising sea levels, marine debris, and excessive exploitation of marine resources.
“If it is not addressed, island countries will feel the biggest impact,” he added.
The AIS Forum Summit has the principle of embracing and collaborating with all island and archipelagic countries, as well as concretely creating programs that originate from the interests of the community.
“Indonesia is seen as having many best practices. We don’t want to save it only for our own needs, but we want to create a global movement where we can mobilize solutions to the problems of island and island countries from all over the world. “The hope is that this movement will become more massive and ultimately island and archipelagic countries can face challenges together,” explained Assistant Deputy for Delimitation of Maritime Zones and Border Areas at the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Sora Lokita.
Seeing the importance of solutions to the problems of island and archipelagic countries, Assistant Deputy Sora emphasized the target of the AIS Forum Summit, namely as a forum for aspirations and hopes that prioritize the interests of the people of the country itself. (*)
