The ASEAN-Indo-Pacific Forum aims to transform competition in the Indo-Pacific region into mutually beneficial cooperation and create a habit of creating win-win cooperation without feeling left out.
JAKARTA (Antara) – Indonesia continues to promote economic cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region to address challenges posed by geopolitical rivalries and potential conflicts, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said at the opening meeting of the ASEAN-Indo-Pacific Forum (AIPF). ) here on Tuesday.
Through the AIPF – to be held in Jakarta on September 5 and 6, 2023, as the flagship event of the 43rd ASEAN Summit – Indonesia seeks to tap into ASEAN’s potential market and promising investment opportunities in the collective population of its member states. 680 million is estimated.
„The ASEAN-Indo-Pacific Forum exists to transform competition in the Indo-Pacific into mutually beneficial cooperation and create a habit of creating win-win cooperation without feeling left out,” President Widodo said.
AIPF will discuss three key issues — green infrastructure and flexible supply chains, innovative sustainable finance, as well as digital transformation and the creative economy.
President Widodo said ASEAN’s economy, which is expected to grow strongly through the development of the downstream industry and electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem, is a concrete example of efforts to build a regional supply chain.
He noted that ASEAN needs US$29.4 trillion for energy transition and innovative financing projects through mutually beneficial and sustainable partnerships.
He further highlighted the importance of collaboration in digital transformation and the creative economy, which is estimated to continue growing to USD 1 trillion by 2030.
At the opening session of the AIPF, President Widodo commended ASEAN countries and their partners for their contribution and support to 93 cooperation projects worth US$38.2 billion and 73 potential projects worth US$17.8 billion.
„It reflects our commitment to establishing a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific region. Our joint efforts can bring enormous benefits to the people of the region and beyond,” he said.
In line with President Widodo, State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Eric Tohir emphasized the importance of regional cooperation and said it was key to achieving Indo-Pacific progress.
„The transformative power of regional cooperation will spur progress with ASEAN and the Indo-Pacific communities,” he added.
In the face of increasingly complex global challenges, Tohir said the Indonesian government, through its state-owned enterprises, is actively collaborating with global partners to address issues in multiple sectors.
This collaboration is evident from forming strategic alliances to build a battery value chain ecosystem, promoting collaboration and expanding connectivity and digitization in all regions and participating in regional infrastructure development, he pointed out.
The minister added that the AIPF will be able to spur new partnerships, strengthen existing relationships and promote innovative solutions – prompt discussions across both ASEAN and the Indo-Pacific.
As part of Indonesia’s ASEAN chairmanship this year, the AIPF is being held as a platform to promote constructive dialogue as well as build inclusive and robust cooperation between SOEs and the private sector.
The AIPF is inspired by the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP), initiated by Indonesia and adopted by ASEAN member states in 2019.
It aims to strengthen an inclusive regional architecture, promote cooperation, strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation and harness existing opportunities in the Indo-Pacific region.
AIPF is in line with the theme of this year’s ASEAN Summit to make ASEAN a hub for development while maintaining peace, security, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.
The ASEAN region is considered to have enough capital to become a center of global economic growth with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of US$3.3 trillion by 2021.
Based on that number, ASEAN is the world’s fifth largest economic region. With its huge population, ASEAN also has the greatest potential to become a partner for cooperation.
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