Preparation for IORA Leaders' Summit on Track

JAKARTA, IORA – It was unusual busy Saturday afternoon (4/3) at the Jakarta Convention Centre (JCC). The atmosphere looked increasingly crowded after Minister of State Secretary Pratikno , Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi, Minister of Trade Enggartiasto Lukita, and Minister of Communications and Information Technology Rudiantara came to review the preparation for the IORA Summit to be held on 5 – 7 March 2017. In a statement delivered before the journalists, Minister of State Secretary said that preparation for the IORA Summit is already on track. It is already more than 90 percent. "IORA is 20 years old now, and this is the first summit ever. We would like to express heartfelt appreciation to the President, to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. We check the last preparation and we will check again tomorrow. On Monday, the venue will be used," Pratikno explained. He further added that the IORA Leaders’ Summit constitutes a new milestone for IORA under the chairmanship of Indonesia. On the domestic front, President Joko Widodo has declared Indonesia as the fulcrum of world maritime, and APEC is already strong, so now it is time for Indonesia to become a leader in IORA. Furthermore, Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi explained the review to the JCC aims to check the preparation for the IORA Leaders' Summit to be held on 7 March 2017. This summit is held for the first time since it was established 20 years ago. The series of summit will start on 5 March 2017 and it will be preceded by the Senior Official Meeting (SOM). "The meeting will begin tomorrow preceded by the first meeting of the SOM to negotiate all the documents that will be produced in IORA, both at the ministerial and the summit levels," Retno said. The SOM will conduct negotiations related to three documents to be produced entitled the “IORA Concord”, the “IORA Action Plan” as well as the “IORA Declaration on Countering Violent Extremism leading to Terrorism. Director General for Asia Pacific and Africa Desra Percaya, will chair the first day's activities. There will be two big events on 6 March. First, the ministerial meeting to look into three documents produced at the SOM level. "From the experience, new negotiations can be resolved at the senior officials level, therefore, it should be taken at ministerial level and will be held on 6 March ," Retno added. Along with the Foreign Ministerial Meeting, the IORA Business Summit will also be held for the first time which will be opened by President Joko Widodo. Meanwhile, the Leaders’ Summit will take place on 7 March and will be led by the troika of IORA, namely Indonesia as the current IORA Chair, South Africa as the next IORA Chair, and Australia as the previous IORA Chair. The reason for Indonesia to host the IORA Leaders’ Summit for the first time is intertwined with the current geopolitical conditions of Indonesia. During the so-called Council of Distance structure, the Concord is usually taken at ministerial level. During the chairmanship of Indonesia, Indonesia considers that IORA in facing the current situation and future challenges requires a push from the Leaders so that IORA is able to move forward, be more responsive, and further optimize the time available. Based on these things, Indonesia proposes to hold the IORA Leaders’ Summit in commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of the IORA. Moreover, Minister of Trade explained the Business Summit, which is held for the first time, is the meeting between the leaders of the state and the leaders of business world. The Indian Ocean region becomes the future of the world economy, "It has great potential, but we also note that there is a gap between developed countries and less developed countries. This is the importance of the Business Summit because the tendency is that the state which is still below the economic growth will be higher so the chances are big. Meanwhile developing countries are already low and their economic growth is low and this will co-exist and need each other," the Minister said. The output of the Business Summit is a joint declaration between the Chamber of Commerce and member states of IORA, which will then be followed by a discussion of business activities that can be extracted together, both in the trade and investment. While the interest of the businessmen is very large. "At first, it is estimated that only 150 CEOs who will join the IORA Business Summit but now it has reached 300 CEOs," the Minister said. A review of the preparation for the 2017 IORA Leaders’ Summit then ends by checking each room and coordination meetings.