Through the ASEAN-Indo-Pacific Forum (AIPF) held in Jakarta on 5-6 September 2023 as the flagship event of the 43rd ASEAN Summit, Indonesia showcased 93 cooperation projects worth US$38.2 billion and 73 potential projects worth US$17.8 billion, to encourage cooperation among ASEAN member countries and its partners in the Indo-Pacific region.
With a contribution of 64 percent to global economic growth, the Indo-Pacific is considered a strategic region where cooperation should be promoted instead of geopolitical rivalries and conflict, according to Vice Foreign Minister Pahala Nugraha Mansury.
“AIPF is expected to present the habit of cooperating and building together among ASEAN countries in the Indo-Pacific,” Pahala said during a press briefing after the forum’s opening in Jakarta on Tuesday.
The discussions and business-matching agenda during the two-day forum focus4d on three primary areas of cooperation, including green infrastructure and resilient supply chains, innovative sustainable financing, digital transformation and creative economy.
Those sectors, he said, are expected to be new sources of growth in the ASEAN – which is estimated to grow by 4.5 percent this year and the next, according to IMF.
As part of Indonesia’s ASEAN chairmanship, the AIPF has been held as a platform for promoting constructive dialogue, and concrete collaboration between SOEs and the private sector. “ASEAN is the future and epicentrum of growth. It plays a significant role in the Indo-Pacific region,” SOEs Deputy Minister Rosan Roeslani stated.
From the Indonesian side, the country offers some cooperation in the development of an alumunium shelter worth USD1.8 billion, the development of Benoa Port in Bali worth USD4.3 billion, as well as a project of a fertilizer factory, toll road, and special economic zone in Sanur, Bali.
During the AIPF, Indonesia also promotes cooperation in green infrastructure and sustainable financing in developing the New Capital Nusantara mega-project in East Kalimantan.
AIPF was inspired by the ASEAN Outlook on Indo-Pacific (AOIP) initiated by Indonesia and adopted by ASEAN member countries in 2019. It aims to strengthen an inclusive regional architecture, encourage collaboration, strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation, and take the existing opportunities in the Indo-Pacific region.
AIPF is also aligned with the theme of this year’s ASEAN Summit: making ASEAN the epicenter of growth while maintaining peace, security, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific. The ASEAN region is considered to have sufficient capital to become the center of the world’s economic growth, with a collective gross domestic product (GDP) of US$ 3.3 trillion in 2021.
For more information, please contact:
Usman Kansong, Tel. +62-816785320
Director General of Information and Public Communication
Ministry of Communication and Information, Indonesia
Please visit:
http://asean2023.id,
https://infopublik.id/kategori/asean-2023,
https://indonesia.go.id/kategori/ragam-asean-2023