BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

HIS Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam is among the 25 head of states/governments who are expected to attend the Commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of the Asian-African Conference (AAC) and 10th Anniversary of the New Asian African Strategic Partnership (NAASP) in Indonesia next week.

The Indonesia’s Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam Nurul Qomar said yesterday that the invitation was presented to His Majesty by the country’s President Joko Widodo during his recent state visit to Brunei in February.

The envoy added that the invited leaders are expected to attend the two-day Asian-African Summit in Jakarta from April 22-23, during which they will be given opportunities to deliver their views in several plenary sessions. In addition, the leaders will depart to Bandung, West Java via special flights as they are also expected to attend the Commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of the AAC on April 24.

The historic first Asian African Conference was convened in Gedung Merdeka, Bandung from April 18-24, 1955. Dubbed as “Paris van Java” and also “Flower City”, Bandung is located about 140 kilometres southeast of Jakarta.

The Conference in 1955 produced the 10-Point Declaration known as the Bandung Declaration, which then became the guideline for colonised countries in their fight for independence, promoting world peace and international cooperation.

Reiterating the solidarity among the Asian-African nations, the leaders and delegates will be walking together again from Savoy Homann Hotel to Gedung Merdeka, as the leaders had done in the past every 10 years.

“We hope that His Majesty will attend these two occasions (in Jakarta and Bandung),” Nurul told The Brunei Times.

A statement provided by the Indonesian Embassy to Brunei said that delegates from 109 Asian and African countries, 16 observer countries and 25 international organisations are invited to participated in the event. A series of high level events under the theme “Strengthening South-South Cooperation to Promote World Peace and Prosperity” will take place from April 19-24.

The forum is aimed to bridge Asian and African nations to stronger partnership and to share experiences in enhancing both regions’ economic development. It is also an opportunity to discuss solutions to overcome common challenges through strengthening Sount-South Cooperation.

The Asian-African Conference Commemoration is aimed to conclude three outcome documents, namely document of Bandung Message, document on reinvigorating NAASP and declaration regarding Asian-African nations’ support to Palestine.

Several sideline events will also be held such as the Asian-African Parliamentary Conference, a discussion on maritime issues, the Asia Africa Smart City Summit and the Asian-African Business Summit, where five Brunei business leaders are expected to participate in.

Indonesia is in thick preparations to play host leaders and delegates during a series of high level events in Jakarta and Bandung.

The official website of the upcoming event revealed that the Indonesia Armed Forces (TNI) will deploy 3,550 personnel from different military branches to secure the Asian-African Conference Commemoration in Jakarta, while in Bandung another 3,000 personnel from TNI and West Java Provincial Police will also be deployed.

The Brunei Times