Indonesian Vice president, Jusuf Kalla attended Indonesia-Pacific Parliamentary Partnership in Jakarta, on Monday (23/7). The event which was held by the House of Representatives was attended by 13 delegations from 14 countries in Pacific region. The meeting has a theme "Human Development and Maritime Sustainability" which focuses on encouraging human resources and sustainable development of maritime country in the Pacific. In his speech, Vice President Jusuf Kalla encouraged the increasing of multilateral connectivity in blue economy because Pacific countries are maritime countries in Pacific Ocean.
“Blue Growth concept is a concept where we have three things which should be noticed, namely the income which is obtained from the maritime activity. Secondly, conservation and protection of marine ecosystem. And social culture, characteristic community which connect all of us. Basically, we have social cultural relations” he stated.
Meanwhile, chairman of the House of Representatives, Bambang Soesatyo as the host also expressed his gratitude for the participation of Pacific countries in improving multilateral cooperation in maritime. Bambang also said that Indonesia as a maritime country with the most and widest islands has a potential as a great country as it is the fourth most influential country in the world. Indonesia also contributes in various forum and events of world maritime cooperation. Countries participating in Indonesia-Pacific Parliamentary Partnership were Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Marshall Island, Solomon Island, Tonga, Tuvalu, Polynesia dan New Caledonia. (KBRN/RIZKI/TRANS YATI/AHM)