VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta - The 43rd ASEAN Summit will underline the importance of strengthening economic cooperation through two supporting events — the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (ABIS) and the ASEAN Indo-Pacific Forum (AIPF).

"Indeed, we want Southeast Asia to remain the center of economic growth," Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi said while accompanying President Joko Widodo for a review of the ASEAN Summit venue at Jakarta Convention Center (JCC) here on Friday.

The ABIS is being held from September 1–6, 2023, by the ASEAN Business Advisory Council, with the support of Indonesia as this year's ASEAN chair, through the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin).

Meanwhile, the AIPF will be held for the first time on September 5 and 6 to concretize the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP), which focuses on cooperation between countries for creating a peaceful, safe, stable, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.

"We already have the outlook concept since 2019. Now, we want to translate it to concrete cooperation," Marsudi said.

Through the AIPF, Indonesia is seeking to advance cooperation in the development of concrete projects, especially in three sectors: green infrastructure and supply chain resilience, digitalization and creative industry, and financing.

Based on the curation conducted with other ASEAN members, Indonesia recorded a project deliverables value of around US$120 billion that could be promoted through AIPF.

Besides at least 93 projects can be categorized as mature projects with a total current value of US$38 billion, Indonesia has also identified a number of other potential projects.

Marsudi said that, apart from the economy, Indonesia will also lay a strong foundation for ASEAN's future steps, including how ASEAN can respond to various challenges.

"The foundation is designed by Indonesia to respond to the interests of the ASEAN people. We have already done this at the 42nd Summit in Labuan Bajo," she added.

She outlined several concrete forms of cooperation that have been agreed upon by ASEAN in the previous summit in Labuan Bajo, namely protection for migrant workers, protection for ship crew, the development of ASEAN village networks, and cross-border crime eradication, especially online scams. (Antaranews)