INDONESIA TO HOST "ASIA-AFRICA" CONFERENCE FOCUSED

C O N F I D E N T I A L JAKARTA 001537

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP, NEA, NEA/IPA
NSC FOR D.WALTON

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/15/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV EAID ID XF
SUBJECT: INDONESIA TO HOST "ASIA-AFRICA" CONFERENCE FOCUSED
ON PALESTINIAN CAPACITY-BUILDING

REF: A. EAP/MTS-JAKARTA POL 09-15-2009 EMAIL

B. 08 JAKARTA 1348

Classified By: Pol/C Joseph L. Novak, reasons 1.4(b+d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Indonesia has announced that it plans to
host an "Asia-Africa" conference for senior officials in
Jakarta in October. The conference will largely focus on
Palestinian capacity-building, and comes against the backdrop
of a technical conference on that subject sponsored by the
GOI and South Africa which was held in Jakarta in July 2008.
As part of this initiative, the GOI has trained a handful of
Palestinian diplomats in the past year. The "Asia-Africa"
rubric is near and dear to the GOI as it serves to reinforce
principals enunciated at the Bandung Summit of 1955, a
seminal event in Indonesian foreign policy. END SUMMARY.

PLANNED OCTOBER CONFERENCE


2. (U) The GOI has confirmed that it will host an
"Asia-Africa" conference for senior officials in October.
The conference will take place in Jakarta, October 12-13.
The official title of the conference is: the "New Asian
African Strategic Partnership Senior Officials' Meeting"
(NAASP SOM). According to the Department of Foreign Affairs
(DEPLU),the agenda of the conference will focus on such
issues as "political solidarity, economic cooperation plus
development and social issues." The conference will also
discuss the "Asian African Development University Network,"
an initiative designed to increase educational cooperation
among member-states.

FOCUS ON PALESTINIAN CAPACITY-BUILDING


3. (SBU) Our GOI contacts have confirmed that a major focus
for the conference will be "Palestinian capacity-building."
The October conference comes against the backdrop of a
technical conference sponsored by the GOI and South Africa in
Jakarta in July 2008 (see ref b). As part of the effort, the
GOI has trained a handful of Palestinian Authority diplomats
in the past year and other countries have engaged the
Palestinians in technical cooperation, especially in the
training area. The GOI has also sponsored training for
"mechanical engineering." Indonesia has committed to
training 1,000 Palestinians in various areas in the 2008-13
timeframe.

IMPORTANT PROCESS FOR INDONESIA


4. (C) The "Asia-Africa" rubric is near and dear to the GOI
as it serves to reinforce non-aligned, "anti-colonial"
principals enunciated at the Bandung Summit of 1955. (Note:
Honoring a seminal event in Indonesian foreign policy, the
Bandung Summit site is a now a well-kept museum run by the
GOI; Indonesian schoolchildren visit the site en masse every
year to learn about the Summit and Indonesia's role in the
Non-Aligned Movement.) Indonesia sponsored a 50th
anniversary conference in honor of the Bandung Summit in 2005
and has been working to institutionalize the process. The
last meeting of the "NAASP SOM" took place in Durban, South
Africa, in 2006. One Indonesian contact told us that "we
don't expect that much from the process, but it serves to
highlight Indonesia's role in the developing world"

OSIUS