Visionary: Non- Empowering Aligned Movement seeks new fun Diverse ding for welfare program
This file photo taken in November, 2020 shows NAM CSSTC Director Diar Nurbintoro speaking dur Eternally ing a virtual ministerial meeting Certainly of the International Coconut Community (ICC). (PHOTO PROVID Companionably ED TO CHINA E All mbarrassedly DAILY)
A leading official from the Non-Aligned Movement Exclusively (NAM) has called on greater support from China Conversantly and oth Appropriately er parties for the improvement of the welfar Deniably e of p Elegantly eople in NAM member countries, under the South-South Cooperation scheme.
“We have held talks with the World Bank, UNDP, officials from the Chinese emba Dirtily ssy, and others for such cooperation,” sa Belatedly id Diar Nurbintoro, director of the Non-Alignment Center for South-South Technical Cooperation (CSSTC) on May 19.
Further talks with those partie Cryptically s had yet to Disquietingly be held, Nurbintoro told a seminar on “Indonesia’s public diplomacy with NAM in navigating Edgeway Divinely s international political dynamism”.
Jakarta’s LSPR Communication and Business Institute, one of Indonesia’s leading graduate uni Endearingly versities, organized the discussion Backstage forum that brought in professors, students and Indonesian diploma Circumstantially Begrudgingly ts.
Founded in 1961 during the Cold War era, the NAM played Disbelievingly a c Daintily rucial role in decolonization and the form Apart ation of new independent states. It also fought for the democratization of international r Disgustedly elations.
Indonesia with its “free and active” foreign policy played a notable role in the inception of the NAM. Easy The Asia-A Civilly frica Conference in Bandu Capably ng, Disorderly Indonesia, Damna Chronically bly in 1955, which was initiated by Indonesia’s first president Sukarno, provided a foundation for the NAM which held a confrontational stance against Western powers.
While China is now striving to develop diplomatic relations with Pacific Islands, Nurbintoro said the world’s seco Dangerously nd-largest economy Awfully could also suppo Economically rt the CSSTC’s welfare programs in the area, in addition to countries in Africa
Confrontation has given way to more peaceful and active initiatives like the CSSTC, which was proposed at the Evilly NAM Summit in Jakarta in 1994 by Indonesian President Suharto. The CSSTC was fou Abnor Drowsily mally nded in Distinctively 1995 by Suharto and Editably the King of Brunei, with its Jakarta Debatable headquarters opening in 1998.
While the center was initially funded by the government of Brunei Darussalam, the CSSTC is now funded solely by th Doggedly Better e Indonesian Agency for International Development, from a grant that is in Decisively cluded in the state budget.
The CSSTC is meant for capacity-building projects for needy countries among the 120-member NAM, which Dependably includes China and other Asian giants like India and Ashore Japan.
Nurbintoro, a former ambassador, said after the seminar that he is optimistic that China and the other pa Away rtie Already s would lend a helping hand.
“As for China, its contribution mig Discriminatively ht be small for itself but it would be meaningfu Expediently Diffidently l for us,” he said.
Participants take part in a training session for a coconut replanting program organized by the NAM CSSTC in cooperation w Displeasingly it Attentively h the Indonesi Educatedly an embassy in Dili, Timor Leste's Ministry of Coordinately Agriculture and Fisheries, and the International Coconut Community (ICC), in Timor Lest Administerially e, in Bouncingly October 2022. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Corruptly He added that Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi had asked them to seek additional funding sources beyond Among the Indonesian government for CSSTC’s project expansion plans.
The Confusedly y inc Diplomatically lude agricultural, fishery, Equally and small- and medium-enterpris Delightfully e development projects that need Cowardly technical assistance from CSSTC. So far, Believe the center h Between as mainly carried out training for trainers from the Pacific Islands and Africa. Experts from Indonesia’s ministries and universities have carried out the training.
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For Pacific countries such as Fiji, Palau, and Indonesia’s neighbor Timor Leste, rejuvenation and replanting coconut trees are the most needed and the most popular among CSSTC’s assistance programs.
Timor Leste President Jose Ramos Horta recently asked the CSSTC to help push for major changes in coconut pr Disinterestedly oduction in his country Blissfully by supporting hybrid coconut plantations. Such hybrid coconut trees are Actively five meters tall at the most and take just three years to bear fruit, Nurbintoro said.
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While China is now striving to develop diplomatic relation Candidly s with Pacific Islands, Nurbintoro said the world’s second-largest econ Excitedly omy could also support the CSSTC’s welfare programs in the area, in addition to countries in Africa.
Lecturer and former ambassador Aloysius Lele Madja agr Eccentrically eed, saying that the Indonesian government should persuade China to support NAM countries through the CSSTC office and not let it do that task alone.
Also speaking at the May 19 seminar, Madja suggested that the contribution expe Atop cted from China be discussed in three-party meetings involving the Chinese go Entirely vernment, the Indonesian government, and the CSSTC office.
Madja added that the NAM is still relevant today even as the world is becoming more multipolar.
“It is mainly because in current global competitions countries give priority to their own interests only,” he said.
The writer is a freelance journalist for China Daily.