The foto has taken from Sekretariat Kabinet
STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT. Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi in a joint press conference with her Malaysian counterpart Zambry Abdul Kadir in Jakarta reiterated that ASEAN should not be dictated by Myanmar’s military junta. To that end, Retno emphasized that ASEAN’s involvement with Myanmar’s military junta should be limited to the Five-Point Consensus.
Minister Retno went on to say that Indonesia and Malaysia will work together to ensure that the Myanmar crisis does not impede the ASEAN community’s development agenda. Minister Zambry agreed, emphasizing that ASEAN leaders’ Five Points of Consensus will continue to be the organization’s absolute reference.
During the meeting, Zambry and Retno discussed three issues concerning bilateral cooperation: economic cooperation, the protection of Indonesian migrant workers, and in relation to maritime boundary negotiations that began in 2005, Retno emphasized the importance of expediting negotiation settlement.
Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi said the theme “ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth” in Indonesia’s ASEAN chairmanship in 2023 consists of two major sections, namely “ASEAN Matters” and “Epicentrum of Growth”. Indonesia wishes to make sure that ASEAN remains important and relevant to its internal community and the rest of the world.
She said that ASEAN must be prepared to face a wide range of regional and global challenges, and that Indonesia aspires to make Southeast Asia the epicenter of regional and global economic growth. She said that Indonesia’s chairmanship would take place in a difficult global environment.
According to her, the bloc is still dealing with the external consequences of the pandemic and war. Simultaneously, the Indo-Pacific region is on the verge of transforming into a razor-sharp arena of great power rivalry. Meanwhile, ASEAN remains preoccupied with the Myanmar situation.
Myanmar’s military junta has warned ASEAN not to interfere with its internal matters after the regional bloc signaled it could include the country’s shadow National Unity Government, or NUG, in negotiations to deal with the post-coup crisis there.
During a news conference, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi pledged that as ASEAN chair her nation would establish a special envoy’s office and work according to the five-point consensus, or 5PC. She was referring to the bloc’s plan for putting Myanmar back on a democratic path, which analysts have termed a failure.
“Only through engagement with all stakeholders, can the 5PC mandate regarding facilitation for the creation of a national dialogue be carried out,” said Retno, seemingly referring to the NUG.
Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi said that the Indo-Pacific region has a very strategic value that has attracted the attention of many countries. Due to its strategic significance, a collaborative paradigm approach is needed in order to avoid rivalry in the Indo-Pacific. This issue must be addressed not only from a security standpoint, but also from an economic development standpoint.
She said that the Indo-Pacific should be a forum for cooperation rather than competition, with every conflict must be settled peacefully at the negotiating table, not on the battlefield. Concrete cooperation under the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) is critical in this context, she added.
President Jokowi met with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim for the first time since taking office at the end of November 2022. Several important issues that are being discussed are economic cooperation, including potential investment from Malaysia for the planned capital of Nusantara, demarcation of land and sea border, as well as employment and protection of Indonesian migrant workers.
The two leaders, according to a written statement from the Malaysian Foreign Affairs Ministry in Putrajaya, would also exchange views on several regional and global issues, particularly regarding the situation in Myanmar and joint efforts to overcome discrimination against palm oil, of which both countries are the world’s largest exporters.
Anwar Ibrahim and Jokowi would also witness the submission of 11 letters of interest (LoL) from Malaysian companies to participate in the development of the planned capital city. A total of eight memorandums of understanding (MoU) between the Malaysian and Indonesian private sectors are estimated to be worth MYR1.16 billion or around IDR4.11 trillion to be signed on the sidelines of the visit.
President Jokowi said Indonesia and Malaysia have agreed to strengthen ASEAN’s role in the global arena, including its role in making the Indo-Pacific Region peaceful, stable, and prosperous. He went on to say that Indonesia and Malaysia share similar views on Myanmar, with the two countries agreeing to press the Myanmar military junta to implement the ASEAN five-point consensus.
President Jokowi and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim discussed the “rivalry” between the United States and China, besides other bilateral and regional issues.
“Both Leaders also exchanged views on the situation in Myanmar, rivalry between the United States and China, joint efforts in addressing discrimination against palm oil,” said a statement by Malaysian Foreign Ministry on Twitter.
Anwar expressed full support to Jokowi over Indonesia’s chairmanship of ASEAN which it assumed this month. Jokowi said the two sides signed 11 letters of intent in the fields of electronics, health, waste management, construction and property.
President Jokowi met with a delegation led by ASEAN Secretary-General Dato Lim Jock Hoi at Merdeka Palace on Friday. Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi said that Lim Jock Hoi’s visit was aimed at expressing his gratitude for Indonesia’s support to ASEAN when he served as secretary general, especially Indonesia’s contribution to the construction of the new ASEAN Secretariat.
During the meeting, Lim Jock Hoi expressed confidence that Indonesia could become a good ASEAN chair in 2023, she added. Minister Retno said Lim Jock Hoi officially ended his duties as secretary general of ASEAN this Friday. In January 2023, he will return to Indonesia to hand over to the new secretary general, she added.
Kao Kim Hourn officially replaced Dato Lim Jock Hoi, as the 15th ASEAN Secretary-General for 2023-2028, in a handover of office held on Monday at the ASEAN Secretariat, Jakarta. Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi said she expects the ASEAN Secretariat to strengthen its role under the leadership of the new Secretary-General, especially during Indonesia’s chairmanship in 2023.
Economic Affairs Coordinating Minister Airlangga Hartarto said Indonesia continues to encourage ASEAN to be the anchor of global economic stability.
He said that Indonesia’s ASEAN chairmanship this year would bear the theme of “ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth”. “ASEAN Matters,” he said, consists of three ASEAN’s main elements: capacity and effectiveness, unity, and centrality.
He added that Indonesia would promote three priority issues in the economic sector, comprising recovery and rebuilding, digital economy, and sustainability, for which implementation is detailed in 16 priority economy deliverables (PED) in 2023.
Southeast Asian nations are emerging as “middle powers” capable of ensuring stability in the South China Sea amid a rivalry between China and the United States, the Philippines’ top diplomat said Wednesday.
“We, the countries surrounding the region, we’re growing into middle powers, middle-income countries and we have a very important role to play, especially in the context of ASEAN centrality,” Manalo said during a televised interview with CNBC. “ASEAN has a very big role to play in trying to ensure that the region maintains a modicum of peace and stability and so that we can all develop and promote economic growth.”
Amid the gloomy forecast for 2023, reinforcing ASEAN’s resilience, both politically and economically, will top Indonesia’s priorities, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said in her annual foreign policy speech on Wednesday. The elephant in the room, the Myanmar coup crisis, featured prominently as Southeast Asia’s biggest economy assumes the chairmanship of the bloc.
However, Retno vowed not to let ASEAN dwell on it for too long. “Amid difficult global challenges, a positive outlook, cooperation and optimism are even more necessary. The history and story of ASEAN have always been related to the economy,” she proclaimed at the event in Jakarta. “The Indonesian chairmanship will ensure that the development of the ASEAN community will remain a focus. The issue of Myanmar will not take ASEAN’s development process hostage.”
Aceh Province has recently received hundreds of Rohingya refugees with the arrival of 57 refugees in Aceh Besar ahead of the Christmas holiday. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Aceh received 174 Rohingya refugees a day later. After 184 people landed on the coast of Aceh Besar in the second week of January, Aceh is once again home to Rohingya refugees.
In his annual report on global human rights conditions in Jakarta on Thursday, Human Rights Watch’s (HRW) Asia Division Deputy Director Phil Robertson said that the fact that there are still Rohingya refugees who have to struggle across the ocean to a safe country or region is a sad thing.
Furthermore, a boat suspected of transporting more than 100 Rohingya people had vanished, according to Robertson. Data from the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry in the last three months received an additional 644 Rohingya refugees, bringing the total Rohingya population in Indonesia to 1,500 people.
