BOGOR, TheIndonesiaPost – Amid the challenges of the Coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak and the economic downturn, the President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo made a statement regarding the ability of the ASEAN Plus Three (APT) country to overcome these two major issues. President Jokowi also took the initiative to invite ASEAN countries to form the APT Country Special Task Force.
“We meet in the midst of great challenges facing the ‘common enemy’ COVID-19 and the continuing impact of declining world economic performance. This is where we will be re-tested, will the cooperation we created 21 years ago still be able to create our resilience? I am sure, the answer is still, “said President Jokowi virtually from the Bogor Presidential Palace, as reported by the Presidential Palace team, in order to encourage the strengthening of cooperation in ASEAN.
The President said, strengthening APT state cooperation is very important to create resilience to handle the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the President, China, Japan, and South Korea were among the first countries to face COVID-19. For this reason, the experience of handling COVID-19 needs to be shared with ASEAN countries.
“APT leaders must provide direction to the Ministers of Health to continue to coordinate, including strengthening cooperation in the procurement and joint production of medical devices and medicines, capacity building of medical personnel under the framework of the Field Epidemiology Training Network, and strengthening research collaboration to make anti-viruses and vaccines, “the President said.
In anticipation of a pandemic going forward, President Jokowi also proposed the establishment of an APT Country Special Task Force for a pandemic whose task is to provide comprehensive recommendations for strengthening the resilience of the APT Region in the face of a future pandemic.
“I also propose that we can form cooperation between the APT state drug and pharmaceutical industry, including state-owned companies (SOEs) that produce drugs,” the president said.
On the occasion, the President also mentioned the matter of strengthening cooperation to strengthen the economic resilience of APT countries. According to the President, the Covid-19 pandemic will affect the global economic situation. But the President also reminded that APT actually has a infrastructure of economic cooperation that is quite strong.
“Let’s strengthen the infrastructure, namely the Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) and the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization (CMIM) must be alerted. ASEAN + 3 Emergency Rice Reserve must also be alerted to guarantee food security, “said the President.
In addition, the President also encouraged APT to agree to strengthen cooperation so that the flow of goods must continue to run. Indonesia, according to the President, will also ensure that ports and their logistical support nodes will continue to run.
“I want to emphasize that ASEAN Plus Three countries must lead to ensure that our region remains the engine of the global economic growth. Let’s again show that APT is an anchor of resilience in the region, “the President concluded his speech.
Present at the ASEAN Plus Three Summit were the leaders of the ASEAN countries namely the Sultan of Brunei Darussalam Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Laos Prime Minister Thoungloun Sisoulith, Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, Myanmar Chancellor Aung San Suu Kyi, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Prime Minister Singapore Lee Hsien Loong, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, and Viet Nam Prime Minister Nguyen Xuân Phúc as Chair of ASEAN 2020, and ASEAN Secretary General Dato Lim Jock Hoi.
The ASEAN partners present were Premier China Li Keqiang, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
Also accompanying President Jokowi at the summit were Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and Minister of Health Terawan Agus Putranto. (hms / ojan / ray)
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