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Africa Moyo in BALI, Indonesia

The Second Indonesia-Africa Forum and the High-Level Forum on Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships opened yesterday, with Zimbabwe expected to sign at least two memoranda of understanding with Indonesia.

The conferences, which end tomorrow, started with a welcome gala dinner hosted by Indonesia President Joko Widodo for visiting Heads of State and Government or their representatives.

Parliamentarians who have been in Bali for the Indonesia-Africa Parliamentary Forum also attended.

The parliamentarians arrived first just before 7pm (2pm Zimbabwean time), with National Assembly Speaker Advocate Jacob Mudenda, emerging first from a new Toyota minibus prepared for them.

Adv Mudenda was then led to greet President Widodo, followed by other Speakers of parliament from Africa.

When it became the turn of national leaders to arrive at the venue, VP Mohadi was the first.

He arrived in an immaculate electric BMW vehicle.

All Heads of State and Government or their representatives had the same vehicles, as if to demonstrate Indonesia’s strength in the manufacture of electric vehicles. 

In his short welcome remarks that didn’t go beyond three minutes, President Widodo said his country was honoured to host the Second Indonesia-Africa Forum and the High-Level Forum on Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships.

“Indonesia remains committed to strengthen cooperation and solidarity with countries in the African region and this will also be continued by the next government,” he said.

President Widodo then introduced Indonesia’s president-elect, Mr Prabowo Subianto, who formed an alliance after the February 14 elections and will be sworn-in on October 20.

President-elect Subianto acknowledged the delegates by bowing his head.

The conferences continue today, with an official opening ceremony to be led by President Widodo.

Thereafter, leaders including VP Mohadi who is representing President Mnangagwa, will visit an exhibition.

A joint leaders’ session will then take place, after which a panel discussion on the topic, “Outlook from the region: Update and prospect for cooperation”, will be held.

Other discussions, including on mining cooperation, will follow, with presenters such as Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation general manager Engineer Blessed Chitambira making a presentation.

Presidents, prime ministers and ministers, including Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Minister, Monica Mutsvangwa, will also make presentations during the course of the day.

In an interview yesterday, Indonesia’s Ambassador to Zimbabwe Dewa Sastrawan, said the Indonesia – Africa Forum is a platform for the Indonesian government to strengthen and deepen relations with African countries.

He praised Zimbabwe for “sending a high-level delegation” led by VP Mohadi.

“During this Second Indonesia-Africa Forum, some memoranda of understanding between Zimbabwe and Indonesia will be concluded,” he said.

“Private sectors from Zimbabwe and Indonesia are also expected to conclude their commercial deals in the sector of pharmaceutical, agricultural products, trading commodities and others.

“We are really pleased to witness that the Second Indonesia-Africa Forum is now one of the main events for strengthening the bilateral relationship between Indonesia and countries in the African region.”

 Zimbabwe expects to sign at least two memoranda of understanding with Indonesia, one of which is set to be on cooperation in the health sector.

The Second Indonesia-Africa Forum will be held under the theme, “Bandung Spirit for Africa Agenda 2063”, which portrays the South East Asian country’s commitment to aligning its support for Africa with Africa’s Agenda 2063.

The Forum will focus on five priority areas namely; economic transformation, mining cooperation, energy cooperation, health, food security and development cooperation.

Twenty-four African countries, including Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, DRC, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, Zanzibar, Uganda, Mozambique, Mauritius, Mauritania, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Zambia, are represented at different levels of leadership. About 1 500 delegates are expected at the conferences.

During the conferences, Indonesia is expected to launch a five-year programme aimed at supporting Africa’s development.

The first Indonesia-Africa Forum was held in 2018 in Bali, followed by the Indonesia-Africa Infrastructure Dialogue in 2019 that aimed to strengthen economic cooperation between Indonesia and African countries.

Zimbabwe and Indonesia have enjoyed cordial relations since the establishment of diplomatic relations in August 1986.

Indonesia opened a resident diplomatic mission in Harare in December 1986 while Zimbabwe opened her resident diplomatic mission in Jakarta in December 2005.

The two countries share common positions at the international level and are both members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and G-77, advocating for the development of the South and cooperation in addressing global challenges, including the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals, peace, security and climate change.

Indonesia is Southeast Asia’s largest economy, with a GDP of over US$1 trillion and a population of more than 280 million people.

It is one of the world’s emerging economies, which is expected to be among the top ten world economies by 2030.