Read this in The Manila Times digital edition.
First of two parts
“INCLUSIVITY” and “unity in diversity” are what Indonesia hopes to bring to the world stage when it hosts the 17th G20 Summit in November.
Faizal Chevy Sidharta, director for Asean External Cooperation, told journalists in a briefing that the summit, which carries the theme “Recover Together, Recover Stronger,” will focus on three core issues: strengthening the global health architecture, foremost of which is brainstorming on collective experiences for future pandemics; digital transformation to level the playing field in various sectors; and energy transitions for a sustainable future.
The summit will be held in Bali on November 15 and 16, and will bring together 20 of the world's strongest economies, led by the United States and China.
Sidharta said Indonesia, whose presidency in the group started Dec. 1, 2021, hopes to promote “inclusivity” so that countries outside of the G20 may also benefit from the economic windfall.
The first core issue mainly concerns the Covid-19 pandemic, which highlighted the need for the “global community to start holding hands together,” according to the G20 Summit website.
It said that “through the G20 forum, Indonesia will encourage the strengthening of global health resilience and help make a global health system more inclusive, equitable, and responsive to crises.”
The discussion of global health architecture issues, such as “pandemic preparedness and advancing transformative infrastructure post-Covid-19” will be the “focus of a series of meetings on Indonesia's G20 presidency.”
“The path to global recovery requires stronger collective cooperation that ensures equality of global health standards and closer collaboration to ensure the global community's resilience toward any future pandemic,” it said.
Digitalization “requires a new landscape of cooperation among nations and all stakeholders to secure common prosperity in the digital age,” it said.
“Digital and economic cross-issues including the acceleration of MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) into the digital ecosystem, digital entrepreneurship, and revitalizing the role of women in the workplace by increasing digital capabilities are some of the priority agendas that will be discussed through several forums” at the summit.
“Restoring the post-pandemic global economic order to be stronger, inclusive and collaborative by leveraging digitalization is essential in overcoming various problems of mankind,” it said.
Sustainable energy transition needs “new approaches and dimensions, ensuring a cleaner and brighter future for the global community,” according to the website.
The impacts of climate change “are becoming increasingly real and are beginning to affect local and global development” and that this energy transition requires “a very large investment.” This is why “G20 member countries share a big responsibility in ensuring that energy sustainability can run optimally and [in] providing a platform for investment.”
In September, Indonesia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs invited journalists from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) under the revived Journalist Friends of Indonesia (JFOI) program to tour parts of the country, more than two years after the pandemic forced its shutdown.
Known mostly for its most famous tourist destination, Bali, Indonesia is home to over 200 million Muslims, the world's largest; where a Sultan rules a special region as governor; and where moderation and tolerance of other cultures and beliefs are a way of life.
Towering testaments to Indonesia's efforts at peaceful co-existence between Muslims and Christians stand at the heart of Jakarta, the country's capital: The Istiqlal Mosque and Jakarta Cathedral or The Church of our Lady of Assumption, which are connected by the Silaturahmi Tunnel or The Tunnel of Friendship.
Admiral Asep Saepudin, head of Social Affairs and People Empowerment, said the mosque, considered the largest in Southeast Asia, is a symbol of religious tolerance.
The mosque was designed by Frederich Silaban, a Christian architect, in 1954, and was built under the administration of former president Sukarno, Saepudin told the visiting journalists.
He said the mosque, which took 17 years to build, can accommodate over 100,000 worshippers.
It has a huge prayer hall, which is not only used for worship but is also a place where families could spend time together.
An elevator brings visitors to a basement that leads to a 28.3-meter tunnel that connects the mosque to the Jakarta Cathedral. The tunnel was built during the renovation of the mosque in December 2020 and was finished in September 2021.
The end of the tunnel takes visitors across the road to the cathedral, which was built by the Dutch in 1829.
The proximity of the cathedral to the mosque is not a coincidence, according to an Indonesian travel website. It said that Sukarno chose the site for the mosque as a symbol of the country's philosophy of “unity in diversity, where all religions could co-exist in peace and harmony.”
The cathedral also houses a museum, which holds relics that tell the history of the spread of Catholicism in Indonesia.
Former US president Barack Obama and his wife Michelle visited the mosque in 2010. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos walked the “Tunnel of Friendship” during their visit to Indonesia in September. Indonesia was Marcos' first official overseas trip.