Indonesia Reiterated its Commitment for Palestine in SOM CEAPAD

Jakarta, 25 Rabi’ul Akhir 1436/4 February 2016 (MINA) – Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director General for Information and Public Diplomacy, Ambassador Esti Andayani reiterated Indonesia’s commitment in supporting Palestine’s effort to become an independent state during the Senior Official Meeting (SOM) of “Conference on Cooperation among East Asian Countries for Palestinian Development (CEAPAD) held in Japan on Wednesday (3/1).

Ambassador Esti also presented a book on Indonesia’s contribution to Palestine to the Palestinian Minister of Finance.

Japan, together with Palestine, co-chaired the SOM CEAPAD, represented respectively by the Japanese Special Envoy for the Middle East and the Minister of Finance of Palestine, according to a press released issued by the Indonesian Foreign Ministry received by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as saying.

The meeting was attended by representatives from 8 countries and International Financial Institutions, such as the Islamic Development Bank & World Bank. Representatives from the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) also attended.

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Indonesia hosted CEAPAD 2 back in 2014 when it was officiated by President of Indonesia and the Prime Minister of Palestine. CEAPAD 2 had outlined commitments from South East Asia countries in areas identified by the Palestinian Ministry of Development.

The 2014 CEAPAD 2 was attended by 22 countries and International Financial Institutions. In order to support the development of the Palestinian business sector, Indonesia in collaboration with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) held the CEAPAD Business Forum and Trade Expo on the sidelines of CEAPAD 2. No less than 40 Palestinian enterprises took part in this business forum.

Since CEAPAD 2, Indonesia has conducted 9 capacity building programs for 71 Palestinian participants. In total, since 2008, 137 programs have been conducted for 1.364 Palestinians in the field of good governance, agriculture, sports, diplomatic training, tourism and antiquities, archive management and religion.

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In 2016, Indonesia will conduct 6 capacity building programs in cooperation with JICA and Indonesia NGOs.

In this year’s SOM CEAPAD, participants discussed achievements since CEAPAD 2. Japan has provided training for about 700 Palestinians after CEAPAD 2 in Indonesia in 2014, including about 130 Palestinians with East Asian Partners (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Korea).

Participants shared the notion that private sectors have a significant role in supporting development of the Palestinian economy. Calls for South East Asia’s private sector to cooperate with their Palestinian counterparts were demonstrated by Indonesia’s initiative in 2014.

The participants underlined the need to focus on developing the resilience of the Palestinian people, through increased involvement in youth employment and entrepreneurship, local economic development, participation of women, renewable energy and natural resource development. The participants encouraged people to people partnership through understanding and mutual network building.

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According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) the number of Palestinian refugees totaled 5.6 million (2014). With a US$ 744 million fund (2015), UNRWA has funded education, health, relief & social services, infrastructure & camp improvement, support departments.

It is agreed that participating countries will continue discussing management issues of CEAPAD. The management issues include: co-chairing mechanism & framework for monitoring & evaluation of commitment made in SOM CEAPAD. (T/P008/R07)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)