Asian, African leaders vow to boost South-South cooperation

Leaders from Asian and African nations met here on Wednesday for an Asian-African summit under the theme of "Strengthening South-South Cooperation to Promote World Peace and Prosperity."

Indonesian President Joko Widodo, in his opening speech, called for a new world economic order for the emerging economies.

The management of the global economy could not be left only to the three international financial institutions of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank, he said.

"We must build a new global economic order, that is open to new emerging economic powers," Widodo said.

The Indonesian president said the world needed a collective global leadership which was exercised in a just and responsible manner.

Addressing the summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward a three-point proposal on building a community of common destiny for all mankind in line with the time-honored Bandung Spirit of solidarity, friendship and cooperation, which he said remains relevant and potent today.

The first is to boost Asia-Africa cooperation, he said, suggesting that countries on the two continents pursue all-win common development, align their development strategies and translate their economic complementarity into a driving force for common growth.

The second is to expand South-South cooperation, Xi added, pointing out that developing countries, faced with similar missions of speeding up development and improving people's livelihood, need to join their forces and march forward together.

The Chinese president also called on Asian and African countries to beef up cooperation with developing countries in Latin America, the South Pacific and other regions.

The third is to promote South-North cooperation, Xi said, stressing that cooperation between the developing and developed camps should be based on mutual respect and equality.

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, co-chair of the summit, said it was a shared desire and common commitment to expand, deepen and solidify the new partnership between Africa and Asia.

"We need to put in much more effort into this new partnership, if we are to attain ambitions," Mugabe said while addressing the summit.

He said countries need to actually implement projects of cooperation in order to give full play to the vitality of the New Asian-African Strategic Partnership (NAASP).

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, in his remarks, warned that foreign military interventions had worsened conditions in Syria and Yemen, urging the international community to coordinate in combating terrorism and extremism.

"Continued crises and conflicts which have been intensified with foreign military intervention have created humanitarian catastrophe in the crisis-hit areas. The present unfortunate conditions in Yemen and Syria are clear examples of this situation, " he said.

Series of bilateral meetings were held Wednesday on the sidelines of the summit, with leaders and officials holding discussions on implementation of the South-South cooperation.

The two-day summit is expected to adopt three documents - the Bandung Message, the Declaration of Re-invigorating New Asia- Africa Strategic Partnership and the Declaration on Palestine.

The leaders are scheduled to travel to Bandung city in West Java on Friday for the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Asian-African Conference (AAC).

This year's AAC events, running from April 19 to April 24, gathered leaders and delegates from some 100 Asian and African nations, 15 observer countries and 17 international organizations.