President Jokowi to inaugurate WEF East Asia Forum

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) is scheduled to inaugurate the 24th World Economic Forum (WEF) on East Asia to be held here from April 19-21, reports Indonesia's Antara news agency. "The president will also give a speech at the opening ceremony and host a dinner probably at the palace in honor of the participants," Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Sofyan Djalil said during a press conference here on Thursday. He noted that the meeting would be attended by around 700 participants from 40 countries including CEOs, corporate leaders, businessmen, government officials, and representatives from international and non-governmental organizations. "They will be present and attend various sessions and separate dialogs. As the forum is being held in concurrence with the commemorative Asia-Africa Conference, several Asia-African businessmen will also take part in the meeting," he remarked. He affirmed that the meeting would be beneficial for the new government as it will be able to showcase its performance in the past six months and the outlined economic programs to the participants. "The WEF will serve as a platform for showcasing the government's programs and introducing Indonesia to the participants as a potential economy besides India," he said. Sushant Palakurthi Rao, the senior director and head of WEF Asia Pacific, who was also present at the press conference, stated that now was the right time for Indonesia to again become the host of the WEF meeting after holding it in 2011, in view of its huge potentials for economic development in the Asian region. "We have seen a lot of positive examples after the government carried out reform of the fuel pricing policy. Apart from that, Indonesia's market is also huge in view of the younger generation and the opportunity to compete at the global level," he pointed out. Rao emphasized that the forum could meet the needs of fast economic development in East Asia and boost cooperation necessary for meeting the public's demand for wider access to education, employment, and political representation. Among the issues to be raised for discussion at the forum are agricultural infrastructure for food resilience, the economic sector, and digital economy. The WEF program would comprise discussions to identify potential solutions to curb social challenges and on the new economy as well as economic opportunities and challenges in East Asia. Others include discussions on regional cooperation and political pressures that could hinder regional progress. The WEF forum is an impartial forum to discuss and overcome 10 global challenges, which could be tackled only through cooperation between all parties and between the government and the private sector. The WEF is an international institution established since 1971 and committed to increasing the quality of life through cooperation between the government and the private sector in the spirit of global citizenship. The independent non-profit institution unites business players, politicians, academics, and other community leaders to set up an agenda in the global, regional, and industrial spheres.