People wear masks to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 in Jakarta, Indonesia in March. (Photo: Xinhua/VNA)Jakarta (VNA) – Foreign ministers from Indonesia, Mexico, the Republic of Korea, Turkey and Australia (MIKTA) held a video conference on July 17 during which Indonesian FM Retno L.P Marsudi urged for closer cooperation among these countries in post-COVID-19 economic recovery.
The economic recovery should be associated with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Marsudi told the 17th Meeting of MIKTA Ministers of Foreign Affairs which focused its discussion on fostering multilateral cooperation to maintain stable global trade and supply chains, cushion the impact of the COVID-19 on vulnerable people, and speed up studies of vaccine against the coronavirus.
COVID-19 is not only a global health but also a humanitarian crisis that cannot be solved by a country itself, she said, emphasising the importance of international cooperation and multilateralism in seeking solutions to this issue.
Today’s challenges are very different from those confronting the MIKTA when it was founded in 2013, she continued, so to stay relevant, the five countries must be able to quickly adapt and respond to the challenges.
It is now the right time for the group to step up economic partnership and trade among each other to revive their economies, badly hit by the pandemic, she said.
The FM also urged the MIKTA to be an active force to protect multilateralism with concrete results amid the current crisis.
On the occasion of the meeting, the MIKTA foreign ministers adopted a joint statement to welcome the election of Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly of Turkey Volkan Bozkır as the 75th President of the General Assembly and the election of Indonesia as a member of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for the 2021-2023 term./.
VNA
