Indonesia's President Joko Widodo delivers his speech during the opening ceremony of the 43rd Asean Summit in Jakarta, September 5 (Photo: AFP/VNA) Jakarta (VNA) – Addressing the opening ceremony of the 43rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and related summits in Jakarta on September 5, Indonesian President Joko Widodo called on ASEAN and its partners to bolster equal and mutually beneficial cooperation in order to turn the region into an epicenter of the world’s economic growth.
The president emphasised that ASEAN has always maintained solidarity amidst differences, adding differences of opinions helps promote democracy and shows that the bloc is a family in which members have equal status.
He highlighted that equality is essentially a "core value" that the association jointly respects and upholds within the framework of solidarity and cohesion to move the "great ship of ASEAN" forward.
In the context of increasing challenges and fierce rivalry between great powers, the leader affirmed the member states’ commitment against any attempt by the world’s superpowers to make them their proxy in the region, and that ASEAN is ready to cooperate for peace and prosperity.
Saying the world is like a wide ocean to navigate alone, the president called on "other ships" to join forces to make ASEAN a "playing field for cooperation", creating prosperity, stability and peace not only for the region but also for the whole world./.
