REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Asian and African countries are facing challenges different from the ones they faced 60 years ago, President Joko Widodo stated here on Wednesday (22/4).

"When Indonesia's founding father President Soekarno launched the meeting (Asia-Africa Conference) 60 years ago, it was aimed at fighting for our independence, welfare, and justice for all our people. That was the spirit of 1955 and the essence of the Bandung spirit. Sixty years later, we again gather here in Indonesia with a different challenge," he noted in his speech before opening the Asia-Africa Summit.

President Joko Widodo remarked that the struggle of the Asian and African nations has not yet ended as the regions and respective members still face several problems including the lack of welfare and economic and political stability.

"The world is now full of injustice, posing a new challenge (to realize international cooperation) based on equality and justice," he emphasized.

After delivering his speech, President Joko Widodo, in the company of Myanmarese President Thein Sein and Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno P. Marsudi, hit a gong to officially mark the start of the summit.

President Widodo earlier welcomed the heads of state and government upon their arrival at the Jakarta Convention Hall where the summit was held.

Among the heads of state and government attending the summit to mark the 60th anniversary of the first Asia-Africa Conference were Sultan Hasanal Bolkiah of Brunei Darussalam, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Palestine's Prime Minister Rami Al Hamdallah, President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, King Abdullah II of Jordan, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani and Thai Prime Minister General Prayut Chan O Cha.

In a special interview with Antara on Monday, President Joko Widodo express hope that the conference will not merely be a commemorative event but can again promote the interests of the nations in Asia and Africa at the international level.

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