CEAPAD II Aims to Increase Material Support for Palestine: Marty

Jakarta (Antara) - The Conference Among East Asian Countries for Palestinian Development (CEAPAD) II seeks to renew and increase support for Palestine, according to Indonesia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Marty Natalegawa. "We look forward to renewed and enhanced support for Palestine, including in the form of capacity building, as well as business development programs for Palestine," Minister Marty said in his opening remarks at CEAPAD II in the Pancasila Building at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here on Saturday. Marty emphasized two points that were needed to achieve sustainable support for Palestine, which included that partnerships through CEAPAD must be based upon careful matches between the capabilities and expertise of supporting countries, and Palestinian needs. CEAPAD's efforts to match the capabilities and needs of Palestinians was aimed at focusing on forging partnerships in nation building and the economic development of Palestine, which is in accordance with their own visions. Secondly, Marty addressed the significance of private sector participation in Palestinian development, which is why Indonesia had organized business forums and trade expos during the current conference. "The private sector plays a critical role. Hence, concurrently with the present conference, the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce (KADIN) and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) are jointly sponsoring a business forum and trade expo," Marty said. "The event will provide opportunities for the private sectors of East Asian countries and Palestine to network and identify mutually beneficial opportunities," he added. CEAPAD II in Jakarta was co-chaired by Indonesia and Japan, and included 27 delegations from 22 countries and five international organizations as development partners. The first meeting of CEAPAD was co-chaired by Japan and Palestine, in Tokyo, Japan on February 13-14, 2013. (*)