President: Make 21st Century “Soft Power” Era

Bandung ( Berita ) :  President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono  said Asia should make the 21st century a “soft power” era to create a difference in the region.

President Yudhoyono made the statement in his address to open the 4th Asia Parliamentary Assembly (APA) conference at the Merdeka building on Jl. Asia Afrika here on Tuesday.

“If we make the 21st century a soft power  era, we will be able to realize a different Asia,” the head of state said. Explaing what he meant by “a different Asia”, the president said  Asia should be full of tolerance and partnership networks, peace and prosperity, and be the axis of global development. “In light of all this, Asian parliaments play the most strategic role,” the president said.

The head of state said the key to Asia’s future in peace and prosperity depended on its capability  to develop and to spread  the soft era system.

“We are at present having a great deal of opportunities to make a difference because our world in the 21st century will be absolutely different from the world in the 20th century,” President Yudhoyono said. According to the president, the global economic architecture was changing and the geopolitical order was also changing rapidly.

“In these rapid changes, Asia will become even more relevant and progress in its role,” President Yudhoyono said.

He said the signs for Asia to be one of the world’s powers could  be seen from its efforts to solve the current global economic crisis. “We are  part of the world’s economic solution for various complex problems which are interrelated locally, nationally, regionally, and globally,” the president said.

In this interdependent era, the head of state said, the national interest of each country needed further cooperation and partnership. “Our accountability to our  constituents should be balanced with our responsibility to a common future,” the president said at the opening of the 4th APA conference. ( ant )