Indonesia calls for new global financial order

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Indonesian President Joko Widodo called on Wednesday for a new global financial order that is open to emerging economic powers and leaves the “obsolete ideas” of Bretton Woods institutions in the past.

Widodo’s speech in Jakarta opened a meeting of Asian and African nations to mark the 60th anniversary of a conference that was seen as a united stand by the developing world against colonialism and led to the Cold War era’s non-aligned movement.

Among the leaders listening were Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping, who were expected to meet on the sidelines of the conference, the latest sign of a thaw in relations between the Asian rivals.

Sino-Japanese ties have chilled in recent years due to feuds over the two neighbours’ wartime past as well as territorial rows and regional rivalry. Bilateral talks in Jakarta on Wednesday could promote a cautious rapprochement that began when Abe and Xi met at a summit in Beijing late last year.

Widodo made no mention of the China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) that is seen as a threat to the Western-dominated World Bank and Asian Development Bank, but Indonesia is one of nearly 60 countries that have offered to be founding members of the AIIB.

Source: Reuters (link opens in a new window)

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