Seminar to Discuss Youth Pledge, Indonesia Future

     Jakarta, Oct 18/2005 (ANTARA) - A national seminar themed "Youth Pledge and Indonesia in the Future" will be organized in Jakarta on Thursday, October 20, 2005, to observe the 77th anniversary of Indoensia's Youth Pledge.
        President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to officially open the seminar, which will be participated in by speakers and deelgates from Indonesia and overseas at the State Palace, according to a press release of the seminar's organizing committee, received by ANTARA here Tuesday.

        The rest of the discussions will be held in the Ball Room, Four Seasons Hotel, Jakarta. The seminar is organized jointly by the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Lemhannas (National Resilience Institute), the University of Gadjah Mada and the Pela Gandong Foundation.
        Taking place in the beginning of the globalization era, when Indonesia is under the threat of national disintegration, the seminar will look at the attitude and commitment of the Indonesian people - whether they keep faithfully to the spirit of Youth Pledge declared in 1928.
        The speakers will also discuss the perspectives of Indonesia in the future, namely in the next 33 years when the Indonesian people will commemorate the first centennial of Youth Pledge Day.
        The seminar is expected to give a picture of Indonesia in the future with a pluralistic, just and more prosperous national life amid stiffer global competition.
        The Youth Congress held on October 28, 1928, by youth organizations from various regions, such as Jong Java, Jong Celebes, Jong Sumatra, and Jong Ambon, produced the Youth Pledge 1928, namely: One Nation, Indonesia; One Language, Bahasa Indonesia; One Mother-land, Indonesia.

        Prominent speakers of the seminar will include Mr. Hans van Baalen, a member of the Dutch Parliament, Dr. Anhar Gonggong, historian from LIPI (Indonesian Institute of Sciences), Prof. Dr. Muladi SH, Lemhannas Govenor, Drs. Theo L. Sambuaga, Chairman of the Commission I of the Indonesian Parliament, Prof. Bilver Singh from the National University of Singapore, Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, chairman of the Aceh Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Body, and H. Soekartono Hadiwarsito, a member of the Indonesian Parliament. Prof. Dr. Sofian Effendi, rector of Gadjah Mada University, and Junus Effendi (Fanny) Habibie, a member of the Indonesian Parliament's Commission I, will be moderators of the seminar.

        The aims of the seminar will be to reflect the momentum of Youth Pledge in the framework of maintaining the national territory integrity and sovereignty of the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI) at present and in the future; and to identify various problems of the nation, especially in the conflict-prone regions such as Aceh, Sulawesi, Maluku and Irian Jaya and in remote areas in order to protect the integration of NKRI.

        It will also help to formulate the government's development strategies, especially in regional development and the improvement of the people's welfare in Aceh, Maluku and Irian Jaya and in remote areas in order to preserve the NKRI territorial integrity and sovereignty.

        Several actual problems facing the Indonesian nation will become topics of discussion, such as: the Significance of the Youth Pledge, Pancasila as the ideological foundation of the NKRI; the sovereignty of the Indonesian national territory as a continuation of the former Dutch colonial administration's sovereignty in the framework of building a nation state; legislation on foreign policy in order to protect NKRI's integrity and sovereignty; The current problems of NKRI and the threat of disintegration; development strategy of the Indonesian Eastern Region within NKRI and development strategy of Aceh following the signing of the MOU between the government and GAM (Free Aceh Movement).

        Around 150 participants are expected to attend the seminar, which will include cabinet ministers, ambassadors, representatives of international agencies, academicians, politicians, representatives of the younger generation, prominent religious figures, prominent community figures, chief editors, and journalists from Indonesia and abroad, the press release said. (tx/F001/A/HAJM/B/M016) (T.F001/C/A018/H-AJM/M016) 18-10-2005 19:46:26