Asian, African Leaders Agree to Build Ties
Leaders from Asia and Africa struck what they called a historic deal Saturday to build economic and political links, and South African President Thabo Mbeki said that the billions of people living on the two continents expected real action.
The declaration, after two days of talks in the Indonesian capital attended by the leaders of three-quarters of the world’s population, pledged to boost trade and investment ties and stressed multilateral approaches to solving conflicts.
Mbeki, who co-chaired the gathering of presidents, kings and ministers from 100 African and Asian nations, warned that the hard work of implementing the agreement lay ahead.
“We have the responsibility to follow up on all of this,” he said.
The New Asian-African Strategic Partnership commits countries to meeting internationally agreed targets for poverty eradication, development and growth.
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