The participants of the Conference on Cooperation Among East Asian Countries for Palestinian Development (CEAPAD) II has approved a joint statement to continue its commitment to support Palestinian development.

"We highlighted the statement of the President of the Republic of Indonesia to continue Indonesias support for Palestines development and struggle to become a sovereign country, as well as a full member of the United Nations," Indonesias Foreign Affairs Minister, Marty Natalegawa, said during a joint press conference following the CEAPAD II meeting here on Saturday.

Minister Marty Natalegawa attended the press conference, along with Japans Foreign Affairs Minister Fumio Kishida and Palestines Foreign Affairs Minister Riyad Malki, to reaffirm that CEAPAD is working to assist in building a Palestinian state.

Overall, CEAPAD will emphasize the role of the private sector in Palestinian economic development, encourage future cooperation through the existing trilateral cooperation to implement further multifaceted capacity development in Palestine, and ensure the sustainability of the assistance programs.

The participants also appreciated Indonesias initiative to begin promoting development in Palestine in five sectors, including tourism, light manufacturing, agriculture, ICT, and infrastructure, through holding business forums and trade expos as sideline events of CEAPAD II on March 1-2.

Also, CEAPAD invited wider partnerships with international organizations, which are involved in the independence and self-sufficiency of Palestine and Middle East peace.

"We also appreciate Japans initial commitment of 20 million US dollars for grassroots projects," Minister Riyad Maliki said.

Previously, during the opening event, Japans Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fumio Kishida, stated that the Japanese Government had provided US 1.38 billions dollars since the Oslo Accord in 1993 for assistance to Palestinians to help in development of a governing system and to improve the livelihoods of men, women and children.

CEAPAD II was hosted by Indonesia and saw 27 delegations participating from East Asian countries and international organizations. Indonesia, Japan and Palestine were the co-chairs of this conference.

Source: ANTARA