Soft power diplomacy for sustainable development

Manama, Dec. 5 (BNA): Representatives of MIKTA (Mexico, Indonesia, Korea, Turkey and Australia), said today that their gathering is an innovative partnership that illustrated the efficiency of soft power diplomacy as a path to build an inclusive society and move forward with national achievements on Sustainable Development to benefit international peace. In a seminar, hosted by IPI, MENA, MIKTA officials including Hatun Demirer, Turkish Ambassador, Muhsin Syihab, Director for Development, Economic and Environmental Affairs, Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Yoon Jiwan, Director of Policy Analysis, Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs highlighted the progress made by their group on Sustainable Development, as one of their seven priority themes. Demirer placed emphasis on Turkey’s focus on SDGs by highlighting the commitment to "leave no one behind" principle of 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. "’Leave no one behind’ motto of SDGs is not only a principle for an inclusive society in our countries but it also means an inclusive international society", she said, adding that rule of law, good governance and strong institutional capacity are the "main pillars of sustainable development." She highlighted Turkey’s achievements as MIKTA Chair in 2017, stating, "all year long we worked hard on furthering MIKTA cooperation in line with the core MIKTA issues. Turkey organized high level and expert meetings for keeping the dialogue atmosphere active among MIKTA countries." Referring to Indonesia’s focus on building an inclusive society, Syihab, said his country "is attached to SDGs at the international level. Thus the importance of MIKTA working together in this effort." With regard to Indonesia’s forthcoming chairmanship of MIKTA, he expressed "hope we can complete all National Plans for SDGs by January 2018. We will also be holding several programmes like the MIKTA Interfaith Dialogue." Yoon Jiwan underlined Korea’s incentives for joining MIKTA, by saying his country "was able to take the lead in discussing global affairs and strengthening relations with like-minded countries." He added "we feel the need to do more to make the world a better place, whether through MIKTA, the G20, the UN, or the OECD," pledging Korea "will strive to make inroads in SDG Achievements." Nejib Friji, Director of IPI, MENA, initiated the presentation by highlighting MIKTA’s aim of strengthening multilateralism and global governance structures, adding that their objectives are in line with IPI’s strategic goal of managing risk and building resilience for a more peaceful world. "Today’s presentations on Sustainable Development Priorities come timely, at an appropriate moment, as we at IPI continuously seek to broaden engagements with various stakeholders to achieve Sustainable Development", he said. Friji concluded the presentation by calling for a "strong and sustainable collaboration with MIKTA in terms of building durable relations". The three speakers also shared their thoughts on future collaborations with IPI on MIKTA’s seven priority themes. On MIKTA/IPIU future collaboration Ambassador Demirer said, "MIKTA aims to combat global problems and as an informal gathering, we’re trying to contribute to global peace, which is the motto of IPI as well." Syihab said, "IPI is the right entity to introduce MIKTA because of its credibility and credentials. The priorities of MIKTA align with those of IPI." Yoon Jiwan said, "MIKTA looks forward to more of such opportunities. By involving IPI, we can benefit a lot by getting new perspectives and ideas." The presentation was followed by an interactive session with the audience. During this session, Shaikh Abdulla bin Ahmed al-Khalifa, the Undersecretary for International Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said, "It is interesting to see how MIKTA nations have moved together since September 2013, in addressing a number of international issues. These five great nations have worked collectively to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, and have a lot to offer."