INDONESIA TO PROPOSE SETTING UP ASIA-AFRICA CENTER

         Yogyakarta, Apr 8 (Antara) - Indonesia will propose the establishment of an Asia-Africa center during the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Asia-Africa Conference in Jakarta and Bandung, Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi has said.         "Indonesia is ready to propose the setting up of an Asia-Africa center, which will facilitate cooperation and the exchange of knowledge and discussion of the activities to strengthen the Asia-Africa relations," the minister said at an international seminar, "Bandung Conference and Beyond 2015," here on Wednesday.          She remarked the idea can be proposed during the meeting of delegates from the countries of the two regions because so far meetings between them were not institutionalized well.          The cooperation between Asian and African countries in the past 60 years have never been institutionalized into a forum of routine meetings while a lot of forums such as the Asia-Europe meeting, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum, the Forum of East Asia, and the Latin America Cooperation have  been set up.          In view of that, Retno said, countries in Asia and Africa need to establish a special forum to develop closer relations between them in various fields.          "We need it. The cooperation between Asian and African countries must be deepened," she stressed.          However, she observed, the proposal will not be maximal unless it is supported by other countries.          "We need other countries to support the idea so that the relations between Asian and African countries will become closer," she noted.           The Ten Principles of Bandung produced at the Asia-Africa Conference in 1955 must be realized into concrete cooperation.           Even the South-South cooperation needs to be strengthened, she added. "The South-South cooperation can contribute to world peace and prosperity," she emphasized.