REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Tourism Ministry will hold a 'South-South Cooperation Exhibition' at the Jakarta Convention Center, on the sidelines of the 60th anniversary celebrations of the Asian-African Conference (AAC), as a hectic remedy for the delegates.

"The program will serve as a hectic remedy for participants of the AAC anniversary celebrations," Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said.

He added that all occasions during the conference, as well as the events on the side, will be serious affairs. So delegates will be provided with a corner where they can relax during the April 19 to 24 activities.

The exhibition will provide room for all delegates of the conference to rejuvenate themselves and watch documentations on the AAC held in 1955, activities of the South-South Cooperation, and browse through typical Indonesian handicraft products.

"Several themes have been chosen for the exhibition. The South-South Cooperation, a Triangular Exhibition, and the Indonesian Heritage Exhibition, which will showcase Indonesia's cultural heritage products such as batik, woven fabric, silver, jewelry, premium handicraft products and various souvenirs, are a few of the chosen themes, among others. They aim to promote creative products that were made based on Indonesia's cultural heritage," the minister pointed out.

There will also be a photo and documentation collection exhibition on the 1955 AAC, which aims to help the delegates feel the atmosphere and conditions of the past events.

"The National Archive Team has a lot of documents that can make the minds of those who see them travel back to the 1960s era. They can see black-and-white (images), white clothes, the Merdeka Building, the atmosphere at the conference, and the cars used by the delegates," Yahya stated.

He further noted that the Triangular and South-South Cooperation documentations, which are relatively lesser known by the public, will be the most interesting features of the exhibit.

For instance, information on the role of Indonesia in the opinion of African countries is great, but has been covered by other sources of information so far, which are considered more important.

However, if we delve deeper into it, we will find that the role played by Indonesia to aid backward countries in Africa is something to be proud of.

Another example would be the cattle insemination project carried out in Africa under the assistance of Indonesia.

Moreover, the production of hand tractors and planting of decorative plants in the agricultural sector, Indonesia assisting in the creation of seaweed and chip production centers for maritime food processing projects, and the role played by the country to assist with maternal health and other interesting sectors are among other examples that need to be mentioned.

"Indonesian played a significant role in the development of African countries in the era of former president Soekarno, and it continues to do so. Therefore, it is important that delegations study the documentation (of these events)," Yahya noted.

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