Jakarta, Indonesia - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia organized the East Asia Summit (EAS) video conference, where virologists and epidemiologists met to identify practical cooperation and formulate strategic solutions to combat COVID-19 (14/10). This International Conference was also attended by economists and policymakers from 10 ASEAN countries and 8 EAS participating countries (PRC, the US, India, Russia, Australia, Japan, ROK, New Zealand), to discuss efforts to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic and accelerate the recovery of its socio-economic impact.

The International Conference, initiated by Indonesia in collaboration with the ASEAN Chair, Vietnam, aimed to bring together international virologists and pandemic experts to anticipate and share practical experiences in overcoming this pandemic in their respective countries, including efforts to recover the economy in the region.

This International Conference discussed not only strategies for utilizing technological advances in the health sector, especially (for) diagnostics, capacity building for digital-based testing, tracing, and isolation that can accelerate the process of mitigating the spread of the COVID-19 virus, but also practical solutions to grow the economy during a pandemic.

The meeting produced an agreement to encourage the strengthening of an increasingly integrated public health system between the EAS participating countries, as well as synergy and cooperation between international health experts and virologists with the government at the national level to build the regional health security and health resilience.

Countries such as the United States, the People's Republic of China, Russia, and Australia have shown appreciation for Indonesia's initiative to encourage comprehensive and practical cooperation synergies in handling the COVID-19 pandemic in a multilateral context.

The results of this meeting are expected to be a solution recommendation for the Leaders of the East Asia Summit Participating Countries, based on the views and thoughts of experts and policymakers to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in a more systematic, practical, and effective manner.

Source: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (kemlu.go.id)

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