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Side Notes on CAFIU Delegation’s Visit to Indonesia and Sri Lanka Ma Jingjing At the invitation of Indonesia National Council on Social Welfare (DNIKS) and Sri Lanka-China Friendship Association (SLCFA), Mr. Liu Kaiyang, Deputy Secretary-General of CAFIU headed a 6-member delegation to visit Indonesia and Sri Lanka from December 7 to 14, 2014. Through this visit, CAFIU has enhanced mutual understanding with some partners, and discussed with them the cooperation possibilities of some projects. In Indonesia, the delegation called at Mme. Parawansa, the newly-elected Social Minister of the Republic of Indonesia, held working discussions with the Damandiri foundation and DNIKS, made a field visit to a Postaya managed by Damandiri, and exchanged views in a discussion with representatives from the Faculty of Social and Political Science of Universitas Indonesia and prominent NGOs. In Sri Lanka, the delegation conducted comprehensive and in-depth discussions with SLCFA on future cooperation, and called at the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI) and Jetwing Travels. Friendship: a bridge for communication People-to-people diplomacy values sincere communication between the peoples, and tries its best to benefit the people with the fruits of exchanges. In recent years, CAFIU has invited many representatives from NGOs, think tanks and the media to attend several of its “Knowing about China” study groups. During the visit, we met some old friends who visited China at CAFIU’s invitation, and the reunion made us feel closer to each other. They expressed their gratitude to CAFIU for providing an opportunity to comprehensively know about China, and said that they stood ready to make concrete efforts to enhance the mutual understanding between the two peoples. Imelda Sari, President of the National Press Club of Indonesia was very excited when learning about the visit of the delegation. She called us on the evening of our arrival, and spent half a day accompanying the delegation to visit Bogor city. She said that she was deeply impressed by the “Knowing about China” study group, which opened a door for her to understand China. She and her organization were more than willing to build a bridge to facilitate the communication between CAFIU and Indonesia, and promote the exchanges between the two peoples. She also hoped that Bogor city, her hometown could find a sister city in China to carry out practical cooperation. In Sri Lanka, SLCFA’s Deputy Secretary-General Mr. Nalaka invited all the delegation members to have tea in his house, where he introduced us his family members. He said that his family were very fond of China and the Chinese people, and he sincerely hoped that the younger generation could maintain contact with each other and become the messenger for China-Sri Lanka friendship. Cooperation: to improve people’s livelihood As developing countries, both Indonesia and Sri Lanka are faced with the same challenges of economic development and poverty alleviation, just like China. During the visit, we learnt about some successful attempts of both countries in social development, and strongly felt the high expectation of the people on seeking cooperation opportunities with China. In Indonesia, the Damandiri foundation introduced to us their flagship project “Family-centered Social Development Approach”. This approach takes the UN Millennium Development Goals as its general goal, and works through thousands of Posdayas across the nation, centering on families and community. The Posdayas provide medical service, education, training and cooperation opportunities to people in order to improve their livelihood. The delegation visited a Posdaya in Bogor city featuring assistance to disabled children and adults. It is opened to the disabled people at regular time in a week, and the staff there teach the disabled people to make some simple handicrafts to make a living, and encourage them to rely on themselves and contribute to the society. The head of the Posdaya said that they looked forward to suitable cooperation opportunities with China. In Universitas Indonesia, Professor Bambang invited some local NGO representatives to attend the discussion with us, exchanging opinions on the development of Indonesian NGOs and sharing good experience on the role of NGOs in poverty alleviation, development and international exchanges. Professor Bai Yi, Council member of CAFIU made some proposals and suggestions on conducting a joint program on artistic studies between China and Indonesia, which was warmly welcomed by the foreign participants. In Sri Lanka, the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau and BOI showed strong interest in cooperation with China. After the introduction made by Mr. Yan Han, Deputy Secretary-General of World Tourism Cities Federation and Council member of CAFIU, the Managing Director of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau Rumy said that recent years witnessed a year-on-year increase in the number of Chinese tourists coming to Sri Lanka, with better prospects in the future. Sri Lanka is very interested in attracting Chinese tourists, and the Bureau is willing to cooperate with China to improve the local service to Chinese tourists to meet their demand. Dr. Lakshman, Chairman of BOI said that Sri Lanka boasted sound investment environment, favorable geographical position, strong policy support and quality labor resources. In recent years, its infrastructure has also been greatly improved. Sri Lanka hoped to attract more FDI from other countries including China, and further upgrade its manufacturing and service industries. Maritime Silk Road: to achieve the Asian dream As significant marine powers, Indonesia and Sri Lanka are very concerned with the strategic concept of “Maritime Silk Road in the 21st Century” proposed by China, and are willing to play an active role in this process to achieve the Asian dream featuring development, prosperity and harmony. During the visit in Indonesia, we were told that as the largest economy in ASEAN, Indonesia has always attached great importance on its relations with other ASEAN countries. In recent years, Indonesia has registered fast economic development and tends to be more reliant on China, which indicates a huge potential in bilateral trade. Besides strong economic complementarity, the strategic concept of “Maritime Silk Road in the 21st Century” proposed by China fits well with the goal of Indonesia to become a marine power, so the two countries should cooperate more closely in the future. President Goonatileke of SLCFA said that as an island country, they have always attached great importance to the sea. For its development in the future, Sri Lanka needs to make full use of its marine resources and expand its cooperation with other countries. The concept of “Maritime Silk Road in the 21st century” proposed by China is a national strategy, which Sri Lanka thinks highly despite of the criticism of western countries. Encouraged by this important development opportunity, the Sri Lanka-China Friendship Association is willing to work together with other organizations within the country to give publicity to this Maritime Silk Road strategy, promote the economic development of regions along the route and improve the overall livelihood of people. In Indonesia, we saw some historical porcelain items reclaimed from wreckages of the Ming and Qing dynasties. They are of significant historical and cultural values, and remain as witness to the Maritime Silk Road in history. In Colombo Museum of Sri Lanka, we saw a trilingual slab recording the blessings and bestowment at the Buddhist Temple in the Mountain of Ceylon. The inscription shows respect to various religions, and leaves a clear Chinese mark in the South Asian sub-continent culture. These are very expressive of the close ties and in-depth exchanges between the Chinese and Indonesian and Sri Lankan peoples. Rooted in people and originated from exchanges, people-to-people diplomacy will surely encourage more achievements in the exchanges between China and Indonesia as well as between China and Sri Lanka.