Indonesia, the country worst hit by the Asian-wide tsunami disaster, said Friday it would host a major international summit to discuss strategies for overcoming the catastrophe and raising more aid.
The conference in Jakarta, set for January 6, will gather senior officials from countries around the Indonesian ocean which have counted tens of thousands of deaths as seismic shockwaves buried their coastlines in water.
Jakarta also hopes United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan will attend.
"The meeting will be to discuss the handling of the impact of the earthquake and the tsunami," Indonesia's Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said. "It is actually
a form of humanitarian solidarty for the international community."
Senior officials from India and Sri Lanka, which have both suffered massive casualties and damage, were invited to attend the conference as well as all 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Major aid donors Australia, New Zealand, the United States, China, Japan, and South Korea were also invited to the event which will attempt to generate more offers of assistance and formulate an action plan to revive the region.
Representatives from the United Nations, the World Bank, the World Health Organisation, Asian Development Bank and European Unionare also on the guest list
So far only Vietnam has con-
firmed it would be present, sending one of its tiiree deputy premiers. India said its attendance was under “active consideration".
Wirayuda said the meeting, chaired by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, would "forge a joint commitment to encourage concrete action" for rehabilitating and reconstructing areas hi t by the disaster.
The foreign minister said it was not intended to be a full-blown global summit, but a regional attempt to address the crisis, with input from a fewoutside nations.
"It is true that this not aimed at bcinga full international conference but a more limited one, as this is an initiative, a response or a reaction from the community in the region,” hesaid.