Jakarta – Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia (MoFA), c.q Secretary of the Directorate General of ASEAN Cooperation along with LSPR Centre for ASEAN Public Relations Studies (CAPRS) held a public lecture through online media (webinar) on Wednesday, 3 June 2020. The theme for this webinar was the Development of COVID-19 Controls in ASEAN and European Union. Director for American and European Intra and Inter-regional Cooperation, Mr. Masni Eriza, and Director for ASEAN Socio-Cultural Cooperation, Mr. Riaz Januar Putra Saehu, were present as keynote speakers representing MoFA, as well as LSPR Academician, Mr. Sri Tunggul Pannindrya as the reviewer.

Webinar was guided by the head of LSPR CAPRS, Mrs. Yuliana R. Prasetyawati

This webinar was guided by the head of LSPR CAPRS, Mrs. Yuliana R. Prasetyawati. There were 866 participants that consisted of LSPR students and also various university students in Indonesia. Other than that, academicians, media circles, professionals and the 2019 ASEAN-Indonesia Youth Ambassador alumni were also present during the webinar.

In the webinar, Mr. Masni talked about partnership and solidarity between Indonesia and the European Union, as well as the cooperation with the UN, international financial institution, G7 and G20 to form a coordinated multilateral response. Meanwhile, Mr. Riaz spoke about the information regarding the responses and policies adopted by the member countries of ASEAN in handling COVID-19 in ASEAN. He also added that in the collective response from ASEAN, member countries have conducted Special ASEAN Summit on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) on 14 May 2020, and some other coordination meeting of other sectoral bodies to accelerate the solution of COVID-19.

Asean Health Ministers Meeting with 866 Participants

Furthermore, a reviewer from LSPR Communication & Business Institute Academician suggested that the concept of Coordinated Multilateral Response should be emphasised and studied further in international relations. Mr. Tunggul stated, “The concept emphasizes the need for coordination in the multilateralism order so that the handling of an international issue, such as pandemic prevention and mitigation, can run synergistically and harmoniously”.