The five countries of MIKTA, such as Mexico, Indonesia, Türkiye, and Australia held the Batik and Wire Jewelry in cooperation with North West Province Government, South Africa (27-28/7) at Sun City Convention Center, Rustenburg.
The training which was held within the framework of Indonesia’s chairmanship in the intra-regional forum for middle-power countries, raised the theme of inclusive economic recovery as one of Indonesia’s chairmanship priorities in 2023.
The cooperation between MIKTA and North West Province was done by recruiting 50 training participants from the province who came from vulnerable groups economically affected after the Covid-19 pandemic, consisting of women, youth and disabled.
The participants of the two-day training for both batik and jewelry appeared highly enthusiastic, as conveyed by Ellen Modi, one of the local designers who participated. “As a participant, we are very satisfied with this activity which gave us recent insights about Batik. This is a chance for us to develop our design skills, especially in Batik”.
The training activities involved Indonesian instructor, Venny Afwany Alamsyah from Batik House Indonesia and were witnessed by officials of embassies from every MIKTA country in Pretoria, South Africa, namely Republic of Korea Ambassador, Chull-joo Park; Türkiye Ambassador, Ayşegül Kandaş; and Australia Ambassador, Tegan Brink, and Chargé d’Affaires ad Interim of the Embassy of Mexico, Elía del Carmen Sosa Nishizaki; KUAI Indonesian Embassy (KBRI) Pretoria, Victor J. Sambuaga. These officials also had the opportunity to try making batik on the sidelines of the activity.
To represent his colleagues, the heads of representatives of MIKTA country members, Victor J. Sambuaga, the Indonesian Embassy in Pretoria welcomed the activities initiated by both parties, MIKTA and North West Province. “This is clear evidence of MIKTA country members’ contributions as international entities toward accreditation areas, such as South Africa, especially in North West Province. These kinds of activities can hopefully impact the development of small and medium enterprises which of course we all hope together could push the community’s economic growth, especially in the North West Province.
In line with Sambuaga, Thabo Mabe, Chief Director of the North West Province Department of Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation expressed his belief that this activity, which is also a form of cultural exchange for the two countries will produce qualified results for the beneficiary communities. “We warmly welcome this activity, especially since it will be advantageous for women, youth, and the disabled. The goal is to empower the community through capacity building which is expected to create jobs for the community.”
As it is known, Indonesia has set 3 priorities for its chairmanship in 2023, consist of Strengthening Multilateralism, Inclusive Economic Recovery, and Digital Transformation. The echoes of Indonesia’s chairmanship began since continuing as chairman of the MIKTA forum from Türkiye since March 2023.
The event was concluded with a recorded message from high-ranking Indonesian officials, the Director General for Multilateral Affairs of the Indonesian Foreign Ministry, Tri Tharyat, and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Africa, Y.M. Candith Mashego-Dlamini.
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