PARAPAT, North Sumatera, March 14 /PRNewswire/ -- The three-day network of
regional governments for sustainable development meeting or Lake Toba Summit
wound up here Saturday (March, 12) with a number of agreements as specified in
a "Lake Toba Call" declaration.
One of the points in the "Lake Toba Call" puts emphasis on the importance
of forging inter-governmental cooperation in overcoming problems in the post-
tsunami disaster period.
"The tsunami was a natural disaster which could really hamper the
manifestation of sustainable development," the head of the Housing Affairs
Department of Western Cape Town in South Africa, Laurine Platzky, said in
Parapat, on Saturday.
As to an agreement on the handling of tsunami, all representatives of
regional governments confirmed three matters that have to be taken into
account, namely the recovery of regional government's administrative activity,
the creation of job opportunity and re-empowerment of economy in the disaster-
affected region.
"It is impossible that a tsunami-ravaged region will revive from their
destruction, if the local government could not work properly," Platzky said.
In the business sector, it was agreed that each local government should be
able to empower their economy in producing domestic commodities with
competitive prices.
All agreements will be formulated through a network of regional government
together with international organizations such as City Net, Association of the
Asia Pacific Regional Government and a number of UN institutions like UNEP and
UNITAR.
"Through cooperation under a network of regional governments, it is
expected that such sustainable development will not only happen in local
level, but also in regional and international level," Platzky said.
The Lake Toba Summit was closed by North Sumatra Governor Tengku Rizal
Nurdin, while the next meeting of similar event will take place in Western
Cape Town, South Africa.
On the opportunity, Platzky as a representative of Western Cape Town also
handed over a book Nelson Mandela, to Lake Toba Summit Chairman Nico Barito.
SOURCE Regional Organizing Committee
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CONTACT:
Regional Organizing Committee: Mr. Prof.
Syamsul Arifin, Chairman of North Sumatera Environmental Agency,
+62-61-4537050, or fax, +62-61-4537050, or mobile,
+62-812-6021218, or oong_profsyamsul@yahoo.com, or
nrg4sd-toba@telkom.net
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