VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) accompanied by Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi will make a visit to Singapore to attend the 32nd ASEAN Summit. This summit is scheduled to be held on 27-28 April. One of the discussions that will be raised in the annual meeting of leaders of ASEAN countries is the development of Smart City ASEAN network. The concept of ASEAN Smart City itself is to strive for the development of a smart and sustainable city to improve the quality of life of the people with the help of technology. According to the Director of ASEAN PoliticalandSecurity Cooperation of theIndonesia Ministry of Foreign Affairs Chandra Widya Yudha in a press conference in Jakarta on Friday, April 20th, the discussion is in accordance with the current focus of the Government of Indonesia.

“To advance ASEAN Smart City Network which is also an ASEAN program, accordance with the program of Indonesia itself which we call the Movement Towards 100 Smart City. The point is to encourage the use of technology to advance the city. The design must be in accordance with the needs and potentials in the area for optimal results for the community and also realize a more effective, transparent and reliable governance,” said Chandra Widya Yudha.

Chandra added that in order to realize this framework, each ASEAN member country is required to nominate two or three of its cities to join the network. Indonesia has also chosen three cities in this Smart City program, namely the Special Capital Region of Jakarta, Makassar in South Sulawesi, and Banyuwangi in East Java. Furthermore, these Smart Cities will be the authority of the Indonesian Ministry of Home Affairs of Indonesia related to the development in the future. (VOI/Rezha/AHM)