VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said that cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) initiated by the Chinese government should not be politicized for the interests of certain parties. The president conveyed this when delivering his remarks at the opening of the 3rd Belt and Road Forum (BRF) at the Great Hall of the People, Beijing, China.

"In the midst of an increasingly divided world, BRI cooperation must not be politicized. This requires our joint efforts to maintain core values so that this initiative becomes stronger and more impactful," said President Joko Widodo in his remark on Wednesday (18/10/2023).

Besides that, the president emphasized synergy that provides the host country a sense of ownership to run its project independently. According to him, for the host country, the sense is critical to the project development.

" The first (thing that I want to convey) is synergy which provides ownership space for the host country to run its national project independently because a sense of ownership is very important for the sustainability of the project," he said.

The president showed the recently opened Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway as an example of the synergy, and added that in the future Indonesia will synergize the BRI program with the development of the new capital city Nusantara, energy transition, and industry downstream.

President Joko Widodo explained that the BRI program must be based on an equal partnership and mutual need. He also explained that the sustainability of BRI projects must be ensured for the long term and strengthen the economic foundations of partner countries, not complicate their fiscal conditions.

In his remarks, the president also expressed his thanks to the Chinese government and President Xi Jinping for their contribution to developing countries through the program.

Meanwhile, Xi Jinping lauded the BRI, launched 10 years ago, for building global infrastructure connecting Asia with Africa and Europe through overland and maritime routes. As reported by Reuters, he said that "blueprints turned into real projects". Inspired by the ancient Silk Road, the BRI consists of the "Silk Road Economic Belt" on land and the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road", the route that passed the Indonesian maritime territory at Malacca Strait. (Daulat Pane, Rama Shidqi P)