President Joko Widodo expressed his hope that BRI would participate in funding the development of the Indonesian Capital City (IKN) in North Penajam Paser, East Kalimantan.
Previously, the BRI funding scheme had helped build the Jakarta-Bandung Fast Train, one of the major national projects which was recently inaugurated.
“Indonesia has a national Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train project, which was then synergized with BRI and has recently been launched and operational. “In the future, we will also synergize the development of the new capital city of IKN, energy transition and industrial downstreaming,” said Jokowi in his remarks at the BRI Summit.
Jokowi assessed that BRI’s synergy in infrastructure development must continue to be strengthened but also provide ownership space for hosts to carry out their national projects independently, because sense of ownership It is very important to ensure the continuity of the project. He also emphasized that in the midst of an increasingly divided world situation, BRI cooperation must not be politicized.
“This requires our joint efforts to maintain the main values so that this initiative becomes stronger and more impactful,” he said.
Furthermore, the former governor of DKI Jakarta also said that projects funded under the BRI scheme must be based on the principles of equal and mutually beneficial partnerships. Apart from that, he also said, the scheme was accompanied by careful planning, a transparent funding system, the absorption of local workers and the use of domestic products.
“The sustainability of the BRI project must also be ensured for the long term and to strengthen the economic foundations of partner countries, not complicate their fiscal conditions,” he said.
On this occasion, Jokowi also expressed his gratitude to the PRC Government and President Xi Jinping for BRI’s contribution to development for developing countries, including Indonesia.
Quoting a Chinese proverb, Jokowi believes that persistence can make miracles happen.
“Let’s fight, be persistent together to advance economic development and realize people’s welfare,” he stressed.
CELIOS economist Bhima Yudhistira said that the Indonesian government’s offer to China to invest in the IKN development mega project was not new. However, he underlined that the government should be able to negotiate better so that the direction of development funded by the BRI scheme does not have a negative impact.
“The Indonesian government must provide some kind of emphasis, the projects funded must also be in accordance with sustainable development policies,” said Bhima.
So far, the BRI program, he said, is far from being green, causing many social problems in the field, and causing a lot of burden on the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN).
“The interest costs were relatively expensive for the project business to business “It becomes the involvement of the APBN, like in the fast train (Jakarta-Bandung),” said Bhima.
He saw that so far the loans under the BRI scheme that have been disbursed to various developing countries, including Indonesia, have still accommodated China’s interests more than the interests of the recipient partner countries. Even though BRI funding is sufficient to help development in various developing countries, this collaboration is still far from being mutually beneficial.
“So far, if you say it’s helping, it’s helping, especially accelerating downstreaming and infrastructure. “However, the problem is that mega projects that are supposed to encourage economic growth actually don’t have a big impact compared to the costs that have to be incurred and the burden that BUMN bears,” he explained.
“For example, the Jakarta-Bandung fast train, is there an economic impact? “Yes, there is, but the investment burden and borrowing costs are much higher and in the future we could even fall into a debt trap because the BUMN is unable to pay off the operational income received,” he added.
According to him, in the future, Indonesia must be able to leave investment dependence from China and begin to expand the scope of cooperation with partner countries in other regions.
“There are countries in the Middle East, such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar that should be invited to invest so that there is a healthy geopolitical balance and Indonesia remains free to be active,” he concluded. (gi/ab)
