One Belt Road Initiative: Sutera Route Cooperation Between Indonesia And China

Illustration of Indonesia-China cooperation (Doc. Setpres)

YOGYAKARTA The governments of Indonesia and China are working together on the One Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The cooperation between Indonesia and China in BRI itself is carried out in order to provide benefits to the two countries both from an economic, social and political perspective.

One Belt Road Initiative is a global infrastructure development plan program created by the Chinese Government. The infrastructure project is in the form of connecting Asia with Africa and Europe by land and sea for trade purposes and increasing regional integration.

Quoted from the Indonesian.go.id website, the Belt Road Initiative program was originally named One Belt and One Road or OBOR (One Belt and One Way) which was launched in 2013 by Chinese President Xi Jinping. However, in 2016 his name was changed to the Belt and Road Initiative (Initiative Belt and Road).

The OBOR program itself was inspired by the concept of the Silk Road, which is the trade route that existed during the Han Dynasty about 2,000 years ago. The Silk Road connects China to the Mediterranean through Eurasia.

In 2013, China did continue to make efforts to expand trade while marketing their products to various countries through the OBOR route. China is collaborating with several countries in Southeast Asia, South Asia, and the Indian Ocean.

Meanwhile, relations between Indonesia and China will develop the economic corridors of the two countries by utilizing international transportation routes that rely on the main cities along the OBOR route.

In the BRI program, there are two main routes for Sutera, namely economy and maritime. The Economy Silk Road will connect China with Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central Asia, Russia, and Europe by land.

Then the Maritime Silk Road will connect China's coast with Southeast Asia and South Asia, South Pacific, Middle East and East Africa, to Europe by sea.

As is known, President Jokowi attended the opening of the 3rd Belt and Road Forum (BRF) which was held on Wednesday, October 18 in China. In the forum, RI-China did agree to cooperate with BRI in the future.

When giving his speech, the President expressed his appreciation for the development of cooperation between the two countries in BRI. According to him, in the midst of global uncertainty, he hopes that there will be no efforts to politicize cooperation and must be carried out based on the principles of equal and mutually beneficial partnerships.

"This cooperation must be ensured in the long term, in order to strengthen the economic foundation of partner countries. It is not actually difficult for fiscal conditions," said Jokowi.

At the Indonesia-China Business Forum, two countries have agreed to sign 31 deals with a value of IDR 204 trillion. The signed agreement includes many fields ranging from infrastructure, energy, manufacturing, and tourism.

That's information regarding the One Belt Road Initiative. Visit VOI.ID to get other interesting information.