President Jokowi Hopes Partnerships In Belt And Road Initiatives Are Equal

President Joko Widodo arrived at the Great Hall of The People, Beijing on Wednesday (18/10/2023) to attend the 3rd Belt Road Forum (BRF) Summit. (ANTARA/Desca Lidya Natalia)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo hopes that the Belt and Road Initiative, which was first introduced by Chinese President Xi Jinping 10 years ago, is based on the principle of equal partnership.

"The BRI project must be based on the principle of equal partnership and mutually beneficial and equipped with careful planning," said President Jokowi when delivering his remarks at the opening ceremony of the 3rd Belt Road Forum (BRF) Summit at the Great Hall of The People, Beijing, reported by ANTARA, Wednesday, October 18.

President Joko Widodo delivered a speech at an event that was preceded by remarks from President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, then after President Jokowi appeared also Argentine President Alberto Fernandez, Ethiopian Prime Minister and finally received UN Secretary-General Ant▁Kemungkinanio Guterres.

"The use of a transparent funding system, absorption of local labor and utilization of domestic products," added the President.

President Jokowi also hopes that the sustainability of the BRI project must be ensured in the long term and strengthen the country's economic foundation.

"It's not actually complicated the fiscal condition," said the President.

President Jokowi also expressed his gratitude to the Chinese government and President Xi Jinping for their contribution to developing countries through BRI.

"The Chinese break says 'Yu gongyi syan', persistence will realize a miracle. Let's fight diligently together to advance economic development and realize the welfare of the people," concluded the President.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a program introduced by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013 under the name One Belt One Road (OBOR).

At that time, Xi wanted to revive the glory of the Sutera Line (Silk Road) in the 21st century. This strategy involves massive investment and infrastructure development in 152 countries spread across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa.

Belt or belt refers to land routes in the form of roads connecting China to Central Asia and South Asia, as well as Europe and railroads which are also referred to as the Sutera Line Economic Belt.

Meanwhile, the road or road refers to the sea route or the Maritime Sutera Line in the 21st Century that connects China to Southeast Asia, the Middle East, East Africa, and North Africa, as well as Europe.

To raise funding for BRI infrastructure projects, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) was formed.

China owns the largest stake in AIIB, which is 26 percent, while Indonesia becomes the 8th largest depositor for AIIB with a capital deposit of US$672 million (around Rp10.23 trillion) which is paid in stages in five years.

Infrastructure projects in Indonesia that receive funding from AIIB include energy projects, water management, agriculture, and rail-based transportation, both light rail transit (LRT) and high-speed trains.

There are 147 countries, including Indonesia, which signed an agreement in the BRI program, for example the Jakarta Bandung High Speed Train (KCJB) with a 142 kilometer train. There are also Chinese-Laos trains, China-Europe express trains, and Mombasa-Nairobi trains.