Indonesia-RRT Jajaki Revitalisasi Kota Tua hingga Pusat Pengobatan Tradisional

Minister of Culture Fadli Zon received the Chairman of China State Construction International Holdings Limited (CSCI) Gao Bo at the Ministry of Culture Office, Senayan, Jakarta, Wednesday (17/6). (IST)

JAKARTA - Indonesia and the People's Republic of China (PRC) are exploring cooperation in the development of infrastructure based on culture. The focus is not only on concrete and buildings, but also on how development projects respect history, old towns, and local wisdom.

This was discussed in a meeting between Minister of Culture Fadli Zon and Chairman of China State Construction International Holdings Limited (CSCI) Gao Bo at the Ministry of Culture Office, Senayan, Jakarta, Wednesday (17/6).

The meeting was a follow-up to discussions between the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of PPN/Bappenas. One of the ideas discussed was the development of traditional medicine centers in Indonesia.

Fadli welcomed the idea. According to Fadli, traditional medicine centers can not only be health facilities, but also a space to introduce cultural expressions to the community.

"We very much welcome the idea of building a traditional medicine center in Indonesia. One part of traditional medicine is herbal medicine or wellness culture, which is an expression of culture that has been inscribed as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage," said Fadli.

In addition to traditional medicine centers, cooperation is also opened for the reconstruction of cultural and historical buildings. Fadli said that the arrangement of old cities or old cities in various regions of Indonesia has great potential to be developed.

"Cooperation in the construction and revitalization of historic buildings can be the main point of this bilateral cooperation," said Fadli.

He said the idea still needed to be further explored with stakeholders, ministries, and related institutions in Indonesia.

Gao Bo assessed that development is not enough to just talk about design, concept, and planning. According to him, every development needs to understand the local cultural character in the area.

"In addition to design, concept, and planning, a development must also know the characteristics of the local culture of the area," said Gao Bo.

The meeting was also attended by representatives of the Ministry of PPN/Bappenas Suaedi Sunanto, Vice President of CSCI Xu Tao, President of CSCI Wang Ounan, Deputy General Manager of the Marketing Department of CSCI Meng Meng, and Head of the Marketing Department of CSCI Sun Dechao.

From the Ministry of Culture, there were the Director General of Cultural and Traditional Preservation Restu Gunawan, Expert Staff of the Minister for Legal and Cultural Policy Masyitoh Annisa Ramadhani Alkitri, Director of Cultural Value Empowerment and Intellectual Property Facilitation I Made Dharma Suteja, and Director of Cultural Cooperation Mardisontori.

For Indonesia, this kind of cultural infrastructure cooperation is important because many old cities and historical buildings have not been seriously developed. The challenge is that development should not make cultural heritage just a photo background, then lose its soul.