Exclusive Interview of Indonesian Envoy to Pakistan

G-20 Summit in Bali to Prove a Catalyst for Global Economies: Adam M. Tugio

Pakistan and Indonesia enjoy a very close relationship, which is developing with time. It is also important for the two countries to diversify their trade by focusing beyond the traditional export goods like palm oil, and coal from Indonesia and garments and agriculture products from Pakistan side.

There is a lot of potential and we want to work here with different stakeholders, the government, private sector, commercial, trade, and industries in different parts of Pakistan to promote people-to-people contacts. This has been stated by the Indonesian Ambassador to Pakistan His Excellency Mr. Adam M. Tugio in an exclusive interview for “thegulfobserver.com”

To a question about the forthcoming G-20 summit being held in Bali, the Ambassador said that this significant event will be held on November 15 and 16 and that preparations in this regard are underway with the expectations that G-20 could become a catalyst to the global economies’ recovery.

He said that what the international community needs today is close cooperation in addressing the global unprecedented challenges we are facing.

The Ambassador said that the main focus of the G-20 will be on three areas, firstly, the global health infrastructure, second transitions into renewable energies, and third digitalization of economies.

He added that these are the areas, where during the last three years have become more important not only for the developing countries but for the developed countries also. “The thing we learned during the pandemic, we merely depended on one or two particular countries for providing COVID-19 vaccine or raw material for the health products, so we want to promote equitable and fair access to the vaccine and health products” This according to him is one of the important challenges in building the global health infrastructure.

Second is the climate change impact. “Take the example of Pakistan where one-third of the country has been inundated because of the floods”.

Indonesia together with the international community stands ready to work, helping the Pakistani government, brothers, and sisters to overcome the situation.” Mr. Tugio expressed his sympathies and condolences for the flood-stricken people of Pakistan by saying that Indonesia has also provided humanitarian assistance to Pakistan.

He addressed that climate change has become more important and we have to mitigate this with collective global efforts.

Thirdly, the digitalization of the economy is equally important, especially for the business community and when we talk about the business community, we should also take into consideration that there are also business women, and women need to be empowered. Digital literacy and access to financial resources are the key component areas where we can help women to contribute more. “And I think overall Indonesian chairmanship in G-20 could become a catalyst for reviving or improving the global economies but at the same time, we want the G-20 to become more inclusive.”

The Indonesian envoy added that there are examples of many countries where locations of the capitals to new areas have improved their economies.

As far as Indonesia is concerned the Ambassador said, “we have to look at it from different aspects.” Java Island is overcrowded, more than sixty percent of the Indonesian population lives in Java whereby in Kalimantan only seven percent of the Indonesian population lives, so there are huge spaces in Kalimantan.

He said that more than sixty percent of people live in Jakarta and a lot of studies have indicated that this supporting system in Jakarta city has already reached an extreme point and that the Indonesian Government needs to take other steps to overcome the situations like water scarcity and the impact of climate change.

The second consideration is that there are two- or three-times small earthquakes recorded in Indonesia on a daily basis reflecting how prone Java is to earthquakes. “That is why we relocate to another island and the third consideration is the economy.

We want to improve the economy of Kalimantan and we hope that by relocating the capital to Kalimantan Island we will be able to spread the economic benefits to different parts of Indonesia.”