Widodo wants to transfer the capital from Jakarta to Borneo
Today the president made his State of the Nation speech before parliament. “A capital city is not just a symbol of national identity, but also a representation of the progress of the nation,” he said. For the president, minerals, palm oil and fisheries are resources Indonesia should process more at home to increase their value.
Jakarta (AsiaNews/Agencies) – This morning Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo proposed to move Indonesia’s capital from Jakarta, on the island of Java, to Kalimantan, on the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo.
Widodo illustrated the plan in his State of the Nation speech before parliament, a day before celebrations marking the 74th anniversary of independence.
“I hereby request your permission to move our national capital to Kalimantan,” said Widodo, who will be sworn in for a second term in October after winning April’s election.
“A capital city,” he went on to say, “is not just a symbol of national identity, but also a representation of the progress of the nation. This is for the realisation of economic equality and justice”.
The president stressed that Indonesia should push further to develop a local industry to process domestic natural and mineral resources, thus bolstering Southeast Asia’s largest economy.
He listed minerals such as bauxite and nickel, as well as coal, palm oil and fisheries, as the type of resources Indonesia should process more at home to increase their value before exporting.
Widodo also repeated promises to continue regulatory and bureaucratic reforms. Government institutions that have similar roles will be merged and inefficient civil servants will be removed, he said.
The president, however, said some areas require tighter rules as a response to advances in technology, including on data protection due to cybercrime.
“Data is the new type of wealth for our nation, it is now more valuable than oil,” he explained.
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