Indonesia is considering granting visa-free entry to nationals of 20 countries, including the United States, China, Australia, India, South Korea, Germany, Britain and France, to boost its tourism and economy, its tourism minister said on Thursday.
The government will finalise the list of countries included in the provision within one month, according to a statement.
Minister Sandiaga Uno said the president had instructed the government to consider the visa waiver as a means of boosting the economy, tourism visits and investment.
There were more than 16 million foreign arrivals in Indonesia in pre-pandemic 2019, according to official data.
From January to October this year, Indonesia received 9.49 million foreign visitors, an increase of 124.3% from the same period in 2022.
Indonesia is the latest country in Southeast Asia to consider waiving visas for China, a major travel market, following Singapore, which on Thursday said a 30-day mutual visa exemption with China will be implemented early next year.
Thailand and recently Malaysia have also waived visas for visitors from China and India.
Reporting by Stanley Widianto; Editing by Martin Petty, Reuters
PENAJAM PASER UTARA, Indonesia (AP) — Orange-red ground has been broken in the jungle of East Borneo, where the Indonesian government has begun construction of its new capital city.
Officials promise a “sustainable forest city” that puts the environment at the heart of development and aims to be carbon-neutral by 2045. But the project has been plagued by criticism from environmentalists and Indigenous communities, who say it degrades the environment, further shrinks the habitat of endangered animals such as orangutans and displaces Indigenous people that rely on the land for their livelihoods.
Indonesia began construction of the new capital in mid 2022, after President Joko Widodo announced that Jakarta — the congested, polluted current capital that is prone to earthquakes and rapidly sinking into the Java Sea — would be retired from capital status.
Plans for the new capital — about twice the size of New York City — are grandeur. Officials tout the creation of a futuristic green city centered on forest, parks and food production that utilizes renewable energy resources, “smart” waste management and green buildings.
“We have to think beyond what is happening today and try to tackle (things) that are futuristic,” said Bambang Susantono, chairman of Nusantara National Capital Authority, speaking about the city’s design and ability to answer future challenges.
Digital renderings shared by the government show a city surrounded by forest, with people walking on tree-lined sidewalks and buildings with plant-covered rooftops surrounded by walking paths, ponds, clean creeks and lush forest.
Building architecture is inspired by modern urban towers combined with traditional Indonesian architecture: the presidential palace in the shape of a garuda — a mythical bird and the national symbol of Indonesia — and other buildings that give a stylistic nod to traditional architecture used by Indigenous groups around the archipelago.
In its current state, the new city is far from the tidy finish presented by its planners, but there is progress. Basuki Hadimuljono, Indonesia’s minister for public works and housing, said in February that the city’s infrastructure is 14% completed.
Some 7,000 construction workers are clearing, plowing and building the first phases of the site. Worker dormitories, basic roads and a helipad are already being used. Construction of key buildings — such as the presidential palace — is expected to be completed by August 2024.
Sites visited by The Associated Press in early March showed mounds of freshly turned earth with excavators and cranes around them. At least one site has a sign with a QR code that visitors can scan to see 3D visuals of what the area will look like when finished; others have printed signboards showing what’s to come.
The government has said it’s working to be considerate of the environment. Signs of a more-conscious approach to construction are visible: patches of trees remain fenced-off to protect them from machinery, a plant nursery has already started for the replanting process officials promise and industrial forest surrounds the site.
But with construction set to ramp up this year, environmentalists warn building a metropolis will speed up deforestation in one of the world’s largest and oldest stretches of tropical rainforest. Forests, called the lungs of the world, suck in planet-warming carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and are home to numerous wildlife species. The island has already been compromised by palm oil plantations and coal mines.
Dwi Sawung, an infrastructure specialist at the Indonesian Forum for Living Environment, an environmental nongovernmental organization that has been monitoring the new capital project, said that the government’s plans lack consideration of the region’s unique wildlife like orangutans and sun bears. The new city cuts through an important animal corridor.
“The animals should be relocated first and then build the construction,” he said. “But since they need to hurry up, they just built the area without relocating the animals first.”
Experts have also expressed concerns about how the new capital will be powered. While the government vows the city will rely on a “smart energy” system, groups worry that some of the region’s coal-fired power plants could be used in the short term.
Indonesia has significant energy potential from solar, hydropower, geothermal, wind and other sources, but only some 12% of them are tapped, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency. And while user-friendly public transport might keep cars off the city’s roads, there will likely be extensive air travel between the new capital and Jakarta, about 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) away.
Indigenous groups that reside in the region and already lost parts of their land fear that urban sprawl from the new capital could make things even worse.
Officials have vowed to respect Indigenous rights and compensate those losing their homes. Local officials said they would verify all land claims and accept documents of proof of ownership, but much of the area is passed down through families without paperwork and not all tribal areas are formally recognized.
“We do not want to be relocated. We do not want they move our graves of our ancestors, or make changes or remove our historical site,” said Sibukdin, an Indigenous community leader, who like many in the country only uses one name and lives in Sepaku, a ward very close to the construction area.
Susantono said that Indigenous residents have “a couple of options for them to be included in the process” including compensation, relocation or share ownership of stores that will open.
“We are going to always persuade them and tell them about the future of the city,” he said. “Hopefully they will understand that this is for the sake of everybody.”
But as Indonesia continues to court investors, construction is moving forward, with the government planning to inaugurate the city on Aug. 17 next year to coincide with Indonesia’s Independence Day.
“Nusantara is the city for tomorrow,” said Susantono. “It will become a vibrant city, not just a government city.”
Indonesia is preparing to start Southeast Asia’s first high-speed rail service that will cut travel time between two cities from the current three hours to about 40 minutes.
The railway line, which connects Indonesia’s capital Jakarta and Bandung, the heavily populated capital of West Java province, is part of China’s Belt and Road infrastructure initiative.
As the Jakarta-Bandung portion of the rail project approached 90% completion, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo on Thursday visited Bandung’s Tegalluar station — one of the railway’s four stations — where eight train cars and an inspection train that arrived from China in early September were parked.
“We hope with the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train, the mobility of goods and people can be faster and improved, and our competitiveness will also be stronger,” Widodo told reporters during the visit.
Widodo also expected the bullet train to benefit other sectors.
Earlier reports said Widodo would invite his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to ride on the China-made bullet train after the Group of 20 biggest economies summit in Bali next month. However, Widodo told reporters Thursday, the plan is still being discussed with Xi and “it is still not final yet.”
The train cars were designed and built by China’s CRRC Qingdao Sifang railway company. September’s delivery was CRRC’s first export of high-speed trains in its 11-train contract for KCIC400AF eight-car trains and one KCIC400AF-CIT inspection train. The contract, worth $364.5 million, was awarded to CRRC in April 2017.
The rail line construction that began in 2016 was originally expected to start operating in 2019 but was delayed until June 2023 due to disputes that involved land purchases and environmental issues.
The 142.3-kilometer (88.4-mile) railway worth $7.8 billion is being constructed by PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia-China, or PT KCIC, a joint venture between an Indonesian consortium of four state-owned companies and China Railway International Co. Ltd. The joint venture said the trains will be the fastest in Southeast Asia.
The CRRC claimed that the KCIC400AF train can reach speeds up to 350 kilometers (217 miles) per hour, pass curves with a minimum radius of 150 meters (492 feet), and is equipped with electric motors, each with a power of 625,000 watts. The cars will be divided into three classes: VIP, first and second, and several cars with large spaces between seats will be allocated for passengers with limited mobility.
The manufacturer said the trains are specifically modified to adapt to Indonesia’s tropical climate, and are equipped with an improved security system that has the ability to track earthquakes, floods and other emergency conditions. The length of the eight-car train is 208.9 meters (685.3 feet).
The rail deal was signed in October 2015 after Indonesia selected China over Japan in competitive bidding, and financed by a loan from the China Development Bank for 75%. The remaining 25% is the consortium’s own funds.
The project is part of a 750-kilometer (466-mile) high-speed train plant that would cut across four provinces on the main island of Java and end in the country’s second-largest city of Surabaya.
Infrastructure improvement, Widodo’s signature policy, helped him win a second term in 2019 elections.
Jakarta’s subway — a Japan-backed venture — was inaugurated in 2019 as part of the capital’s efforts to ease traffic congestion. Its second phase will soon be completed and the United Kingdom and Japan have offered the country soft loans for its third phase, said transportation minister Budi Karya Sumadi.
The government has completed other rail projects, including light-rail transit services in Palembang and Jakarta, while five other cities, including on Indonesia’s tourist island of Bali, have LRT plans in the pipeline.
