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head of the inaugural summit on China’s “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR) initiative set to take place in Beijing on May 14 and 15, observers have urged Indonesia to finally speak up with a policy statement to welcome the ambitious infrastructure project.

Announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, the project aims to establish connectivity and cooperation between China and 65 countries with extensive networks that would stretch from central China through Asia to Africa and Europe.

Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI) founder Dino Patti Djalal said the “pure economic and infrastructure benefits to the region” would be advantageous to Indonesia, explaining that the connections would also complement Indonesia’s own Global Maritime Axis vision set out by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

The government is to soon decide on a port for a connectivity point in Indonesia for the OBOR networks, Dino said, which would bring more shipments into its waters.

“To be an axis, we need the necessary balance. If we become a hub but no-one actually stops in Indonesia, then we would not be an axis. So, I think [OBOR] is relevant to our efforts to become one of the axes in the Asia-Pacific,” Dino told reporters on the sidelines of a discussion about relations between Indonesia and China in Jakarta on Tuesday.

He stressed that there was a direct link between infrastructure and economic development for spurring growth, especially since the initiative had already secured funding, even though it needs more.

Jokowi and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte are set to be among the 28 leaders to attend the summit, according to a list announced by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

The world’s largest archipelagic nation has so far been silent on an official stance regarding the global project, observers have noted, adding that Jokowi must take the opportunity of the summit to announce a clear “yes” to joining the initiative.

China has earmarked more than US$200 billion in resources, including $100 billion in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the $50 billion Silk Road Infrastructure Fund, to finance infrastructure, notably road and rail links and power grids along the corridors covered by the OBOR initiative.

Despite the economic potential, however, Indonesia would likely be cautious about undue political influence as the project has been seen as one of Beijing’s ways of increasing is sphere of influence, including in the disputed South China Sea, where the East Asian giant claims most of the waters encompassed by a so-called nine-dash line.

Speaking about the political implications of any cooperation, Dino said a bilateral framework should include an agreement outlining clear guidelines over “economic cooperation without political conditions.”

As a non-claimant state in the disputed waters, Indonesia has stressed the importance of abiding by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to maintain peace and stability in the region.

Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) executive director Philips J. Vermonte said that concerns over China’s behavior in the South China Sea should not stop the pursuit of establishing cooperation with China, noting the importance of beneficial issues outside the realm.

“We should not expect the South China Sea problem to end very soon because there are so many other territorial disputes around the globe that have not been resolved for decades, but it is possible to have functional cooperation with the country,” Philips said.