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Indonesia calls for concrete projects for OBOR
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President Joko Widodo (left) shakes hands with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during the welcome ceremony for the Belt and Road Forum, at the International Conference Center in Yanqi Lake, north of Beijing, on May 15. (AFP Photo/Roman Pilipey/Pool)
I
ndonesia at the Belt and Road Summit in Beijing underlined on Monday the importance of integrating the archipelago, as well as the Southeast Asian region in developing China's vision to revive a modern-day Silk Road.
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said maritime aspects in the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) would be difficult to realize without significant contribution from Indonesia and Southeast Asian countries, according to a State Palace statement.
In addressing the attending 28 national leaders at the forum, Jokowi noted that Indonesia, as the largest maritime economic zone that was strategically located between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, was ripe with the potential for connectivity development because of its lack of infrastructure.
While touting ongoing national efforts in large-scale infrastructure development, Jokowi invited projects on cooperation and connectivity development as part of realizing the vision of OBOR.
"As President Xi Jinping announced yesterday morning, our vision will be built one by one. There is an English saying of 'seeing is believing,' let's show the world that we are actually building our vision in a concrete way," Jokowi said.
(Read also: RI hopes to boost maritime, people-to-people cooperation with Poland)
Jokowi was in Beijing for the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF), where he and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping witnessed the signing of a business agreement between the two countries on a US$4.5 billion loan with the China Development Bank to build Indonesia's first high-speed railway. (ipa)
