Jakarta and NSW sign sister provinces accord
JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta and the Australian state of New South Wales yesterday entered a new era of cooperation with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on becoming sister- provinces.
"We have today formalized a friendship which can only grow and expand in the years ahead," Fahey said.
The agreement was signed by Governor Surjadi Soedirdja and New South Wales Premier John Fahey in the presence of Australian Ambassador to Indonesia Allan Robert Taylor and Chairman of the Jakarta City Council MH Ritonga.
The five-year agreement with New South Wales signed at City Hall yesterday is the second such arrangement undertaken by the special province of Jakarta this year, after forging sister- province ties with the American President Bill Clinton's home state of Arkansas.
Thus far, Jakarta has also established sister-city ties with Beijing, Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, Tokyo, Seoul, Berlin, Rotterdam, Los Angeles, Casablanca and Islamabad.
Within the newly signed MOU, seven fields of cooperation were identified as areas which must be effectively worked on by the two-governments.
Those areas include urban development, investment, trade and economic development, geographic information, education and training, tourism and zoos.
When asked by The Jakarta Post, Fahey said that his government saw the need to forge close ties with its closest neighbor. He further pointed that as south-east Asia's largest metropolis, Jakarta has great potential for the future.
With a respectable annual growth rate of three percent, New South Wales, located in the south-eastern half of the Australian continent, is the most thriving of the country's six-states.
Despite occupying only one-tenth of the overall territory, New South Wales is home to more than a third of the Australian population with about six million people.
According to Governor Surjadi, one of the most important goals expected to arise from the closer relationship is cooperation on tackling Jakarta's urban problems.
He praised the planning of Sydney, the state capital of New South Wales, and identified it as a model to be emulated.
"We should be learning from them...the problems of urbanization are relatively the same," Surjadi explained.
Fahey concurred with Surjadi saying that even though New South Wales is not a predominantly urban territory, it faces the same kinds of problems that Jakarta faces.
Project
One of the major projects New South Wales is currently assisting is the planning of the proposed Waterfront Development project in North Jakarta.
The project plans to reclaim about 2,000 hectares of land and develop a new waterfront where the sea once stood on Jakarta's north coast.
At the same occasion, Surjadi and Fahey witnessed the signing of an agreement on trade and investment between Chairman of the Jakarta Chapter of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin Jaya) Soekardjo Hardjosoewirjo and President of the Chamber of Manufactures of New South Wales, Roger Pysden.
At a separate occasion yesterday, the Vice-Chairman of the City Development Planning Office (Bappeda) Budihardjo Soekmadi, told the visiting Premier of the elaborate plans for the project.
Budihardjo explained to Premier Fahey and his entourage that within a span of two-decades a new business district will be built around the waterfront where Sunda Kelapa harbor is currently located.
Following his meeting at City Hall, Fahey went to the Ancol area in North Jakarta to inspect the proposed development of the water front city. (mds)