UI observer: Indonesia needs to strengthen energy sector

Jakarta (ANTARA) - University of Indonesia international relations expert Muhammad Syaroni Rofii has assessed that energy is a crucial sector that the government needs to strengthen amid geopolitical conflicts, trade wars and global supply chain disruptions. “Energy is one of the sectors that needs to be strengthened because it has many derivatives. Energy can drive industry and public mobility,” Syaroni told ANTARA in Jakarta on Saturday. He assessed that import dependence burdens the state budget, so the government needs to accelerate the development of alternative energy to reduce that dependence. According to him, this step could take into account the experience of several countries, such as China and Saudi Arabia, which have pushed the development of alternative energy sources. Amid the rivalry between the United States and China, Indonesia must adapt to that reality by prioritising mutually beneficial partnerships with both countries, he said. He also assessed that Indonesia needs to identify urgent national interests and make foreign policy an instrument to achieve them. “I see Indonesia has the potential to play a role at the regional and global levels. This must be supported by agile and adaptive diplomacy,” he said. Furthermore, he said geopolitical changes over the past five years have pushed countries to increasingly prioritise national interests and prepare policy alternatives. “The COVID-19 pandemic, the US-China trade war, and the US-Iran war are among those variables. I think President Prabowo’s approach in navigating Indonesia’s foreign policy cannot be separated from those variables,” he said.