Indonesia, Papua New Guinea to Strengthen Electricity Cooperation
- Dok. Humas Kemenko Marves
Bali – Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan held a bilateral meeting with Deputy Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea (PNG) H.E. John Rosso to discuss the realization of cooperation between the two countries in electricity and downstream sectors.
Earlier, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) had asked PLN to electrify Papua New Guinea before the end of last year, by building 88 electricity poles along Wutung Village, the border of Indonesia and PNG.
“After building the 88 electricity poles, we need to think of a follow-up plan for electricity supply between the two countries,” Minister Pandjaitan said on the sidelines of the 10th World Water Forum in Bali on Tuesday.
Indonesia and Papua New Guinea have concretely established a Joint Task Force to collaborate on technical and non-technical aspects to ensure the cooperation is effective.
“I believe that this cooperation will be able to strengthen the economies of both countries,” the minister remarked.
In line with Minister Pandjaitan, Deputy Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea H.E. John Rosso stated that the relationship between Papua New Guinea and Indonesia has encouraged them to learn downstream from Indonesia.
“We see that Indonesia is successful in running the downstream program. Therefore, we're increasingly motivated and want to learn directly from experts in Indonesia,” Rosso said.
Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut B. Pandjaitan, DPM Hon John Rosso, Deputy for Coordination of Maritime Sovereignty and Resources Jodi Mahardi, Special Staff to the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Resources Jodi Mahardi, and Assistant Deputy for Maritime Law and Treaties also attended this meeting.