Press Statement of President of the Republic of Indonesia After the Inauguration of Minister of Communications and Informatics and Five Deputy Ministers of the Onward Indonesia Cabinet for the 2019-2024 Period, at the State Palace, Jakarta, July 17, 2023

Journalists
What factors did you consider when choosing Mr. Budi Arie as the Minister of Communications and Informatics, sir?

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
We only have a really short time, less than a year and a half. So I need, first of all, Ministry of Communications and Informatics to prioritize the completion of BTS (base transceiver station). We respect the legal process, but the BTS completion must also continue, because it concerns services to the community, especially in the frontier and underdeveloped areas. We do not want any legal incidents to happen and even the BTS (project) to be neglected. I do not want to see this. That is where the heavy lifting happens.

Secondly, the pace of this changing world is now very much determined by ICT (information and communications technology). Therefore, we are also strengthening this by appointing a deputy minister so that matters relating to data sovereignty, artificial intelligence, frequencies, and satellites can be immediately finalized and completed. And we will also assist again, still on the Deputy Minister, we will assist again through a task force. Indeed, we are very short on time. There will also be a task force.

Journalists
How did you consider Mr. Nezar’s appointment as deputy minister?

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
Mr. Nezar’s experience in the media, having been the Editor-in-Chief of the Jakarta Post, having been at the Press Council, having been at SOEs, I think his experience will be very valuable to Minister Budi Arie.

Journalists
Any reason why a non-political figure is appointed as Minister of Communications and Informatics?

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
Everything is within the ultimate goal of being able to quickly get to work.

Journalists
Previously filled by the Nasdem Party, is there a reason why it was not replaced by someone from the Nasdem Party?

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
To get to work quickly.

Journalists
Who will lead the task force?

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
Not yet, later we will discuss it with Mr. Minister, with Mr. Deputy Minister so that … because this is not a simple matter.

Journalists
The minister from Nasdem is reduced, how did you communicate it with the Nasdem Party?

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
To get this done at speed.

Journalists
Regarding data security, will it be a priority?

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
Yes, I said so earlier, yes. We have been preparing for years to resolve this.

Journalists
Will the one-year target be pursued?

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
Yes, as I said earlier, everything is being pursued and accelerated, so even with the appointment of the Deputy Minister, we will also add a task force because of this reason. Because after I detailed the problems within, it is not an easy problem. E-commerce nowadays has a very fast pace of change.

Journalists
Will there be another reshuffle after today?

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
Yes, it is possible as it is the president’s prerogative.

Journalists
In relation to e-commerce, currently, there seems to be a phenomenon of social media being merged with e-commerce. How will this be supervised?

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
That will be the task of the new minister, later on, I will order the what, what, what, what, what, and what in a more detailed manner. You can ask the Minister after.

Journalists
What are the considerations for replacing the Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs, sir?

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
Oh, there was a request from the party.

Journalists
Response about the statement from Surya Paloh yesterday saying that the mental revolution is not yet fully maximized, sir?

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
Well, everything that has not been maximized, should be maximized.

(FI/MMB)