President Jokowi Ensures New ASEAN Secretariat Building Completed in Early 2019

President Jokowi accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of State Secretary receives ASEAN Secretary General Lim Jock Hoi, at Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Friday (23/3. (Photo by: Rahmat/Public Relations)

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has confirmed that the Indonesian Government is working hard to ensure that the construction of the new ASEAN Secretariat building in Jakarta will be completed in early 2019.

“The new building will be used in full for ASEAN meetings,” the President said when receiving a courtesy call from ASEAN Secretary General Lim Jock Hoi, at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Friday (23/3).

In the meantime, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi, who accompanied President Jokowi during the meeting said, the new ASEAN Secretariat building has been built since 8 January 2018, with construction time estimated to be around 395 days.

“We estimate that the construction of the new building will be finished at least early next year,” Retno said.

Retno added that the construction of this building is very important as it will serve as a symbol of a modern ASEAN that has been established for 50 years and will face tougher challenges and duties ahead.

In addition, the Minister added, in the next 50 years, the challenge faced by ASEAN will definitely be bigger and the issues related to ASEAN unity and centrality will become essential. Hence, to perform these duties, Retno continued; ASEAN needs to be supported by a strong secretariat not only in terms of human resources but in terms of infrastructure, including the building. According to her, the old building can no longer accommodate.

“So the goal is to make ASEAN remain relevant and capable of contributing to the creation of a peaceful and prosperous ecosystem in the region as ASEAN has done in next 50 years,” Retno concluded.

In the meantime, ASEAN Secretary General Lim Jock Hoi said he is very pleased that the Indonesian Government has provided a new building with 2 towers and 16 floors, which is 5 times larger than the current building.

“We hope we can use it as efficiently as possible to organize ASEAN meetings,” Lim concluded. (FID/RAH/ES) (GWH/EP/Naster)