President Jokowi Inaugurates New Building For ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta

Jakarta, MINA – Indonesian President Joko Widodo inaugurated a new building for the Secretariat of Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN (ASEC) located at Jl. Trunojoyo, Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta on Thursday, August 8.

“By saying Bismillahirrahmanirrahim I inaugurated the new building of ASEAN Secretariat and we surrendered the new building to Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dirgahayu ASEAN, the 52nd, long life, continue to unite us, the glory of ASEAN,” said Jokowi at the inauguration.

Previously, the head of the Indonesian state reminded that going forward challenges faced by ASEAN as the central countries of Southeast Asia are not easy. ASEAN must continue to move quickly to meet the interests of society.

For this reason, the construction of the new ASEAN Secretariat building is part of Indonesia’s contribution as the host for ASEC as well as Indonesia’s efforts to strengthen ASEAN.

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“Indonesia is trying to facilitate ASEAN in moving quickly, solidly and working effectively, and efficiently, with this in mind that we build the new ASEAN building,” Jokowi said.

The President hopes that most ASEAN activities can later be carried out in the building. According to him, it can reduce travel costs for members of the ASEAN Secretariat and Permanent Representatives.

The inauguration of ASEAN Headquarters also coincides with the 52nd anniversary of ASEAN which falls on August 8. ASEAN was established in Bangkok in 1967 as the first major step in foreign policy undertaken by Indonesia after the New Order. Indonesia was represented by Foreign Minister Adam Malik who is also a senior journalist who founded Antara News Agency, in the declaration of the establishment of ASEAN.

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Previously, Indonesian Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi said that the concept of the new building is “Dialogue” which reflected the identity or DNA of ASEAN itself.

The building which was built since January last year is on an area of 11,369 m2 with a building area of 49,993 m2 and also has an environmentally friendly concept.

The building has two towers with 16 floors each, which is equipped with two basements and one podium consisting of five floors. The construction also accommodates earthquake-resistant buildings.

To connect the two towers, there is a connecting bridge (sky bridge) along 40.5 meters. This bridge is the longest bridge in Indonesia for the building bridge category without the support and received an award certificate from the Indonesian World Record Museum.

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This building is an extension of an old building that runs from the CSW roundabout to the Police Headquarters, so this expansion also utilizes the location of the former South Jakarta Mayor’s office.

The new ASEC building has a main hall that can accommodate 650 people, 16 conference rooms and multipurpose spaces with 60 seats each. In addition, each member country also has its own delegation room.

The total budget for construction of this building is IDR 448.77 billion using the National Budget source of 2017-2018 fiscal year. (L/Sj/P2)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)