Indonesia pushes full steam ahead on G20 Summit preparations by Fardah

 Jakarta, Sept 29, 2022 (ANTARA) - Indonesia will host the G20 Summit for the first time on the Bali Islands, one of the world’s most famous tourist resorts, on November 15 and 16, 2022, as part of its presidency of the grouping. 

The theme of Indonesia’s G20 Presidency, which it assumed on December 2021, is “Recover Together, Recover Stronger.”

The Group 20 (G20) is a strategic multilateral platform connecting the world’s major developed and emerging economies: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union. Spain is a permanent guest at the G20.

The members of the grouping account for more than 80 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP), 75 percent of global trade, and 60 percent of the population of the planet.

The Indonesian government has been intensively preparing for the summit with the assumption that all G20 leaders such as Vladimir Putin of Russia, Joe Biden of the US, Anthony Albanese of Australia, and King Salman of Saudi Arabia will join the Bali Summit in person.  

The preparations have covered security matters, logistics, transportation, accommodation, infrastructure development, and other facilities, including the media center and emergency medical response for delegates, among others. 

So far, the preparations have been on the right track, according to Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi.

"In the logistics and the substantial aspects, we are ready. I also believe that our preparation progress is on the right track," she told the press after reporting on the progress of preparations to President Joko Widodo at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on September 9, 2022.

In August, Vice President Ma'ruf Amin had said that the preparations for hosting the G20 Summit were nearly 100 percent complete.

"As conveyed earlier by the coordinating minister (Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan) during the coordination meeting, our preparation progress is close to 100 percent," Amin stated.

During the G20 Summit coordination meeting held earlier, the Vice President instructed stakeholders to ensure perfect services and event agendas to create a positive impression on participants. 

Regarding the security aspect, the Indonesian Police (Polri) has intensified security checks at various gates to Bali Island.

Polri has identified five priority security areas -- Seminyak, Jimbaran, North Nusa Dua, South Nusa Dua, and Sanur.

"The five areas are prioritized because all delegates, including presidential activities, will be centralized there," Polri assistant operations chief, Inspector General Agung Setya Imam Effendi, said recently.

At least 8 thousand personnel have been deployed for security operations at the G20 Summit, while 1,600 members of the police are serving as reserve forces.

"The police are also preparing special vehicles -- ships, helicopters, and escort cars -- to secure the areas," Effendi informed.

Polri has prepared traffic engineering on 10 roads and installed 4,600 surveillance cameras (CCTVs) that have been connected to the Police Command Center.

Meanwhile, the Navy has readied 12 warships to secure the G20 Summit and appointed Fleet Commander II, Admiral T.S.N.B. Hutabarat, as the operational control command in order to secure the sea surrounding the island, according to the Chief of Staff of the Indonesian Navy, Admiral Yudo Margono.

Concerning the development of infrastructure needed to support the smooth implementation of the summit, the office of the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment assured that all infrastructure-related preparations for the G20 will be completed by the end of October.

The preparations include the beautification of the I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport, the main venue at the Apurva Kempinski Hotel, Garuda Wisnu Kencana, and the Mangrove Forest Park, which state leaders and guests are scheduled to visit.

The government has also been preparing electric vehicle facilities, such as vehicles and battery-charging stations.

A total of 1,259 battery-based electric motor vehicles -- four-wheeled and two-wheeled — have been prepared for the Summit.

As for hotels, the government has recommended 22 hotels, with a total of 8,263 rooms. Fourteen of the hotels are located in the Nusa Dua area. They have a capacity of 5,795 rooms and also provide  Presidential Suites according to the needs of each country's leader.

The remaining 8 recommended hotels are in Kuta, Jimbaran, Sanur, Seminyak, and Tanjung Benoa.

The Health Ministry has also readied medical service facilities for the summit, which is expected to be attended by at least 600 delegates, according to the ministry’s director of medical service governance, Sunarto.

"At the main venue, there will be a mini ICU, clinic, and mobile team. Our mini ICU's specifications (include a) patient bed, an examination bed, a table, chairs, and a mobile ventilator, if there is a heart or lung emergency. In addition, there are bedside monitors, tubes, emergency kits, and such," he informed.

Sunarto said heart specialists and anesthesiologists as well as trained doctors and nurses will be on standby at the mini ICU.

The ministry has also prepared standardized clinics at 22 hotels participating in the G20 Summit and dispatched trained general practitioners and nurses.

The ministry has also readied 7 international referral hospitals -- IGM Ngurah Hospital, Bali Mandara Hospital, Udayana University Hospital, Siloam Hospital, BIMC Nusa Dua Hospital, Bhayangkara Hospital, and Tk II Udayana Hospital -- located nearest to the activity at the Apurva Kempinski Hotel for delegates.

For the media covering the summit, the Communication and Information Ministry has prepared a media center, which will be operational from November 13 to November 17, according to the ministry’s public information and communication director general, Usman Kansong.

The media center is located at the Westin Resort & BICC, Nusa Dua, and can accommodate 1,500 journalists, both domestic and international.

The media center is equipped with 96 computers connected to a LAN (local area network) with an Internet speed of 1.5 gigabytes per second.

Other facilities comprise a press conference room with a capacity to accommodate 443 people, interpreters of five languages, a break room, and a photocopying facility.

The ministry, which has been tasked with public communication, will issue press statements in two languages, English and Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia), as well as clean feed photos and videos that can be used by television stations for broadcasting content.

Journalists, both domestic and international, planning to cover the summit can register on the official G20 website (https://g20.org/registration). The registration will remain open till October 10.

As of September 20, at least 750 journalists from 156 media outlets have registered to cover the G20 Summit.

The journalists comprise 203 from 45 national media outlets and 547 journalists from 111 foreign media outlets. 

The G20 Summit in Bali will be very interesting to follow amid the war in Ukraine following the Russian invasion as several G20 members are directly or indirectly involved in the war. 

Indonesia, as the G20 President and the host of the upcoming Bali Summit, has remained impartial so far and has been trying to persuade those involved in the conflict to return to the negotiating table.