REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Vice President Jusuf Kalla and UN Secretary General's Advisor for sustainable development Jeffrey Sachs discussed issues related to sustainable development in Indonesia, particular in the context of climate change and village development.

"As a member of the UN, Indonesia is surely pursuing sustainable development. Of course, there are things that should be done jointly," Kalla said at the Vice Presidential Palace here on Monday.

The vice president underscored the important role played by the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) which has designed development programs to be implemented by the central government in villages. These are based on the framework to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030, agreed upon during the UN General Assembly session in New York, the United States, on September 25, 2015.

With regard to climate change and forest preservation, Jeffrey Sachs said the new laws and regulations coupled with the government's strong commitment to enforce the law will make Indonesia a pioneer in sustainable development based on the SDGs and the Paris Climate Change Agreement in 2015.

"I could see a big opportunity and a concrete commitment on the part of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), who is working within the framework of the SDGs," Sachs said.

He also praised the Indonesian government for striving to develop rural areas by disbursing village funds as regulated in Law No.9/2015 on Village Fund Priority Development.

In 2016, the government has allocated Rp47 trillion in budgetary support for village funds, up more than two-folds from that in 2015, when the figure was Rp20.8 trillion.

"I think the policy with regard to village development is very interesting because over 70 thousand villages in Indonesia could be developed through village funds," he said.

Therefore, Sachs said the UN will cooperate with the Bappenas and regional governments to assist villages, particularly in encouraging them to take the initiative in carrying out development using the village funds.

"In my capacity as the special advisor of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, I am honored to have a chance to cooperate with the Indonesian government," he said.

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