Indonesian President Joko Widodo met Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Jakarta on Monday (01/02) to discuss bilateral issues including trade and investment. High on the agenda was the topic of solar power. Reportedly, Hungary plans to invest USD $20 million for the construction of a 5 megawatt (MW) solar power plant in Central Tapanuli (North Sumatra). Other topics included the manufacturing sector, fishery sector, the digital economy, and the promotion of peace and stability.

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The New Cities Summit 2015 will be held between 9 and 11 June at Ciputra Artpreneur in South Jakarta. The summit, themed “Seizing the Urban Moment: Cities at the Heart of Growth and Development,” will gather around 800 urban planners, urban leaders, artists, businessmen and innovators from around the world in Indonesia’s capital city. This year’s summit is the fourth edition. Previous editions were held in Paris, Sao Paulo and Dallas. The main theme of these summits is to discuss the future of cities.

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Lately, concerns have arisen that Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia, and its immediate surroundings are threatened to experience a clean water crisis by 2025. Clean water, which is produced by two private operators - PAM Lyonnaise Jaya (Palyja) and Aetra Air Jakarta - currently totals 18.7 m3 per second. However, by 2025, demand for clean water will reach 41.3 m3/second as the population of Jakarta is estimated to grow to 14.6 million people from 9.6 million currently (the unofficial figure is possibly much higher).

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Today, Jakarta was hit again by floods, brought on by heavy rainfall, that reached up to 50 centimeters at some locations and paralyzed part of Jakarta's traffic. Barely two weeks ago, Indonesia's capital city had experienced sustained floods that took the lives of more than 20 people and resulted in losses totaling US $3.3 billion. It might not be Jakarta's last day of floods as the rainy weather conditions are forecast to continue in February.

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Indonesia's Supreme Court (Mahkamah Agung) released a verdict on Tuesday (10/10) in which it orders the government to protect and manage the supply of water to citizens, hence stop the privatization of the water supply in Indonesia. This is a slap for the government which had been actively inviting private investment in the nation's infrastructure sector, including the water supply.

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One of the solid growing markets in Indonesia that remains untapped is the water purifier market. Although Indonesia holds six percent of the world’s fresh water resources, the quality of Indonesia’s public piped water is inadequate (contaminated with E. coli, fecal coliforms and other pathogens). Moreover, roughly 80 percent of the Indonesian population lacks access to piped water hence relying on river water for drinking, washing and bathing. However, the water of most Indonesian rivers do not meet drinking water requirements.

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The Indonesian government is still studying the feasibility study for the National Capital Integrated Coastal Development (NCICD) masterplan. The NCICD masterplan, a joint project between the governments of Indonesia and the Netherlands, aims to protect the capital city of Jakarta against floods caused by high tides and faciliates sustainable development of Jakarta. The masterplan is developed by a consortium headed by Witteveen+Bos (main contractor) and Grontmij, with subconsultants KuiperCompagnons, Deltares, Ecorys and Triple-A.

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