[Member of the House Committee for Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation (BKSAP) Puteri Komarudin. Photo: Ist/Man]

As the Co-Chair of Urban 20 (U20) and in supporting the 2022 G20 Presidency in Indonesia, West Java Province held Urban 20 Talks with the theme of "Cities, Villages, and Youth in the Digital Era" last Thursday (24/2/2022). The Chair of the Indonesian Delegation of the 2021 Y20 in Italy and Member of the House Committee for Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation (BKSAP), Puteri Komarudin, attended the event as a representative of Indonesian young generation to share her idea in synchronizing the youth interests in urban and rural areas.

"Young people who live in urban and rural areas do have different needs, but it doesn't mean that they have to be facilitated in different ways. They have common issues and interactions, both in terms of economic relations and mobility, which influence each other. Instead, we need to prioritize integration and synchronization of the two sides," Komarudin said in her press statement on Tuesday (1/3/2022).

U20 is part of the G20 Summit group engagement for regional leaders in G20 cities. Komarudin also calls for the governments of G20 countries to continue reducing the digital gap for young people and capitalize on the full potential of the digital economy. She stated that young people are vulnerable to being disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"In terms of education, 65 percent of young Indonesian dropped out of school (learning loss). And then there is also a digital gap between G20 countries to consider. Not only that, the economic downturn has made it difficult for young people to have a job. Therefore, the G20 government needs to address this gap and ensure that young people have equal opportunities to contribute to development," said the member of Commission XI of the Indonesian House of Representatives.

Closing her statement, Komarudin encouraged the Indonesian delegation at the 2022 Y20 youth forum to continue fighting for youth's interests in four priority agendas, namely Youth Employment, Digital Transformation, a Sustainable and Livable Planet, and Diversity and Inclusion.

On the same occasion, the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, as Chair of the Indonesian G20 Sherpa Track Division, Airlangga Hartarto, also made a statement about the role of young people in promoting the advancement of Indonesia's digital economy. "In the next 15 years, Indonesia will need 600,000 digital talents annually, or a total of 9 million people. For this reason, the central government has made some effort into increasing human resources in cities and villages to keep up with this need. The West Java and Jakarta Provincial Governments are also looking at developing a digitalization ecosystem to encourage youth to work in the digital sector," Hartarto asserted.

In addition, West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil, who co-chaired the U20, added that the advantage of digital disruption should be enjoyed not only in urban areas but also in villages. "Digitalization will catapult Indonesia into a leading country, provided that the regulations and its leaders embrace the youth," he explained.

Anies Baswedan, Governor of the Special Capital Region of Jakarta and U20 Co-Chair, also mentioned priority issues of the 2022 U20 Mayor Summit, including economic recovery for all, development of productive and affordable housing in urban areas, renewable energy, population mobility, mental health and resilience during the pandemic, and the future of job.

Meanwhile, Lead Co-Chair of T20 Bambang Brodjonegoro assessed that digital technology is needed to achieve inclusive prosperity in society. "The key is not in the availability of technology, but the skills of Indonesian people to optimize technology, especially the millennials generation who are well adapted to the use of digital technology. This is what inspired the formation of a special task force on digital economy of T20," he concluded. (sf)