The image is a view of the Morowali Industrial Park in Indonesia. (Photo/Loose)
With the establishment of the Sino-Indonesian Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone, Bahodopi Village in Morowali Regency, Central Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, has grown from a small fishing village of a few thousand people to a prosperous city of more than 200,000 inhabitants. . Where rows of fruit, clothing and grocery stores line the main street, crowded with motorbikes and pedestrians.
The Indonesian Mawali Industrial Park Project (IMIP) was signed in the presence of Chinese President Xi Jinping and then Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono when Xi was on a state visit to Indonesia in October 2013.
The construction of the industrial park has accelerated the economic development of the Morovali region.
Former Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives Marzuki Ali noted that IMIP demonstrates the quality of joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative (OBOR) between Indonesia and China and brings tangible benefits to local people.
In industrial parks, machinery is always humming, where heavy trucks, tower cranes and buckets work closely together and well coordinated.
It was learned that around 40 companies have opened in the industrial park, which are mainly engaged in the production of iron-nickel products, stainless steel and new energy materials for car batteries. The industrial park has become a major stainless steel manufacturing base in the world with a total agreed investment of more than 15 billion USD.
“I have been working here for almost 10 years. The industrial park looks different every day,” said Ms. Marwati, an Indonesian staff member of IMIP's integrated management team.
Marwati quit his job in Jakarta in 2013 to announce that an industrial park would be built in his hometown with investment from China. Today, it is already a key member of the Department of Integrated Management, which links to the extensive platform provided by IMIP and with the support of its Chinese colleagues.
“I will do my best to work well with my colleagues and develop the industrial park. I think our lives will only get better," he said.
Regency chief Morowali Taslim said Regency has abundant nickel mining resources and IMIP has turned these mines into projects that bring tangible benefits to the people.
The regency's budget revenue has doubled since 2018 to 384 billion rupees ($25.6 million), it said.
Taslim said: “With this money, we can expand our investment in education and social services to improve people's lives.
Continuing with its own development, the IMIP actively fulfills its social responsibility. 42 kilometers of medium voltage transmission lines were built to supply nearby towns and cities, the end of the good old days when sunset equaled total darkness in local communities. The industrial park has helped the local community build kindergartens, high schools, soccer fields, and vocational schools. In addition, it has initiated tree planting, replanting and coral reef conservation activities by planting more than 11 hectares of mangroves and restoring more than 270 hectares of mined vegetation.
Today, Morowali Regency is one of the fastest growing places in Indonesia when it comes to attracting investment and creating jobs.
An interesting example of this is the Sari Rasa Restaurant next to the IMIP. In 2018 it was still a small restaurant, but today it has become a huge complex with a huge ship-shaped log cabin with colorful wood carvings on the façade, a two-story B&B, a much larger restaurant and a star-studded hotel . On the way to improvement.
Martha, a restaurant owner, told People's Daily that the Chinese business boosted the local economy, which boosted her business.
"All my dreams came true many years ago," he said.
Now he plans to partner with other companies to improve the community environment so that community residents can live better.
"This is my new dream," Martha explained.
Everyone has a dream. As the BRI grows from the seed of a dream to a green tree that becomes an opportunity and a pathway to shared prosperity, more and more people in participating countries will see their dreams come true.
(Web editors: Chang Sha, Liang Jun)
