ASEAN SMART CITIES NETWORK (ASCN):

An Overview of Challenges and Opportunities to Intensify Indonesian

Economic Diplomacy

BY
MUHAMMAD ARIEF PRIOWAHONO

A final paper submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

completion of mid-career diplomatic education and training (SESDILU)

at

The Center for Education and Training

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Republic of Indonesia

Jakarta, August 2019

 Abstract

To support the vision for Indonesia as Global Maritime Fulcrum, optimizing the regional
cooperation, particularly through strengthening ASEAN centrality continue to be one of
the priorities of Indonesian Economic Diplomacy. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Kemlu)
always prioritizes in finding ways to intensify Economic Diplomacy.
In support of Singapore’s chairmanship of ASEAN in 2018, Indonesia endorsed the
establishment of ASEAN Smart Cities Network (ASCN) which was one of the deliverables
during Singapore’s chairmanship. The purpose of this initiative is to work together towards
smart and sustainable urbanization, with primary goal to improve the lives of ASEAN
citizens by using technology as enabler.
This paper tries to explore the challenges and opportunities that ASCN offers which can
be utilized from the external and internal perspectives. The paper also tries to analyze the
distinction with the sister city program which has been established in several cities in
Indonesia. The main difference lies on the concept where ASCN is a collaborative
network of cities while sister city is a bilateral cooperation between two cities. ASCN also
has a twinning program but in collaboration with external partners in the private sector as
solution provider. Overall, this paper aim is to give a view of a way to boost Indonesian
economy through cities cooperation.
Since ASCN is still in its early stage, more study will be needed notably after the Terms
of Reference (TOR) applied, which planned to be agreed in the ASCN Annual Meeting in
late August this year. Finally, the paper offers policy choices from external and internal
perspective on what Kemlu could do as the coordinator for Foreign Relations, as
mandated in the constitution. The paper gives recommendation that Kemlu should
Strengthen the ASEAN Indonesia National Secretariat (Setnas ASEAN) as the National
Coordinator for ASEAN related issues, including unifying and producing National Concept
of Smart City Cooperation to be negotiated by Kemlu in the ASCN Forum.

Keywords: Smart City, Economic Diplomacy, Regional Cooperation, ASEAN

i
Table of Contents

Abstract ....................................................................................................................................................... i
I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 1
II. DEFINITION OF TERMS AND CONCEPT ............................................................................... 3
III. ANALYSIS ..................................................................................................................................... 5
a. Development of ASEAN Smart Cities Network (ASCN) .................................................... 5
b. Challenges and Opportunities using SWOT Analysis and TOWS Matrix .................... 7
c. Potential Programs for Cooperation .................................................................................... 11
d. Comparison with the Sister City Program.......................................................................... 11
IV. POLICY CHOICES ..................................................................................................................... 12
V. CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION................................................................................. 14
BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................................................................... 16

ii
 List of Figures
Figure 1. Urbanization in ASEAN ............................................................................................................ 2
Figure 2. ASCN Framework...................................................................................................................... 6
Figure 3. ASCN Pilot Cities....................................................................................................................... 7

List of Table
Table 1. SWOT Analysis and TOWS Matrix .......................................................................................... 8

iii
 I. INTRODUCTION

More than half of the world’s population now live in urban areas. According to
UNFPA, this shift from primarily rural area to a primarily urban population is projected to
continue for the next couple of decades. As cities bring people together to live, work, and
play, they amplify their ability to create wealth and ideas.
However, rapid urbanization around the world is not without its challenges. Such
enormous and complex congregations of people inevitably tend to become messy and
disordered places (Johnson, B., 2008). It has implications on important issues such as
city congestion, water/air quality, poverty, rising inequalities, urban-rural divide, citizen
security and safety. Thus, city government needs to focus on the development of smart
city. Technological and digital solutions are utilized to resolve the issues and accessibility
of services, thereby improving the citizens lives across the urban-rural continuum.
Ensuring livable conditions concurrent with the rapid urban population growth
worldwide requires a deeper understanding of the smart city concept. It triggers many
cities around the world to find smarter ways to manage them. Through the adoption of
such technologies, each city is leapfrogging conventional solutions and forging a steady
path to achieve its unique vision of a sustainable and livable city.
In global level, United Nations European Commission for Economy (UNECE) in
cooperation with the Organization for International Economic Relation (OiER) and other
organizations, cities, industry and finance sector established the United Smart Cities in
2016. Its purpose is to give evaluation to the partner cities using 92 performance
indicators according to their performance and potential to offer a smarter and sustainable
solution. The initiative is part of the effort to achieve SDGs target in 2030.
Moving to the ASEAN region, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) reported that
most of ASEAN’s growth has been, and will continue to be, driven by urban centers, with
90 million more people expected to urbanize by 2030 and “middleweight” cities of
between 200,000 and 2 million residents forecasted to drive 40% of the region’s growth.
When ASEAN was founded in 1967, only a quarter of its population lived in urban areas.
Today, more than half of ASEAN’s population live in the cities. While some of the
additional 90 million people are expected to move into large, high density cities with

1
population exceeding 5 million, such as Jakarta, Bangkok, Manila, the bigger growth is
expected in medium-sized cities of between 200,000 and 2 million such as Phnom Penh,
Vientiane, and Makassar. These cities are projected to drive 40% of the region growth.

Figure 1. Urbanization in ASEAN

The Government of Indonesia also pays attention to the development of Smart

City. “Gerakan menuju 100 Smart City”1 was launched in 2017 helmed by the Ministry of
Communication & Informatics with the support of Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of
Public Works & Public Housing, and the Ministry of National Development and Planning.
It aims to give guidance and strengthen the foundation of the development of smart city
to the 100 cities/regencies in Indonesia. The main purpose is to give better public
services, in line with the priorities for national development as stated in “Nawa Cita”.
ASEAN Member States (AMS) recognized that the developments of Smart City
are also happening in cities within the ASEAN region. In this context, Singapore through
its Chairmanship in 2018, proposed to establish ASEAN Smart Cities Network (ASCN) to
synergize efforts and smart cities initiatives in AMS, which eventually could contribute to
the ASEAN Community Building. With consensus, Indonesia and all AMS agreed to
continue with the initiative.

1
https://kominfo.go.id/content/detail/11656/langkah-menuju-100-smart-city/0/sorotan_media
2
 In this regard, this paper will try to explore the challenges and opportunities using
SWOT Analysis and TOWS Matrix of ASCN in the context of ASEAN Cooperation and
how it can benefit to Indonesia in particular. Since Smart Cities initiatives and
developments are happening in major cities around the world, as the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia (Kemlu) currently focusing to strengthen its Economic
Diplomacy, it is timely to explore what Kemlu can do more in ASCN to give positive impact
to Indonesian Economy.

II. DEFINITION OF TERMS AND CONCEPT

Keywords: Smart City, Economic Diplomacy, Regional Cooperation

In order to have the common understanding in discussing the issue, it is

consequential to define terms and concepts used in this paper. Three things need to be
underlined in this matter: Smart City, Economic Diplomacy, and Regional Cooperation.
There are several understandings and working definitions of Smart City. Giffinger
et al (2007) considers smart city as forward looking way in economy, people, governance,
mobility, environment, and living, built on the smart combination of endowments and
activities of self-decisive, independent, and aware citizens. Other than that, discussing
the terms of Smart City will have to mention IBM company, as the trademark ‘smarter
cities’ has been officially registered to IBM in 2011. According to IBM, three ‘I’s are the
hard core of any smart city (Söderström et al, 2014):
 Instrumented - capability of capturing and integrating live real-world data
through the use of sensors, meters, appliances, personal devices, and other
similar sensors;
 Interconnected - integration data into a computing platform that allows the
communication of such information among the various city services.
 Intelligent - inclusion of complex analytics, modeling, optimization,
visualization services and artificial intelligence to make better operational
decisions.

3
 However, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has a more thorough
definition coming from its focus group on smart and sustainable cities (FG-SSC) that has
been working specifically to give clearer definitions on smart and sustainable cities. FG-
SSC recommended the following definition:
"A smart sustainable city (SSC) is an innovative city that uses information and
communication technologies (ICTs) and other means to improve quality of life, efficiency
of urban operation and services, and competitiveness, while ensuring that it meets the
needs of present and future generations with respect to economic, social and
environmental aspects"2.

The phrase Economic Diplomacy can be assumed involves and combines two
main subjects of study, Economy and International Relations. Van Bergeijk and Moons
(2019), with reference from Bayne and Woolcock (2003), defines economic diplomacy as
a set of activities (both regarding methods and processes for international decision
making) related to cross border economic activities (export, import, investment, lending,
aid, migration pursued by state and non-state actors in the real world). The terms itself
has been expanding during time that scholars see it touches to more subjects than just
two. Lee & Hocking (2010) sums that it has both empirical and conceptual dimensions.
Empirically drawn us into a wider (perhaps more representative) world of economic
diplomacy covering a broader agenda and wider set of diplomatic actors, while
conceptually as a set of formal and informal processes and linkages between public-
private networks comprising state and non-state actors.
Often State Government limit the definition of Economic Diplomacy only related to
trade and commercial activities. Okano-Heijmans (2011) researched it more to re-define
the terms, and opinionated that Economic Diplomacy is a foreign policy practice and
strategy that is based on the premise that economic/commercial interests and political
interests reinforce one another and should thus be seen in tandem.

2
https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-T/focusgroups/ssc/Documents/Approved_Deliverables/TR-Definitions.docx
4
 Regional cooperation refers to the political and institutional mechanisms that
countries in a general geographical region devise to find and strengthen common
interests as well as promoting their national interests, through mutual cooperation and
dialogue (Ramesh Chandra Das, 2016). Regional cooperation often supported by the
mutual circumstances, sometimes race and culture, to find the common vision with the
aim for mutual benefit. In this paper, the regional cooperation would focus with ASEAN.
ASEAN member countries’ population with 542 million people and the increasing
GDP growth of 5,5% vis-à-vis the global growth of 4,2% has turned many heads of
developed countries to see it as a prospective and potential economy. This has elevated
ASEAN in global level which helps to open relationship and cooperation to countries
outside Southeast Asian region (in the form of Dialogue Partners, Sectoral Dialogue
Partnership, or Development Partnership), and to other regional and international
organizations (UN, MERCOSUR, SAARC)3. The external relations cooperation is in line
with ASEAN Vision 2025 to be an “outward-looking community” that “plays a responsible
and constructive role globally”. Oh and Selmier (2008) analyzed that the trade agreement
with non-member has increased imports by 1,2 times, and intra-ASEAN increases by 2,2
times.

III. ANALYSIS

a. Development of ASEAN Smart Cities Network (ASCN)

The ASCN was established by the Leaders at the 32nd ASEAN Summit on April
2018 in Singapore. It was created as a platform for ASEAN cities to share experiences
and expertise in tackling urbanisation through innovative technologies. The ASCN is
envisioned as a collaborative platform where up to three cities from each AMS, including
capitals – with room for expansion, work towards the common goal of smart and
sustainable urban development. The ASCN aims to synergize development efforts,
share best practices, catalyze opportunities for sustainable development, and
capacity-building. ASCN’s primary goal is to improve the lives of ASEAN citizens,
using technology as an enabler.

3
https://asean.org/asean/external-relations/asean-dialogue-coordinatorship/
5
 Following the establishment of ASCN, AMS (with members of ASCN) moving
forward to develop the Smart City Action Plan (SCAP) 2018-2025 and the ASCN
Framework (ASCNF)4, in which the latter was adopted at the 33rd ASEAN Summit in
November in Singapore as a non-binding guide to facilitate smart city development. Both
are part of the core elements of ASCN. Key features in ASCNF are: 1) Identifying
Strategic Outcomes; and 2) Outlining Key Urban Systems, Focus Areas, and Enablers.

Figure 2. ASCN Framework

Currently ASCN comprises of 26 diverse cities within ASEAN region who were
nominated by their national governments through the National Representative (NR), and
each represented by a Chief Smart City Officer (CSCO) who oversees the city’s drive
towards smart and sustainable urbanization. Indonesia nominated DKI Jakarta (as
capital) with Banyuwangi and Makassar, along with Ditjen Otonomi Daerah (DG for
Regional Autonomy/DGRA) from the Ministry of Home Affairs as the NR. Each city has
its own focus area of development and specific action plan, such as Jakarta that focuses
on Industry and Innovation, Built Infrastructure, and Health and Well-being, and features
OK Otrip (JakLingko) Cashless Payment and Qlue; Banyuwangi focuses on Industry and

4
https://asean.org/storage/2019/02/ASCN-ASEAN-Smart-Cities-Framework.pdf
6
Innovation with Tourism and Well-being, emphasizing on creative economy and tourism;
while Makassar focuses on Health and Well-being with Dottoro’ta healthcare program

Figure 3. ASCN Pilot Cities

ASCN will have annual meeting as another core elements of ASCN, which the
first one will be held on August this year and hosted by Thailand as ASEAN Chair. The
main agenda would be to endorse the ASCN Terms of Reference (TOR).

b. Challenges and Opportunities using SWOT Analysis and TOWS Matrix

New initiative or program always comes with its own limitations and prospects, let
alone if it involves many countries. This paper will try to analyze the challenges and
opportunities of ASCN for Indonesia using SWOT analysis and TOWS matrix below:

7
 Strengths Weaknesses
a) Supported by Leaders a) No National Concept yet
b) Timely manner b) Cross cutting issues

Opportunities OS Strategy OW Strategy

a) Wider scope of (Use Strength to take (Overcome weaknesses by
cooperation advantage opportunities) taking advantage of
b) Enthusiasm from City opportunities)
Government “Play an active role in
c) Direct impact to local ASCN to promote “Supporting ASEAN
economy national/local interest” Indonesia National
Secretariat to Unify and
Creating National Concept”

Threats TS Strategy TW Strategy

a) Change of Foreign
Policy
b) Reluctant to coordinate
between Stakeholders
(Silo Mentality)
(Use strengths to avoid (Minimize weaknesses and
threats) avoid threats)
“Strengthening Kemlu’s “Encourage the
role as Coordinator for Appointment of
Foreign Relations” Ministry/Agency as the PIC
for Smart City
Development in Indonesia”

Table 1. SWOT Analysis and TOWS Matrix

Strengths
i. Supported by Leaders
The ASCN was inaugurated during the 32nd ASEAN Summit in April 2018 and
strengthen through East Asia Summit (EAS) Leaders statement during the 13th EAS
Summit on 15 November 20185. The statement reaffirming EAS support on ASEAN
Connectivity and underlining the complementarities between ASEAN Vision 2025 and
2030 SDGs to uplift the people’s standards of living in the region.
ii. Timely Manner
The development of Smart Cities is happening around the big cities around the
world. ASEAN itself recognized the trend before the establishment of ASCN, which stated
in the AEC Economic Pillar as a part of Enhanced Connectivity and Sectoral Cooperation

5
https://asean.org/storage/2018/11/EAS-Statement-on-ASEAN-Smart-Cities.pdf
8
in the ICT Sector Strategic Measure under Innovation. But it’s still seen as a respective
development among AMS. Hence, the initiative to make it a collaborative action through
ASCN is welcomed by AMS.

Weaknesses
i. No National Concept yet
Ministry of Home Affairs and Center for Digital Society (CFDS) in 2017 have
decided the 6 criteria for smart city as follows: smart economy, smart people, smart
government, smart mobility, smart environment, and smart living. It focuses on the 6 basic
services which consist of Education, Housing, Spatial, Health, Public Safety, and Social
Needs, as stipulated in the constitution (UU) No. 23/2014 regarding Government Affairs.
However, the smart city concept also developed by other ministries/agencies. For
example, the Ministry of Communication and Informatics has its own program “Gerakan
menuju 100 Smart City”. National Standard Agency has issued ISO 37120 dan 37151
related to the smart cities, consist of indicators and measurement method for smart cities
and communities. Therefore, it needs more effort to have a common national position to
ease the process in negotiating in the ASEAN forum.
ii. Cross Cutting Issues
Currently ASCN is not a part of any ASEAN sectoral bodies. Although Smart Cities
is stated in the AEC Economic Pillar as a part of Enhanced Connectivity and Sectoral
Cooperation in the ICT Sector Strategic Measure under Innovation. Normally the ICT
sector is handled by Ministry for Communication and Informatics. Since the NR for ASCN
is the Ministry Home Affairs, the issue of ASCN will have cross cutting issues that
potentially confused sectoral bodies which already has specific purview.

Opportunities
i. Wider scope of cooperation
From the start, ASCN programs has attracted external partners to have
cooperation and partnership, namely Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) and
UNDP. Currently ASEAN Dialogue Partners (DPs) such as USA, China, Australia, and
Russia have offered cooperation in the form partnership, joint working group, or initiative.

9
 ii. Enthusiasm from Local Government
Since the initiative was established in timely manner, many cities in Indonesia are
already starting to develop the Smart City in their own hometown. Fueled by “Gerakan
100 Smart City”, many cities are trying to improve their public service. In that relations,
many local governments are enthusiast to be part of any smart city programs, particularly
if they are supported by the central government. Therefore, many cities already requested
to be included in ASCN, should the membership permitted to be added.
iii. Direct Impact to Local Economy
Many times, the impact of diplomacy did not directly affect to the society. It needs
process and time to be effectively implemented and perceived, particularly in the
economy sector. However, the cooperation and collaboration with other ASCN members
and the support provided by ASEAN External Partners will likely to have direct impact to
the local economy.

Threats
i. Change of Foreign Policy
In Indonesia, where the general election held every 5 years, means the
Government’s priorities and programs tend to change after 5 years. The policy which will
be manifested in the National Midterm Development Plan, will affect the direction of the
Foreign Policy.
The establishment of ASCN is in line to the current National Development Priorities
as stated in Nawa Cita, particularly in No. 3 (Developing Rural Areas) and No. 5
(Improving the Quality of Life). The visions for the 2019-2024 period already released and
even though there are slight differences, it can be assumed that economic diplomacy is
still a priority, which means ASCN initiative is still relevant. Nonetheless, we are still
waiting for the formal Foreign Policy direction for the 2019-2024 period.
ii. Reluctant to Coordinate between Stakeholders
Lack of coordination is an eminent issue in the bureaucracy of the Government of
Indonesia6. In the business world it is known as “Silo Mentality”. It became a critical

6
Nurdin, Nurdin & Stockdale, Rosemary & Scheepers, Helana. (2014). Coordination and Cooperation in E-
Government: An Indonesian Local E-Government Case. The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in
10
problem to a government program which responsibilities are handled by several
ministries/agencies. Therefore, the need to unify Indonesian national position for ASCN
under one coordinator is substantial.

c. Potential Programs for Cooperation

The last core elements of ASCN after CSAP 2018-2025, ASCNF, and Annual
Meeting of ASCN, is the Twinning Program. It is a platform to connect the ASCN member
cities with external partners in the private sector such as multilateral banks, consulting
firms, financial institute, etc. It is expected that the partnership will form a mutual benefit
on the development of smart cities to foster implementation of commercially viable
projects and other initiatives, cohesive of the cities’ action plan.
If we look at CSAP of the members of ASCN7, we could see that the main supports
needed to develop their programs are technical support and funding. The twinning
program of ASCN provided the solution through matchmaking between cities government
with solution provider, in this case the tech provider and banks. However, since the
mechanism and guidelines of the matchmaking is still being developed in ASCN TOR, it
is needed to ensure that the guidelines would not be restrictive in the view of restraining
potential collaboration.

d. Comparison with the Sister City Program

Raising the topic regarding the cooperation among cities would make people
correlating it with the already established sister city cooperation. Sister city, county, or
state relationship is a broad-based, long-term partnership between two communities in
two countries which is officially recognized after the highest elected or appointed official
from both communities sign off on an agreement to become sister cities8.
Even though sometimes the background of the Sister City Program is political, but
more often are based on the economy and social culture backgrounds. Similarities
between cities also play a central reason for networking, although the sister city policy

Developing Countries (EJISDC). 61. 1-21. 10.1002/j.1681-4835.2014.tb00432.x.; and

https://katadata.co.id/opini/2015/11/23/sammy-hamzah-masalah-pemerintah-adalah-koordinasi
7
https://asean.org/storage/2019/02/ASCN-Consolidated-SCAPs.pdf
8
https://sistercities.org/about-us/what-is-a-sister-city-3/
11
may go through the networking process with other dissimilar cities to take advantage of
the cities’ differences in different field9.
With regards to this paper, the main difference between ASCN and Sister City
Program lies on the definition in which the ASCN is collaborative concept of cities network
within ASEAN (with external partners), while Sister City is more bilateral network between
cities. The ASCN has the twinning program, which absorbs the context of Sister City, but
the collaboration is carried out with external partners in the private sector.

IV. POLICY CHOICES

In proposing policy choices, this paper tries to breakdown and combine the
strategy options stated in the TOWS Matrix and bring up the perspectives for each choice:
a. Encourage the Appointment of Ministry/Agency as the PIC for Smart City
Development in Indonesia
This policy choice is offered to overcome the weaknesses and threats as stated in
the SWOT table. Cross cutting issue tend to create confusion to the relevant
stakeholder and exacerbated by the Silo Mentality between the related
Ministries/Agencies. Take example of “Gerakan 100 Smart City Indonesia” is
helmed by the Ministry of Communication and Informatics, but the concept and
perspective are slightly different between the related Ministries/Agencies.
As the ASCN is a relevant issue the Nawa Cita and to the Economic Diplomacy,
Kemlu needs to encourage the Presidential Secretariat to appoint Ministry/Agency
who will handle the development of Smart City under its coordination, such as the
Coordinating Ministry of Economy. However, considering the Coordinating Minisrty
of Economy already burdened with various government programs related to the
economic development, this policy choice is a bit burdensome and unlikely to be
manifested in the near future.

9
Dr. Naglaa Fathy El Dessouky. 2018. “Do sister cities matter for international municipal networking? analysis of
cities of newfoundland and labrador province in canada”, International Journal of Development Research, 8, (03),
19349-19355.
12
b. Strengthening the ASEAN Indonesia National Secretariat (AINS/Setnas
ASEAN) to Establish National Concept of Indonesia in ASCN
This policy choice is a combination between the OS Strategy and the OW Strategy.
The first step is to overcome the weaknesses by starting to unify the concepts and
perspectives of smart cities development from all related ministries/agencies,
particularly ones related to ASCN. Since ASCN is a cooperation under ASEAN,
the appropriate PIC suggested in doing so would be the ASEAN Indonesia
National Secretariat (AINS/Setnas ASEAN).
Setnas ASEAN was established under Presidential Decree No. 23/2012 and
Foreign Ministerial Decree No. 02/201410 with one of the tasks is to coordinate and
synchronize the ASEAN related issues which are handled by related
Ministries/Agencies. It comprises of 92 Senior Officials from 48 related
Ministries/Agencies under coordination of Director General for ASEAN
Cooperation, and positioned directly under the President through the Minister for
Foreign Affairs. Therefore, Setnas ASEAN is the appropriate PIC to act as the
coordinator in compiling and establishing the National Concept for ASCN which
directly correlates with active participation of Indonesia in ASCN in promoting
national/local government’s interest. However, this option is not without its
challenge as the positioning of Setnas ASEAN is still considerably weak in front of
other Ministries/Agencies.
c. Strengthening the Kemlu’s role as the Coordinator for Foreign Relations
This policy choice related to the TS Strategy which emphasizes on Kemlu’s role to
overcome the possible threats. To support President’s visions in making Indonesia
as Global Maritime Fulcrum (GMF), Kemlu put focus on intensifying economic
diplomacy as its priority11. That includes supporting any kind of new initiative
related to economic cooperation, such as ASCN.
To emphasize more, Kemlu needs to strengthen its position as the coordinator for
foreign relations, as stipulated in the constitution No. 37/1999 in which currently

10
http://setnas-asean.id/site/uploads/document/document/5a7811ff39e82-susunan-keanggotaan-setnas-asean-
indonesia.pdf and http://setnas-asean.id/site/uploads/document/document/59911b990c9b2-permenlu-no-02-
tahun-2014.pdf.
11
https://setkab.go.id/inilah-prioritas-politik-luar-negeri-indonesia-5-tahun-ke-depan/
13
 under process for revision. Several times Ministries/Agencies and local
governments perform foreign relation without going through Kemlu, belittling the
constitution and the role of Kemlu itself. In relations with ASCN, since ASCN is
endorsed by the Leaders of EAS, including President Jokowi, Kemlu needs to take
this advantage to strengthen its role in foreign relations by taking the role as the
coordinator for ASCN cooperation, and later for other foreign policy issues.
However, this policy choice can be challenged as the focal point or NR for ASCN
is the Ministry for Home Affairs. But strengthening the role of Kemlu as the
coordinator of Indonesia’s foreign policy is still eminent, as the legal basis (UU No.
37/1999) is currently being revised and part of Government Work Plan (RKP) 2019.

V. CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION

In conclusion, the ASCN cooperation is a welcomed initiative by ASEAN in support

of the Pillar of ASEAN Economic Community. ASCN function as a conduit in promoting
smart and sustainable urbanization in the region, under Master Plan for ASEAN
Connectivity (MPAC) 2025 and contributing to ASEAN Community Building. For
Indonesia, the initiative is timely as cities in Indonesia already began to develop smart
cities in their respective hometown, independently or through the support of Central
Government with “Gerakan menuju 100 Smart City”. All in the spirit of giving better public
services. ASCN cooperation has potential benefit directly to the local economy should it
managed and operated effectively.
ASEAN Secretariat (ASEC) currently also preparing the Monitoring & Evaluation
(M&E) Framework and mechanism that will be the tools to monitor the benefit and
effectiveness of the program. The M&E will include Key Performance Indicators (KPI) to
properly measure the effectiveness of the program.
However, the analysis for ASCN is still scratching the surface as ASCN is still in
its early stage. More study will be needed notably after the TOR for ASCN endorsed in
the ASCN Annual Meeting on 22 August 2019.

14
RECOMMENDATION
Based on the policy choices elaborated in the previous chapter, this paper
recommended Kemlu to opt the second choice which is Strengthening the ASEAN
Indonesia National Secretariat (AINS/Setnas ASEAN) to Establish National Concept
of Indonesia in ASCN, based on the following considerations:
 Strengthening the Setnas ASEAN is Kemlu’s Priority Program for 2019 as stated
in the Government Work Plan (RKP) 201912.
 Setnas ASEAN was and still established with the purpose to coordinate and
synergize all ASEAN related issues, scattered in various related
Ministries/Agencies, hence it comprises 92 Senior Officials from 48 related
Ministries/Agencies responsible for each Pillar of ASEAN.
 One of the roles of Setnas ASEAN is to coordinate and support national
preparations for ASEAN meeting. Which would be the solution to one of the main
problems in this paper, which is establishing national common position in the form
of National Concept of Smart City Cooperation for the ASCN. The establishment
of the National Concept will be positively correlated with the active participation of
Indonesia in the ASCN forum in promoting national/local interest.

12
https://www.bappenas.go.id/files/rkp/PEMUTAKHIRAN%20RKP%20TAHUN%202019.pdf p IV.92.
15
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