Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has signed a presidential instruction that requires the central and regional authorities to use electric vehicles for official purposes, chief of the Presidential Staff Office (KSP), Moeldoko, has informed.
Presidential Instruction No. 7 of 2022 on the use of battery-based electric vehicles as official operational and personal vehicles of central government institutions and regional governments was signed on Tuesday (September 13, 2022), he said, according to a statement received here on Thursday.
The presidential instruction demonstrates Jokowi’s commitment to expediting the transition from fossil-based to renewable energy, he added.
"To realize the grand design on energy transition, the government will start from converting (official vehicles) to electric vehicles," Moeldoko said.
The presidential instruction is directed to central government ministries and institutions, military and police chiefs, as well as governors, mayors, and district heads, he added.
According to the KSP chief, the President has instructed ministers and regional heads to draft and enact regulations to expedite the utilization of electric vehicles in their institutions and to plan the budget needed for the transition to electric vehicles.
Presidential Instruction No. 7 of 2022 will be Indonesia's push to take a leading role in the global community in the energy transition for realizing an advanced civilization, he said.
"While other countries are competing to save the world from the threats of climate change, we must not become a spectator only. We must become the main actor, and this presidential instruction gives us the spirit to become one" Moeldoko remarked.
The transition to electric vehicles would relieve the pressure on the fuel subsidy and help achieve national energy self-sufficiency, he said, adding that electric vehicle utilization could save the country's foreign exchange by reducing fuel imports.
"(Fuel imports) will be replaced by more affordable electric vehicles, which would be produced domestically later. We can also save on foreign exchange by more than Rp2 thousand trillion," the KSP chief pointed out.
Moeldoko then reiterated the KSP's commitment to monitoring the implementation of the presidential instruction and the adoption of electric vehicles as official vehicles.
"For long, KSP RI has encouraged the enactment of this presidential instruction, and we will surely monitor the implementation at the ministries, government institutions, and the regional authorities levels," he remarked.
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