Indonesia can succeed in developing green smart cities by utilizing available technology-based solutions, especially partnering with China, but for such an endeavor to pay off, the government must ensure that all stakeholders strictly abide by laws and regulations, according to analysts.

While funding remains the most crucial issue, loose implementation by government institutions in the provinces and poor coordination among them in practicing existing laws pose another serious problem, according to speakers in Indonesia Water, Indo Waste & Recycling, Indo Energy & Electric, and Indonesia International Smart City (IISMEX) 2025 Expo & Forum at Jakarta's JIExpo.

The three-day triple expo is jointly organized by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry and non-government organizations.

The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) actively supports the IISMEX in conjunction with this year's celebration of 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Indonesia.

Of the 600 exhibitors in the expo, almost 100 are from China. Many of them are showcasing AI-powered water treatment systems. The exhibitors include Vontron Technology Co, Ltd, which entered the Indonesian market 15 years ago. So far, the company has offered its products to over 130 countries and regions worldwide.

Other exhibitors are from Indonesia, Australia, India, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Switzerland, and Turkiye.

Joni Song, international sales manager at Shuiyi, China's leading producer of membrane products for water treatment, said the company is aware of the environmental condition in Indonesia and wishes to cooperate with local partners in water treatment undertaking. Muhammad Witjaksono, an environment analyst and former staff member at the ministry of public works, said at the forum that smart green city operation requires the utilization of advanced technologies. Mentioning waste management as an example, he said, provincial governments can adopt GPS and other state-of-the art technologies for waste management monitoring, up to the neighborhood and household level.

Fabby Tumiwa, executive director of the Institute for Essential Services Reform, said Indonesia can partner with China in developing its green and smart industry. On this, Tumiwa said, Indonesia could expect China to transfer necessary technologies.

Tumiwa said he was very impressed by Chinese leaders' remarks that China is determined to share prosperity with other nations. He attended the 3rd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing in October 2023.

Franck Xu, marketing and solution sales director of Huawei Indonesia Enterprise Business, said the company is committed to supporting Indonesia in the development of smart cities.

"We are in close collaboration with Indonesia to achieve the goals of good governance, benefit society, and develop industry and the society to draw concentric circles of smart city development," Xu said.

In Indonesia, Huawei adheres to the concept of "I Do: in Indonesia, for Indonesia, by Indonesians", he said.

"This forum lays an important role as it provides an opportunity for innovators, technology providers, entrepreneurs and regional governments to find effective and efficient solutions. This is a seller-meet-buyer forum," Ade Palguna Ruteka, deputy minister of forestry and environment in charge of waste management, said in his speech to mark the opening of the expo forum on Aug 13.

Ruteka said Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto had declared that waste problems in Indonesia be fully settled by 2029, the ending year in his five-year term of office.

According to data at the National Waste Management Information System at the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, about 35 percent of total national waste production is unmanaged, and the portion will rapidly rise in the coming years if no breakthrough measure is taken to curb further waste generation. Waste management budget in many regional governments is currently below one percent of their total budget.

Ruteka said, however, the triple expo aims to show that the development of green city and sustainable environment does not stop with waste management but includes solutions for clean water availability for people's healthy lifestyle.

Experts warn that Indonesia is facing a critical water resilience crisis due to extreme climate change and because of the conversion of land functions in the upstream or lake areas into built-up land.

The writer is a freelance journalist for China Daily.