Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan officially opened the Indonesian Provincial Government Association (APPSI) Seminar at Raya Semarak Building, Bengkulu, on Sunday (6/19) night.

This (national integration) is very important at this time

It was also attended by Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs (Menkopolhukam) Moh. Mahfud MD and his staff; Bengkulu Governor Rohidin Mersyah; and representatives from each regional government.

In his remarks, Governor appreciated Menkopolhukam and Bengkulu Governor as the hosts who welcomed all delegates from all APPSI members.

"We are attending a seminar that has a strategic theme for the journey of the nation and state. Therefore, on behalf of APPSI, allow us to thank the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs and his staff for attending. We also thank the Bengkulu Governor for being the host," he said as quoted from Jakarta PPID Press Release.

This seminar took the theme 'Maintaining and Building National Integration', which according to him reflected the duties and responsibilities of APPSI members.

"The theme reminds the role of APPSI, which on the one hand has the responsibility to carry out development programs in each region well. On the other hand, the provincial government is the vanguard of the central government to carry out the functions that must be carried out at the regional level," he conveyed.

"Therefore, it is important for us to see the dynamics that are happening and how we can ensure that national integration goes well," he added.

He explained the importance of national integration which put unity as the main element. "And this (national integration) is very important at this time. Because we are currently experiencing progress in various sectors, and at the same time, progress is not happening equally in all sectors. Some are fast and some are slow. This poses a challenge for us thus we can defend and strengthen each other," he uttered.

He also hoped that the goal of achieving national stability could be realized through integration.

"Hopefully, the fundamental element, which is to ensure national stability, can occur. Therefore, in this seminar, we will get instructions from the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs about how we will navigate the future, especially the assistants in government and the heads of government bureaus who are present here will translate your directions and seminar materials to ensure that integration is truly maintained," he mentioned.