zone for the whole of Indonesia, an official declared on Monday.
Luky Eko Wuryanto, secretary of the Indonesian Economic Development Committee (KP3EI), said the institutions recognized the economic benefits of the idea, which could go into force as soon as Independence Day on Aug. 17.
“They’re all very enthusiastic about the idea because of all the benefits that the public stand to gain from it,” said Luky, who is also a deputy for infrastructure and regional development.
He added that support for the plan was highlighted in a recent survey of the ministries and agencies carried out by Airlangga University in Surabaya.
“There was an earlier survey done by Airlangga, but it didn’t include all [government institutions],” he said. “Equation of time is to reach out to community involvement and the middle and eastern Indonesia in economic growth. So, eventually all will wake up and sleep together. With three time zones, the Middle East and Indonesia have access to trade only shorter than the western Indonesia.”
Under the proposed plan, Indonesia would merge its three time zones into a single time zone at GMT+8.
The country’s current westernmost time zone is GMT+7, the central is GMT+8 and the easternmost is GMT+9.
