It's Time to Apply Eco-Property

Foreword
The International Real Estate Conference by FIABCI (The International Real Estate Federation) will be held in Bali in May. Indonesia is honored to host the event. One of the main agenda in the coming conference is: green property. To further discuss about the conference, we invite Mr. Teguh Satria, REI chairman or president of FIABCI Indonesia, and Mr. Pingki Elka Pangestu, chief organizer for the 61st FIABCI conference who is also the president of FIABCI Asia Pacific.

Thank you for coming Mr. Teguh Satria and Mr. Pingki Elka Pangestu.

FIABCI will hold a conference in Bali. How could Indonesia be appointed as host of the FIABCI World Congress this year?

Teguh Satria: It's quite a long story. We fought hard so that Indonesia could become host. We first offered to be host in 2008, in Amsterdam. We had promotions there, but because of some changes in the system it couldn't be decided in Amsterdam. So it was to be decided in Beijing, China at the 60th World Congress, but then it was disrupted by the H1N1 virus so that it was cancelled.

(Besides that,) the meeting to determine the host of the 61st World Congress was done from October 6 to 8, 2009, in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. At that time we competed with other countries, which were Italy and Norway. We had some very difficult questions, among which regarding safety, the Bali bombings and such. But we tried to convince our colleagues in FIABCI that we are able to host the event.

Actually we were appointed (as host) in 1998, and the reason for their doubt was that in 1998 the conference in Jakarta, Indonesia, was canceled due to multidimensional crises, and at that time it was May. So we had to give our best effort to convince them, and it even called for two votings. Finally because Italy declined, there were only Indonesia and Norway. And (in) the two votings, we happen to gain the upper hand, so that finally Indonesia was appointed as the host for the 61st FIABCI World Congress in Nusa Dua, Bali, which will be held from May 24 to 28, 2010, at Grand Hyatt Nusa Dua, Bali.

How far is the preparation for the 61st FIABCI World Congress?

Pingki Elka Pangestu: Usually, as Mr. Teguh mentioned, a congress should have two years for preparation. But in this case we only have a very short period: six months, so that the preparation is rushed. Currently we could say we are 80 percent ready for the event, including for the permits, venues, tours, and ceremonies, all of which are being designed. And, God willing, we will go to Bali for the finalization. Soon everything should be on.

Reportedly a number of world figures such as Mark Zuckerberg, CEO and Founder of Facebook, former US President Bill Clinton, Temasek CEO Madame Ho Ching, will attend this event.

Teguh Satria: Mr. Pingki will explain in detail about the speakers. We are hoping, and we have sent the (invitation) letter to the President of the Republic of Indonesia Mr. SBY, that he would be willing to do the opening of this event. Because this is a very important event, not just for us, but we hope that with this world event we can introduce the Indonesian property to a world scale. I'm sure that our products can match other world class (property) products. For the details of who will be the speakers and so on, Mr. Pingki as chief organizer can explain.

Okay, Mr. Pingki, other than the three mentioned earlier, who else will be at the world congress?

Pingki Elka Pangestu: We hope the three speakers alternatively will be (giving) the keynote speeches, they will give insight about the overall world condition. next there will be five forums discussing that real estate is now integrated. For this we will present a number of social figures, for (talking about) what we dub as social networking like Facebook and others. So we'll try Mark. There will also be some renowned architects, for landmark buildings, icons.

Next we will exclusively discuss about finance. There is Mr. James Riady from Indonesia, whom we hope to be one of the speakers. There will also be CEOs from Asia Pacific and Europe. We are also inviting speakers for green building and eco-tourism, such as the founder of Banyan Tree. Last we will try to relate to socio-cultural issues, among which we will ask for the Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika to be a speaker because Bali is one place where world integration and harmony happen.

From Indonesia, other than James Riady and Made Mangku Pastika, who else will share their experiences?

Pingki Elka Pangestu: We're hoping for Mr. Ciputra, the real estate figure and one of the founders of Indonesian real estate. And from the government there will be Mr. Jero Wacik, the minister of culture and tourism, and the state public housing minister, and other figures.

The conference is themed 'eco-property'. What's the principle behind the eco-property theme for the congress?

Pingki Elka Pangestu: If we look at the title (theme), (it's) Green Shoot for Sustainable Real Estate. Green shoot is the sappling for world resurgence for the property field that has been down. We also see this as an opportunity to introspect a little, ahead, the real estate world must be continuous, this means it extends to environmental and economic issues, and even from the aspect of socio-culture. So eco-property is one topic that we must face. The world trend is going there. And in Bali, as it happens, some of our projects have applied the green property principles.

Mr. Teguh, how far has the Indonesian property industry applied the eco-property concept currently?

Teguh Satria: There has been much intention, but practically, those who fulfill all the eco-property requirements are probably few. But one good news is that they are proud (of their achievements), as you can see from various ads, there're green buildings this and that and so on. With this opportunity we'd like to invite the experts to introduce what eco-property really is, it's not just 'green' as it turns out. At least, the positive news is that both developers and consumers are aware and proud (of eco-property), so we can sell by stating it's a green building, a green design and so on. And the buyers feel proud of the products. This is one good capital. It's good that some have started to apply (the eco-property principles), although we still need better socialization.

Mr. Teguh and Mr. Pingki, what will the landscape of Indonesia be if developers apply green property, green building, and eco-property principles?

Pingki Elka Pangestu: It's obvious that one of these projects (The Pakubuwono Residence Jakarta), is the winner of the Prix d'Excellence Awards by BNI and FIABCI Indonesia. What is visible is the green environment. But actually the things behind that are what matters: infrastructure, recycling, mitigating polution et cetera. So this is one example of applying 80 percent of the green aspect, but behind that, which matters more, is that we can give the best for the residents.