Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesian Minister of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform (PAN-RB) Abdullah Azwar Anas affirmed that former British Prime Minister (PM) Tony Blair was ready to assist in the efforts to drive digital reformation in Indonesia.

"He promised to prepare the best consultants to help us. The chosen consultants are experienced in digital reform in the United Kingdom and Europe," he noted in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Anas revealed that his meeting with Blair took place on March 6 to discuss support for digitalization efforts in Indonesia.

He said that the collaboration aligned with efforts to boost digital literacy for the Indonesian people. In addition, his ministry will improve bureaucratic digitalization reform while still considering the aspects of digital culture, digital structure, and digital competence.

"People are part of the digitization process, so they will not be left behind. This process will be carried out gradually," the minister noted.

For instance, currently, the PAN-RB Ministry and related technical ministries are completing digitalization trials, especially for population data and civil registration in the digital population identity system, he stated.

"Yesterday, it was tested, and it can function properly. This is a new revolution in the digitalization of public services," he stated.

Earlier, former British PM Tony Blair said he was glad to discuss digitalization efforts in Indonesia with Minister Anas.

He stated that digitization could ease the people's lives. He also lauded the digital transformation steps taken by the Indonesian government.

"I am pleased to meet Minister Anas and colleagues. We spoke about digitalization in Indonesia and the ability to transform government services to be more effective for people's lives," Blair remarked.

During his leadership, he also transformed bureaucracy and digitalization in the British government. Blair and his institute, Tony Blair Institute (TBI), are also involved in assisting the governments of several countries with digital transformation and are experienced in supporting the relocation of capital cities of several countries.

Blair's experience was discussed to further enrich bureaucratic reform efforts in Indonesia that are coordinated by the PAN-RB Ministry.

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Translator: Fauzi, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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