Bekasi. The Bekasi City Government has begun requiring civil servants to use English during work-from-home (WFH) arrangements, in a move aimed at strengthening the city’s international profile amid rising foreign investment.

Bekasi Mayor Tri Adhianto said the policy is part of a broader push to prepare the city’s bureaucracy for global engagement.

“During WFH, all department heads must ensure their staff, down to the lowest level, remain on standby,” Tri said on Friday.

Under the policy, civil servants are required to submit regular performance reports throughout the day, with directives issued each morning and evaluations conducted in the afternoon.

“They must report in the morning, afternoon, and evening. Department heads give instructions, evaluations, and targets in the morning, which should correlate with their output by the end of the day,” he said.

All performance reports are logged into the government’s electronic performance system, known as E-Kin, to ensure accountability and alignment between assigned tasks and completed work.

Implementation of the policy includes the use of English in daily work instructions, which Tri described as a “One Day English” approach designed to gradually build language proficiency within the civil service.

“To ensure effectiveness, evaluations are conducted through recorded work activities that must be submitted to supervisors,” he added, noting that assistant officials under each department head are responsible for collecting and reviewing the recordings.

The city administration has also enlisted universities to act as independent evaluators of the program, aiming to standardize understanding and execution across departments.

Tri said the initiative reflects Bekasi’s ambition to position itself as an international city, pointing to ongoing and planned partnerships with overseas municipalities such as Izumisano and Seongnam, with potential collaborations under discussion with Jiangning and Susaki.

The mayor also highlighted recent foreign investment, including a waste management project backed by Chinese investors, as evidence of growing international interest in Bekasi.

He added that such partnerships could open opportunities to improve human resources, including in education, employment, and sports development.

“Going forward, there will be more we can do, from teachers and workers to job creation,” Tri said.

Indonesia’s English proficiency remains in the low-proficiency band, placing 80th out of 123 countries in the 2025 EF English Proficiency Index (EF EPI). The report shows Indonesia scoring 471 in 2025 higher 3 points comparing to last year’s EF EPI Edition, trailing most of its Asian peers and far below leading European countries

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