President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo will officiate the ASEAN Car Free Day during the opening ceremony of the record attempt before the ministers of the Government of Indonesia, members of the Committee of Permanent Representatives of ASEAN, the Secretary-General of ASEAN and Deputy Secretary- General for the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community, and more than 65,000 young volunteers for the dance.

Indonesian Health Minister Nila Moeloek, as lead for the regional launch of the ASEAN CFD, will also host a media briefing after the launch.

Indonesia as lead country of ASEAN CFD has implemented the traffic-free time in Jakarta since 2002. Other cities across the country have since implemented similar programme. The CFD has encouraged local communities to perform physical and positive activities. High level of public participation in each CFD and the increasing cyclists participation have indicated the programme’s success in promoting healthy lifestyle.

ASEAN health ministers discussed the launch and regular conduct of the ASEAN CFD during their biennial meeting in September 2017 in Brunei Darussalam to reinforce the resolve of the ASEAN health sector in promoting healthy lifestyles and in addressing the threats posed by non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. The ASEAN CFD is also aimed at bringing together communities, various sectors and stakeholders, to work together to address public health and related issues, including pollution control, sport promotion, youth and community engagement.

Brunei Darussalam and Malaysia will join the regional launch through the conduct of simultaneous and related physical activities in the morning of August 5. These countries have been implementing regular schedules of car-free days or car-free mornings. Other ASEAN Member States have also observed car-free days, such as Singapore which conducted a similar event on 27 July 2018, while others have scheduled car-free day activities in the coming months.