Paradiplomacy in the border: Overcoming forest fire in West Kalimantan – Sarawak border through the Sosek Malindo cooperation

This paper analyses the policies of the West Kalimantan Provincial Government in overcoming forest fires through the Indonesia-Malaysia Socio-Economic Cooperation (Sosek Malindo) on the West Kalimantan-Sawak border in 2019-2023. Forest fires are a regional issue but have transboundary impacts on neighboring countries. To overcome this, the West Kalimantan provincial government is implementing several cooperation strategies with the state of Sarawak to address forest fires on the border. The theory used is the concept of paradiplomacy and border management. This is a literature study with qualitative descriptive analysis methods and secondary data. With regard to cooperation, Sosek Malindo used forest fire prevention programs in three ways: socialization, regulation, and collaboration. Regarding its structural organization, Sosek Malindo still has some obstacles in managing border areas. Moreover, the local government must determine its cooperation policy to prove that paradiplomacy can be implemented in managing a state border area. This article assists other researchers in researching forest fire management on the West Kalimantan-Sarawak border through Sosek Malindo cooperation. Additionally, it suggests a combination of paradiplomacy concepts for managing border areas.