PERAN DAN BATASAN KEWENANGAN KOTA BANDUNG BERDASARKAN ASAS DESENTRALISASI DALAM HUBUNGAN INTERNASIONAL

As one of the paradiplomacy strategies, Sister City cooperation provides opportunities for local governments to expand international networks and support sustainable development. This study focuses on examining how the Bandung City Government establishes a partnership with the Kanagawa Prefectural Government, Japan, within the framework of decentralization principles and national legal regulations, while also enriching academic references regarding the legal limits of cross-border cooperation at the local level. The approach used is a normative juridical research method with statutory, conceptual, and case study approaches. Data collection was conducted through the review of relevant laws and regulations, analysis of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), legal literature, and interviews with the Cooperation Division of the Bandung City Government. How is the Bandung–Kanagawa Sister City cooperation mechanism implemented in accordance with the authority of the local government? How does the inter- ministerial approval procedure affect paradiplomacy practices in Indonesia? The study’s findings indicate that the Bandung–Kanagawa Sister City cooperation begins with an MoU and is followed by technical agreements in the fields of green city management, low-emission technology transfer, civil servant training, and cultural exchange. Nevertheless, the implementation of this cooperation remains limited by the obligation to obtain approval from relevant ministries and to comply with national foreign policy. This conclusion affirms that Sister City cooperation is not merely symbolic but serves as a concrete instrument to strengthen the role of local governments in sustainable development diplomacy and as a reference for the implementation of paradiplomacy in other regions..
Keywords: Sister city, Decentralization, Local Autonomy, Bandung–Kanagawa.