Day: June 25, 2021

Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA) – The Papua provincial administration has urged the central government to quickly expend the second round of this year’s special autonomy funds to finance its development programs, according to a government official.

“The second round of special autonomy funds should have been transferred in June at the latest,” Papua’s Assistant Secretary for Economic and Social Welfare Affairs Muhammad Musa’ad stated.

However, as of Thursday, the provincial government had yet to receive the second round of the funds, Musa’ad noted in a press statement that ANTARA quoted in Jayapura on Friday.

The provincial administration has distributed the first round of special autonomy funds that it had earlier received from the central government to all regional administrations, he revealed.

Musa’ad highlighted the importance of available funds for the government’s programs, including funding infrastructure facilities for Papua’s 2021 PON National Games.

“We have never held the special autonomy funds that the central government has transferred. In its place, we directly disburse them to all district and city administrations,” he explained.

The Papua special autonomy law, which has paved the way for a significant amount of funds to flow into Papua and West Papua, has been in force for almost two decades.

With the law set to expire in November this year, the bill for amending it is being deliberated in the House of Representatives (DPR). To meet the deadline, the House members have listed it as one of the dozens of priority bills in this year’s National Legislation Program (Prolegnas).

According to data provided by the Finance Ministry, the government has allocated Rp138.65 trillion towards Papua and West Papua’s special autonomy funds and additional funds for infrastructure projects so far.

Meanwhile, the government has disbursed Rp702.3 trillion in regional transfers and village funds to the two provinces during the period between 2002 and 2021, according to People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) speaker Bambang Soesatyo.

Despite the flow of large amounts of central government funds into Papua and West Papua, the two provinces are still grappling with ways to improve the quality of their human capital. Their scores on Indonesia’s 2020 Human Development Index have remained below the national average of 71.94.

According to Statistics Indonesia (BPS), Papua and West Papua scored 60.44 and 65.09, respectively, on the 2020 Human Development Index, much lower than Aceh Province that scored 71.94.

The BPS data released in February this year further pegged the poverty rates in Papua and West Papua at 26.8 percent and 21.7 percent, respectively.

Development outcomes remain inequitable for native Papuan communities, as indicated by their low income levels and lack of access to education and health services, it pointed out.

Source: Antara News

Shenzhen, China–(Antara/Business Wire)- Announced at an exclusive digital event, RELX International launched its initiative, RELX Pledge, centered around the protection of minors, consumers, and economic livelihoods respectively.

At the event, RELX International pledged to contribute to the communities in which it operates, under three key pillars: Guardian Program, Golden Shield, and Green Shoots.

Speaking at the conference, Leina Chedid, Head of Marketing for the Middle East and North Africa, discussed RELX International’s Guardian Program – a initiative that stretches from product development to sales, preventing and discouraging the use of vape products by minors through joint efforts with retailers to step up on-site identification.

Leina Chedid said: “Since our inception, youth prevention has been an integral part of RELX International’s core company values. Our Guardian Program applies across all our sales and marketing and supports effective legislation and regulation to prevent the purchase and use of our products by minors.”

Joining Leina, RELX International’s Global Head of External Affairs, Jonathan Ng, announced the steps the brand is taking to ensure that there is industry-wide action taken to prevent e-cigarette use among minors, including eradication of counterfeit products.

The vaping company says its Golden Shield initiative, a partnership with a number of its stakeholders including engagement of customs officials, is designed to safeguard consumers by helping to eliminate counterfeit, contraband, and compatibles from the e-cigarette market.

Jonathan Ng said: “RELX International is proud to ensure that its products are only manufactured to high quality standards with stringent inspection controls. Unfortunately, there are many counterfeit RELX and other smuggled products of unknown content out there. We are working closely with investigation firms, e-commerce platforms and local authorities to weed out such products from the market.”

RELX’s Golden Shield has assisted in 28 successful cases, removing over 550,000 fake products from the market and over 77,000 websites since 2019.

Jonathan also discussed RELX’s Green Shoots Program an initiative created to give back to the community, using the brand’s experience to help other aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners get their businesses on track to business growth and success.

He added: “Startups and small businesses are the economic backbone of societies around the world. As a company that grew from a startup ourselves, we understand the numerous challenges that small businesses encounter daily. Through the Green Shoots programme, we hope to share our experience and knowledge to help them get on the right track towards growth and success.”

As part of this scheme, RELX Academy will see the company sponsor courses curated by leading global universities to equip budding entrepreneurs with the skills to succeed in starting their own businesses.

The RELX Academy is currently in pilot phase in the Philippines. Each regular Philippines RELX Store partner receives support of up to PHP 300,000; RELX International will provide Academy participants with additional product support of up to PHP 1,700,000.

Jonathan Ng added: “The RELX Pledge is designed to help introduce a new era of responsibility and safety in the vaping industry.”

“We genuinely hope it will provide a better future for everyone, meaning that only genuine RELX products – all produced to high standards of reliability – are used by adult vapers or adults looking for an alternative to smoking cigarettes.”

“Protecting minors is an issue we take very seriously, as our Pledge commitment shows. We sincerely hope that others in the industry take this lead and also commit to this new era of responsibility.”

Components of the RELX Pledge will be rolled-out globally (excluding Mainland China and the United States) throughout 2021, and will be further enhanced in 2022. The RELX Pledge will be localized in countries in which RELX International holds a market presence to account for applicable local customs, cultures, and traditions.

Furthermore, the company will provide regular updates on the progress of the RELX Pledge intiative to ensure its strategic goals and objectives are being met. RELX International executives will be regularly measured on their performance on corporate and social responsibility metrics, of which the RELX Pledge will be a fundamental pillar.

ABOUT RELX International:

Founded in 2019, RELX International is a multinational electronic cigarette company that markets and sells RELX products. RELX branded products are designed at a cutting-edge research and development center, and produced at one of the world’s largest e-cigarette factories. RELX’s mission is to make RELX a trusted brand for adult smokers through state-of-the-art products, industry-leading technologies and scientific advances in collaboration with talented and committed people around the globe. The company has attracted global talents from Uber, Proctor and Gamble, Apple, Beats, and L’Oréal.

Source: Antara News

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Finance ministers and business leaders from APEC member economies convened virtually, Friday, to deliberate on the ongoing responses for businesses as well as policies that economies can focus on to help businesses recover during pandemic.

New Zealand Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson hosted the Informal Finance Ministerial Meeting with the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) in a bid to intensify exchanges of views and experiences on best practices for helping businesses survive the health and economic crisis, according to a release issued by the APEC Secretariat and received here on Friday.

In his opening remarks, Minister Robertson, concurrently the 2021 Chair of the APEC Finance Ministers’ Process, noted that the informal dialog enabled a deeper understanding of the concerns that the private sector has within the APEC region. These engagements inform the policy discussions that APEC Finance Ministers will have at their meeting later in October.

“The Finance Ministers’ Process this year is focusing on the macroeconomic responses to COVID and a longer-term look at how fiscal policy and budget frameworks may evolve as a result of the pandemic,” Minister Robertson remarked.

“Partnerships between governments, businesses, and civil societies are critical to the region’s response to COVID-19 and will continue to play an important role in the longer-term recovery,” he affirmed.

Ongoing challenges, such as social inequality arising from the rapid evolution of technology, as well as accelerating climate change and growing inequality in income and wealth distribution remain a focus for APEC economies, especially given the uneven impact of COVID-19.

Discussions have encompassed the criticality of adopting pertinent measures to handle those issues and the range of policy tools being applied to support communities.

Those measures comprise assistance to preserve jobs and livelihoods, fiscal and monetary stimulus to support businesses, open borders for trade, especially for essential medicines, equipment and services, and resistance to protectionist restrictions.

At the dialogue, ministers and business leaders shared their views on the most crucial and impactful policies that economies should focus on to aid businesses in the recovery.

Minister Robertson recapped that the fiscal and monetary policy must continue to play a role in combatting the impacts of the pandemic, but it is also clear that stimulus alone is not sufficient.

“The pandemic has enforced a need for complementary macroeconomic and structural policy,” he stressed.

Business leaders highlighted the importance of trade and open markets in spreading the availability of vaccines, essential health supplies and associated goods and services, and keeping global supply chains moving.

“It is clear for us that addressing the continuing pandemic must be the top priority for APEC economies — overcoming the health crisis and using widespread vaccination and testing for safe and seamless reopening of borders as a pre-requisite for economic recovery,” according to Rachel Taulelei, the 2021 chair of the APEC Business Advisory Council.

“Trade is an enabler of a return to sustainable economic growth in the region,” Taulelei stated.

APEC ministers and business leaders also deliberated on the significance of the region’s recovery being sustainable and inclusive, and how economies and businesses can work together to achieve this goal.

“Sustainability and inclusion are ongoing challenges, which need a stepped-up response in a region that needs to learn to live with COVID,” Taulelei highlighted.

She stressed that actions to address climate change and other environmental risks are necessary for a healthy planet, and eventually, for healthy economies and societies.

“Some people have already paid too high a price during the pandemic, including women, youth, indigenous people, those living in rural areas, and those without the skills required for an increasingly digital economy. Their well-being needs to be a priority as we move forward,” she affirmed.

APEC Secretariat Executive Director, Rebecca Sta Maria, acknowledged member economies’ commitment to increasing cooperation in the past year and reminded ministers that the unprecedented crisis needs holistic, bold, and practical responses.

“In addition to international cooperation and coordination, cross-functional and inter-agency linkages are as crucial as member economies pursue long-term, sustainable solutions to economic resiliency and recovery,” Sta Maria stated.

Source: Antara News