Day: September 14, 2021

The Indonesian Association of Life Insurance (AAJI) has reported that the total income of the life insurance industry rose 64.1 percent year on year to Rp119.74 trillion in the first half of 2021.

The income of the industry was pegged at Rp73 trillion in the year-ago period, it said.

“The life insurance industry in the first semester of 2021 managed to get through the difficult times of the COVID-19 pandemic, even growing five percent above the achievement of the first semester of 2019 when COVID-19 did not exist, namely from Rp113.94 trillion,” Chairman of the AAJI management board, Budi Tampubolon said.

Speaking at an online press conference originating from Jakarta on Tuesday, he said the growth in the life insurance industry was in line with the recovery of the national economy, which grew 7.07 percent in the second quarter of 2021.

Meanwhile, the total premium income in the first half of 2021 also showed good growth, he informed. The total premium income swelled 17.5 percent in the first half to Rp104.72 trillion from Rp89.09 trillion a year ago, he added.

“We believe that to some extent this achievement cannot be separated from the pandemic that has raised public awareness about the need for life insurance protection,” Tampubolon said.

The positive performance also resulted from the growth of new business premiums, which increased 27.4 percent to Rp68.02 trillion in the first half of 2021 from Rp53.41 trillion in the first half of 2020, he disclosed. Meanwhile, advanced premiums grew 2.8 percent year on year in the first half to Rp36.7 trillion from Rp35.68 trillion, he said.

Based on the type of product, unit link insurance was still the preferred choice for the community, with premium contribution reaching 62 percent during the first half of 2021, while the figure stood at 38 percent for traditional life insurance, he said.

Meanwhile, according to distribution channels, bancassurance was still the largest contributor to the life insurance premium income at 46 percent, followed by agents at 29 percent, and alternatives at 25 percent in the first half of this year.

Along with the positive performance of life insurance, total life insurance assets also grew 12.9 percent year on year to Rp575.46 trillion, while technical reserves grew 12.4 percent on year to Rp443.95 trillion, Tampubolon said.

At the beginning of the pandemic, the life insurance industry’s assets were down 12 percent, and technical reserves had contracted 11.7 percent, he noted.

“This (current growth) is not only due to industrial growth, but also shows prudence and a prudent attitude to reserve more funds in order to be able to face challenges in difficult times, as well as being able to fulfill commitments and promises to policyholders,” said Tampubolon.

Source: Antara News

President Director of PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) Sunarso shed light on the BRI group’s vision for the future to become the most valuable banking group in South East Asia and champion of financial inclusion.

In accordance with this vision, Sunarso expounded that the growth focus was not only on BRI as a banking industry but also included subsidiary companies that are members of the BRI Group transformed into integrated financial services providers.

“We then want to have subsidiaries that represent the completeness of financial industry services and products required by the community,” Sunarso noted in his official statement here on Tuesday.

The president director pointed out that BRI had complete financial services to offer and that is the group he was expecting to be operated.

The BRI Group comprises BRI, as the holding company, with seven sub-holdings: BRI Agro, BRI Remittance, BRI Life, BRI Finance, BRI Danareksa Sekuritas (equity and bond house securities), BRI Ventures, and BRI Insurance.

Sunarso remarked that BRI sub-holdings will focus on two functions: diversifying revenues and making themselves a tool to divide risk.

“If we place the risk on one company, it turns out that it can be too concentrated. (To avoid that), we can break up the focus to the sub-holdings in other forms of products, such as financing that is not credit, but with other instruments,” Sunarso elaborated.

He expounded that the company had transformed the BRIvolution 1.0 since 2016, with the vision of The Most Valuable Bank in Southeast Asia and Home to The Best Talent.

However, in the wake of the pandemic, Sunarso noted that the BRI had conducted a transformation of BRIvolution 2.0, with a vision that changed to The Most Valuable Banking Group in Southeast Asia & Champion of Financial Inclusion.

BRI had earlier won five prestigious awards at the GRC and Performance Excellence Award 2021 in recognition of the implementation of Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC).

The awards were bestowed to recognize the company’s commitment to improving supervision of business and operational processes to maintain good corporate governance.

After winning three awards in the previous year, at the GRC 2021, BRI bagged the Best GRC Overall for Corporate Governance and Performance 2021 Award in the retail and micro banking category and the Best Board of Commissioners in Banking Industries Award, Sunarso noted.

Source: Antara News

The life insurance industry paid Rp74.66-trillion claims and benefits during the 2021 first semester, a 6.1-percent rise, from Rp70.36 trillion during the corresponding period of 2020, the Indonesian Association of Life Insurance (AAJI) stated.

“The payment of claims and benefits is clear proof of the insurance industry’s commitment to customers,” AAJI’s Head of Operations and Consumer Protection, Freddy Tahmrin, noted during an online press conference in Jakarta, Tuesday.

Of the total payments, the life insurance industry paid COVID-19-related claims worth Rp3.74 trillion in the first half of 2021.

During the first half of 2021, Tahmrin revealed that 71 percent of the claim value was the benefit of the redemption value or surrender and partial withdrawals.

The redemption value grew by 2.5 percent, or a total of Rp43.35 trillion, while partial withdrawals increased by 61 percent, or a total of Rp9.77 trillion. “The community can utilize this benefit during difficult times to boost economic resilience and maintain the quality of life of Indonesian families,” Tahmrin stated.

In addition to the redemption value and partial withdrawals, a total of 11 percent of the claims and benefits are given to the deceased and seven percent for health.

He also conveyed that the total benefits from claims for death during the first semester of 2021 climbed by 42.6 percent to reach a total of Rp7.84 trillion, from Rp5.5 trillion during the first semester of 2020.

Meanwhile, the benefit of health claims also rose 3.5 percent in the first half of this year, with a total of Rp5.4 trillion, as compared to Rp5.22 trillion in the first semester of 2020.

Source: Antara News

Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Minister Teten Masduki has expressed the hope that the Smesco Papua Event will serve as a trigger for the digitization of Papuan micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

“I emphasize that being connected to the digital ecosystem is important so that Papuan MSMEs can have digital transformation,” he remarked here on Tuesday.

The event, entitled ‘Torang Bisa (We Can)! MSMEs/Small and Medium Industry Upgrading’, was a collaboration between Smesco Indonesia — a promotion and marketing agency for Indonesian MSME products — and the Papua provincial government. It was organized as part of attempts to support the implementation of the XX Papua National Sports Week, the minister noted.

The collaboration is expected to help Papua’s local MSMEs become successful in the domestic market and ready to compete at the international level, he added.

Currently, the number of MSMEs in the digital ecosystem has reached 15.3 million, or about 23.9 percent of the total number of MSMEs in Indonesia, Masduki noted.

“The number has increased by 7.3 million amid the pandemic, and it is targeted that there will be 30 million MSMEs on digital platforms in 2024,” he added.

Furthermore, as per World Bank’s research, 80 percent of MSMEs connected to the digital ecosystem had better resilience in the midst of the pandemic, he highlighted.

Hence, digitalization needs to be accelerated, he stressed. “It is not only during the pandemic, because the current changes in consumers’ behavior and lifestyle will lead to digitalization,” he added.

In addition, the young generation of Papua will be key for building creativity and technology-based entrepreneurship in future, while digitalization will become a momentum for MSME actors to be connected to multiple modes of access to financing, raw materials, markets, and aggregator partners, he said.

Source: Antara News

The Jakarta administration’s Jakpreneur Program is aimed at bolstering the ecosystem of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) so they can rise and grow again amid the pandemic.

“During this pandemic, we have tried to create platforms to enhance their (MSME’s) progress,” Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan has stated at the launch of the ‘Designers Lab Program’ here on Tuesday.

He said his administration is facilitating training and helping MSMEs connect with markets and financial institutions to encourage supply through the Jakpreneur ecosystem.

Not only that, the demand also needs to be pushed up, and the government can play a role in this, Baswedan noted.

“We, as the government, have a role to push further, increase demand, which, hopefully, can trigger future supply. It also means opportunities for MSMEs,” he said.

In addition to ensuring supply and demand, the government is also working to provide flexible regulations and make it convenient for businesses to grow amid the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the governor informed.

Currently, the number of MSMEs in Jakarta is estimated at around 1.1 million, and their activities are helping boost the capital’s economy, he said.

Meanwhile, the number of Jakpreneur business players is estimated to have reached around 140 thousand by the end of 2020, he said..

“Hopefully, through collaboration, we will have a better ecosystem that supports startups in Jakarta,” he remarked.

The ‘Designers Lab Program’ has been held as part of a cooperation between the Jakarta provincial government and the Berlin state government of Germany to support the startup ecosystem in Jakarta, Baswedan said.

Later, the program will promote Startup Support Organizations through training and certification to develop Jakarta’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, and encourage systematic innovation, economic resilience, and job creation in Jakarta, he added.

The Cooperatives and SMEs Ministry, SOEs Ministry, and Industry Ministry recently signed a memorandum of understanding on the inclusion of cooperatives, MSMEs, and industries in the SOE supply chain, with a cooperation value of Rp52.23 billion.

In addition to this cooperation, the SMEs ministry has another strategic program, which is aimed at expanding MSME market access, both domestically and internationally, Hanung Harimba, a deputy for SMEs at the ministry said.

“For example, through digitalization to strengthen local brands in order to go global,” Harimba explained.

Source: Antara News

Indonesian fishers should be masters in their own country and enjoy an improved standard of living and economic prosperity, Presidential Chief of Staff (KSP) Moeldoko has stressed.

Moeldoko made the remarks while overseeing the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) and a marine and fisheries sector cooperation agreement here on Tuesday.

“It is expected that our fishers will become masters in their own nation,” he said, according to a press release issued by the Presidential Staff Office on Tuesday.

The Indonesian government is committed to continuously working to improve the protection and welfare of Indonesian fishers, he added.

According to Moeldoko, the MoU and cooperation agreement have been signed so that fishermen in the eastern regions of Indonesia can utilize the fisheries and marine potential to improve their living standards and economic welfare.

Through the Ministerial Regulation (Permen KP) No. 58 of 2020 on Fishing Business, small fishing boats under 30 GT capacity will only be allowed to enter lane two (4-12 miles) and lane three (above 12 miles), if they meet certain requirements, he informed.

However, he noted, many fishers face legal problems when crossing regional borders.

He cited a report by the North Sulawesi Marine and Fisheries Office, which said that local fishers were forced to cross borders and take shelter in nearby islands due to logistical needs and bad weather.

Moeldoko said he hoped that the MoU signing will help fishers and enable them to make a strategic contribution to the existence and productivity of national fish barns.

Meanwhile, Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Sakti Wahyu Trenggono, said the central government appreciates local governments and communities that have been synergizing well to manifest sustainable marine resource management.

“This policy is expected to increase the distribution of local products from the eastern region so that it is not only focused on Java,” Trenggono, who was also present at the MoU signing, said.

Source: Antara News

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has assured that both central and regional governments would continue to maintain accountability for state finances in handling COVID-19 by involving law enforcement agencies. “The government is working hard to use the state budget instruments to ease and restore our national economy. We must be accountable for using these resources,” she said at the 2021 National Working Meeting on Accounting and Government Financial Reporting here Tuesday.

Furthermore, she has mentioned the law enforcement agencies that collaborate with the government in controlling the accountability of the state finances comprise the National Police, Office of the Attorney General, Corruption Eradication Commission, State Audit Board, Government’s Development Finance Comptroller and Government Goods/Service Procurement Policy Agency.

The agencies are involved to avoid the potential risk of misappropriation of the fund that can reduce the effectiveness of government programs, she has emphasized.

“We understand that there may be a risk in using state money so we involve law enforcement agencies in the planning and implementation stage,” the minister stated.

Managing state finances in the midst of a crisis was not easy considering that many Ministries/Institutions (K/Ls) suddenly had to refocus their budgets, she admitted.

Meanwhile, several K/Ls suddenly received very large budgets since they had to be at the forefront in dealing with the pandemic – for instance the Health Ministry, Manpower Ministry, Social Affairs Ministry, Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Ministry, as well as National Disaster Mitigation Agency. “I would like to express my gratitude to all K/Ls and local government leaders who, I believe, have been facing an extraordinarily difficult situation,” Indrawati continued.

Nevertheless, she stated that they had overcome the challenges in maintaining the state financial accountability last year.

The 2020 Central Government Financial Report had received Unqualified Opinion from State Audit Board with 84 Ministry/Agency Financial Reports (LKKL) out of 86 LKKLs — or 97.7 percent – and one State General Treasurer Financial Report.

The opinion was also provided to 486 local governments out of 542 local governments – or 89.7 percent – comprising of 33 province, 88 city, and 365 district governments.

“Improving the quality of financial reports in this extraordinary situation is an achievement which is neither easy nor simple. I convey my appreciation to all K/Ls and local governments that continue to maintain state finances and develop their governance,” she added.

Source: Antara News

Two employees of the Papua Regional Development Bank (BPD Papua) have been evacuated from Kiwirok Sub-district in Pegunungan Bintang District to Sentani, the capital of Jayapura District, a bank official has said.

The workers left the sub-district on an AMA aircraft on Monday morning after the BPD Papua office was torched by several Papuan separatist terrorists, BPD Papua’s operations director, Isak Wopari, stated.

Another employee happened to be in Oksibil, the capital of Pegunungan Bintang District, when several separatists torched public facilities, including BPD Papua, he informed.

The BPD Papua-Kiwirok office had been torched a few years ago by miscreants, but the Pegunungan Bintang District government had helped to get it rebuilt, he said. On Monday (September 13, 2021), fire again ravaged the bank office building, he noted.

Due to the incident, the BPD Papua office in Kiwirok has been closed until further notice because all remaining bank employees have been moved to Oksibil, Wopari added.

Meanwhile, Commanding Officer of the 1715 Yahukimo District Military Command, Lt.Col.Christian Irreuw, has held members of the Lamek Tablo-led armed group responsible for the acts of terror in Kiwirok.

The separatist terrorists not only torched several public facilities and houses in Kiwirok Sub-district, but were also involved in a gun fight with several Indonesian security personnel, he noted.

Before mounting acts of terror on Kiwirok, the separatist terrorists recently set some backhoes of state-owned construction company PT Wijaya Karya (WIKA) on fire, he added.

Irreuw said they torched the backhoes, used for the Oksibil-Towe Hitam road construction project, to avenge the arrests of two members who had tried to smuggle five firearms into Papua from PNG on September 2, 2021.

Members of the Lamek Tablo-led armed Papuan separatist terrorist group might have headed to Batom sub-district in Pegunungan Bintang District, Irreuw said.

“Therefore, I have ordered all personnel, especially those responsible for securing the Indonesia-Papua New Guinea land border to stay alert,” he added.

Kiwirok and Batom are among the sub-districts of Pegunungan Bintang District which are located near the Indonesia-PNG land border.

Source: Antara News