Day: September 15, 2021

Jakarta Indonesian Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno has said that the culinary creative economy sub-sector contributed as much as 42 percent to the state revenue amid the pandemic.

“Our data show that the tourism sector fell 80 percent in terms of foreign exchange, while its employment declined by almost seven percent. However, the contribution of Indonesia’s creative economy sector ranked as the third largest in the world with Rp1,100 trillion, below the United States and South Korea,” he informed in a written statement issued on Tuesday.

“The main contributors are culinary with 42 percent, fashion with 18 percent, and crafts with 15 percent,” he said.

Furthermore, the culinary sub-sector has a huge opportunity to advance the tourism industry and Indonesia’s creative economy, Uno said.

Hence, the government is encouraging the ‘Indonesia Spices Up the World’ program to globalize Indonesian cuisine, which is rich in spices and distinctive flavors of the archipelago, he said.

“Now we have to start the Indonesia incorporated approach — as China has ‘One Belt One Road’, Indonesia has ‘Indonesia Spices Up the World’. So, Indonesia has a wealth of spices and food; thus there are many things that we can do holistically by improving the quality and digitization,” the minister stated.

The program is also targeted to reach the Indonesian diaspora abroad with approximately four thousand Indonesian restaurants serving as frontliners in Indonesia’s culinary promotions, he said.

“From the tongue down to the heart, from the heart go up to the head, then to the wallet for shopping and traveling. Thus, if the culinary industry has gained a spot in the global community, they will consider the tourism sector will see the potential for trade and investment. Thereafter, the economy can finally be driven by opening up as many job opportunities as possible,” Uno said.

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“Culinary (sub-sector) also has dominance over 20 million jobs in the creative economy sector. Thus, we have to change amid this pandemic to not only survive but also to see opportunities. I am sure that with the transformative shift movement, we can make a transformation for ‘Indonesia Emas (Golden Indonesia) 2045’,” he said.

He then lauded the actors in other sub-sectors of the creative economy.

According to the minister, in the difficult pandemic situation, it has turned out that there are opportunities that can be created through the creativity and imagination of the creative economy players which he said he considers to be increasingly limitless.

“Their physical mobility may be limited, but their innovation and creation continue to flow. In the year when our demographic bonus will play an extraordinary role — we believe that if our trajectory can be facilitated – the creative economy will be our ability to adapt in the post-pandemic era to get Indonesia to become the world’s fourth largest economy in 2045,” he said.

For developing the tourism and creative economy sector, Indonesia will continue to strive to improve its human resources through innovation, adaptation, and collaboration, the minister said.

Innovation comprises the utilization of big data, he added. Uno said he hopes data will help the government to make appropriate policies which are relevant to the situation.

“For instance, the tourism sector will shift to become more personalized, customized, localized as well as smaller in size. The movements that the public currently discerns regarding the Cleanliness, Health, Safety, and Environment Sustainability; digitization; and how health tourism becomes the main choice for Indonesian tourists will also be our focus in future,” he added.

Source: Antara News

Jakarta Vice President Ma’ruf Amin has said he believes that the national COVID-19 vaccination program can help revive Indonesia’s tourism sector by raising optimism among the public to start traveling again.

“The vaccination program is expected to be a strong basic that leads to tourism sector recovery as well as raises optimism among the public, but remain staying disciplined and stringent in observing health protocols,” he remarked while opening the 2021 Hybrid Event Leaders’ Summit Asia-Global Tourism Forum (GTF) here on Wednesday.

The government has continued to prioritize public health while making efforts to recover the national tourism and economy sectors, he said.

“In a bid to recover the tourism sector in 2021, the Indonesian government remains prioritizing the health aspects and public health,” he highlighted.

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Under the vaccination program, the government is aiming to administer COVID-19 vaccine doses to at least 208 million citizens, or 77 percent of Indonesia’s total population, to achieve herd immunity, he explained.

He expressed the hope that the government will meet the target of the vaccination program soon.

The government has also established health protocols based on cleanliness, health, safety, and environment (CHSE), he noted.

“To carry out tourism activities amid the pandemic, the Indonesian government has established the CHSE-based health protocols,” he said.

Tourism is considered to be the sector that has been the most affected by the pandemic, given the drastic fall in the number of tourist visits, Amin said adding that he was optimistic of receiving some strategic recommendations to help revive the tourism industry and boost the community’s economy at the forum.

Source: Antara News

Jakarta Indonesia is not among the 10 countries with the highest number of COVID-19 cases globally even though the nation’s population is the fourth largest in the world, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has said.

“Alhamdulillah (thank God), cases of COVID-19 continue to show a downward trend. We are very optimistic, but we must always be vigilant. As the country with the fourth-largest population in the world, Indonesia is not included in the top 10 (countries) with the highest number of cases in the world,” the President said in his online remarks at the UOB Economic Outlook 2022, monitored here, Wednesday.

Daily cases of COVID-19 in Indonesia have continued to decline sharply. On July 15, 2021, Indonesia had recorded a spike in cases, with daily cases reaching 56 thousand, he said.

The daily cases have now declined to 2,577, based on data recorded on September 13, 2021, he added.

The percentage of daily COVID-19 cases in Indonesia is currently pegged at 13.6 daily cases per million of population, far below neighboring ASEAN countries, Jokowi pointed out.

“The hospital occupancy rate (BOR) is also gradually decreasing. The national BOR is at 13.8 percent, and the BOR for the Wisma Atlet COVID-19 Emergency Hospital, which used to reach 92 percent, has now fallen to 7 percent,” he informed.

As of September 12, 2021, Indonesia’s daily transmission rate or positivity rate was 2.64 percent, which was better than the world average of 8.34 percent, he said.

“Our recovery rate is 94.03 percent, above the world average of 89.59 percent,” he added.

Referring to the vaccination program, the President said 34.94 percent, or 72.76 million Indonesians, have been vaccinated against COVID-19 so far. Meanwhile, in terms of doses, 42.2 percent of vaccine doses have been administered to the community.

“We will continue to increase vaccinations, the speed of vaccinations. However, we must be vigilant, always be disciplined in implementing health protocols, always wear masks,” he remarked.

Source: Antara News

Jakarta Indonesia has again received a vaccine batch of 274,950 doses of the Pfizer vaccines in finished form. With this arrival, a total of around 240 million vaccine doses arrived in Indonesia in bulk and finished form, a top government official said.

The government has ensured the availability of safe COVID-19 vaccines and can support the acceleration of vaccination, with a target of two million people per day, Director General of Information and Public Communication of the Communication and Informatics Ministry Usman Kansong noted in a press statement on Wednesday.

The government is also working hard to bring in vaccines and immediately distribute them to all vaccination sites in Indonesia.

Kansong confirmed that the government will currently focus on pushing vaccinations for the elderly and youth groups. Only 26.43 percent of the elderly population had received the first dose, while 18.73 percent had been administered the second dose.

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He deemed vaccination of the elderly group as being important since this group had a fairly high mortality rate after contracting COVID-19.

Meanwhile, 11.83 percent of the youngsters had received the first dose, while 8.12 percent had been given the second dose.

“Vaccination for members of the community in the age group of 12-17 years should also be expedited to support the safe implementation of limited face-to-face learning,” according to Kansong.

He also reminded that apart from vaccination, wearing masks, maintaining distance, diligently washing hands, and strengthening 3T or testing, tracing and treatment, will help to accelerate health recovery and boost productivity to surmount the pandemic.

“Let us continue to remain disciplined in wearing masks. For those who have not been vaccinated, get vaccinated immediately. Once you have done so, invite your parents, family, relatives, and people in the surrounding areas to get vaccinated,” he added.

Source: Antara News