Day: October 21, 2021

The Indonesian Automotive Industry Association (Gaikindo) has said that it hopes Gaikindo 2021 Indonesia International Auto Show (GIIAS) will become a mark of the nation’s economic revival from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This exhibition becomes a very important event for Indonesia. It is a sign of the economic revival after the COVID-19 pandemic,” Gaikindo chairman Yohannes Nangoi said here on Thursday.

Nangoi said he is optimistic that GIIAS 2021 will be a driving factor to achieve the goals of the national automotive industry, both in maximizing domestic achievements and being the country’s highest foreign exchange contributor through exports.

According to him, one of the supports provided by the government to the country’s automotive industry is the luxury sales tax incentive program on Luxury Goods Borne by the Government (PPnBM DPT).

The program has succeeded in bolstering the industry that had slumped last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he explained.

“We had a decline in April and May 2020 when we only sold 5 thousand units per month. This year, after the (COVID-19 cases spike) in June and July, our sales in August-September have returned to 85 thousand units (per month). It is incredible,” he said.

Nangoi further said that he hopes this year’s edition of GIIAS will encourage the improvement of the Indonesian automotive industry.

GIIAS 2021 will continue to bring the latest technological innovations from the automotive world. To guarantee this, Gaikindo has received support from its members who are also participating in the event, he informed.

“The various products and technologies on display are one of the achievement proofs of the Indonesian automotive industry. We should be proud,” Nangoi remarked.

GIIAS 2021 will be held from November 11-21, 2021 at ICE (Indonesia Convention Exhibition), BSD city, Tangerang. The exhibition will be held in the physical format under the implementation of strict health protocols.

Twenty-four vehicle brands will join the exhibition, including those who manufacture both passenger and commercial cars.

GIIAS 2021 admission tickets will only be available on the GIIAS Auto360 application. The visitors will be grouped into three sessions each day to ensure there is no crowding in the exhibition area.

Source: Antara News

The Presidential Staff Office (KSP) has been heedful of the rice farmers’ aspirations in West Pasaman, West Sumatra, in accelerating biofortified rice production that is one of President Joko Widodo’s national priority programs.

“We have directly heard the complaints and inputs from farmers. These inputs certainly help the government to formulate and review policies implemented on the field,” Deputy III of the Presidential Staff Office Panutan Sulendrakusuma said in a press release here on Thursday.

Sulendrakusuma observed that five farming groups managed 100 hectares of biofortified rice land in West Pasaman. The seed planting has already begun in September, and the harvest season is expected to start next December.

The rice biofortification development and planting program in West Pasaman was welcomed by farmers.

Sulendrakusuma explained that biofortified rice had a high nutritional content, so it can help overcome iron deficiency among members of the community.

“Half of the biofortified rice production will be consumed, and the rest will be sold,” one of the farmers, Hariadi, noted.

Hariadi is optimistic of the government facilitating and improving the irrigation system around his rice fields, so that in future, the harvest can occur thrice a year.

“Farmers also need agricultural machinery, such as transplanters, to reduce planting costs by 60 percent,” he stated.

Biofortified rice cultivation, or “Inpari IR Nutri Zinc,” has been conducted since 2020 in some regions, with a high prevalence of stunting among toddlers.

This year, the government, through the Ministry of Agriculture, has targeted the cultivation of biofortified rice to expand to 46 hectares across 26 provinces.

The cultivation of rice varieties that contain mineral sources or Zinc (Zn) is a breakthrough in overcoming childhood stunting in Indonesia.

With zinc nutrition reaching 34.51 ppm, biofortified rice is claimed to be able to optimize the growth of children in terms of their height and weight.

Source: Antara News

Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) has launched BNI Xpora to encourage micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to enter the export market.

“BNI Xpora has been launched in seven cities, one of which is Area 17 which covers Yogyakarta and southern Central Java,” head of the BNI Yogyakarta Regional Office, Mohammad Hisyam, said at the launch of BNI Xpora in Solo on Thursday.

In the southern part of Yogyakarta and Central Java, Solo city has the highest import-export trade activity, he informed.

“Especially in the garment and furniture industry,” he said.

“Regarding the potential for MSMEs that can participate in the BNI Xpora program, there are quite a few. In the early stages, around 70 MSMEs could be included in the program,” he added.

“These (MSMEs) are new, not the prior ones,” he said.

The BNI Xpora’s program aims to encourage a more efficient trade process and thereby greater profits for producers, he added.

“What is important is that our presence does business matching in order to cut out brokers so that they can provide more profit (to producers). Cut existing distribution,” he elaborated.

The launch of BNI Xpora coincided with the opening ceremony of the 2021 Indonesia Trade Expo Indonesia (TEI), initiated by the Trade Ministry in Jakarta.

In an online statement, deputy president director of BNI, Adi Sulistyowati, said Xpora is a symbol of BNI’s support for national business actors, especially MSMEs, so they can expedite their businesses and penetrate the global market.

“This BNI Xpora service can be accessed through a digital platform,” he added.

He said the development of SMEs is the main focus of partnerships and collaborations with large companies and entering the global market chain.

“This is expected to increase the competitiveness of national products and build national economic independence. Of course, this cannot be separated from efforts to accelerate the digitization of all stakeholders, including the Coordinating Ministry for the Economy, Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Trade Ministry, Cooperatives and SMEs Ministry, Finance Ministry, State-Owned Enterprises Ministry, Trade Ministry, Foreign Affairs Ministry, Customs and Excise, BKPM, e-commerce, global trade associations, and Smesco,” he added.

Source: Antara News

PT Asuransi Kredit Indonesia (Askrindo), a state-owned insurance company, has rolled out a smart car library, or MoPi, as part of its commitment to improving access to education in Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara.

“The Askrindo Smart Car was facilitated in the collaboration of SOEs’ Social and Environmental Responsibility (TJSL),” president director of Askrindo, Priyastomo, said in a written statement issued here on Thursday.

The TJSL collaboration was opened by SOEs Minister Erick Thohir and the ministry’s deputy for human resources and information technology, Tedi Bharata, he informed.

“MoPi is expected to give access to children who live in remote areas and do not have facilities to read. With MoPi, reading can be affordable and become a culture,” Priyastomo remarked.

The Askrindo Smart Car is a car library that can reach remote areas and provide hundreds of books that children can read for free, he said. In addition, it has multimedia facilities for the benefit of the children, he aded.

The smart car is equipped with educational props that children can use and enhance their motor skills, he explained.

Currently, through a collaboration with PAUD Institute, Askrindo’s Smart Car has reached 21 regions of Indonesia, according to Priyastomo.

“The existence of this smart car is hoped to give positive benefits and help government programs in educating the nation’s children so quality generation can occur towards Golden Indonesia,” he informed.

SOE Ministry’s Bharata also joined the activity by holding a storytelling session for children visiting the smart car.

He also lauded Askrindo, which is a member of the Indonesia Financial Group (IFG), for the MoPi program, saying it is a realization of Askrindo’s concern for the future of Indonesian human resources.

“The presence of MoPi is our effort from SOEs, especially from Askrindo on how we can educate our young generation to learn more knowledge,” he said.

Through MoPi, he said he had obtained a new insight that learning does not always happen in the classroom, but can also be done outside, depending on the teacher’s creativity.

“I really appreciate Askrindo for MoPi, and I hope this MoPi program can continue to run,” Bharata said.

Source: Antara News