Month: October 2021

Indonesian President Joko Widodo began the agenda of his working visit to Italy by holding bilateral talks with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison in Rome on Saturday.

At the meeting, which took place at the Splendide Royal Hotel, the two leaders discussed several issues ranging from COVID-19 vaccinations, economic recovery, to climate change.

“For bilateral ties, I am glad to see the continued progress. First, let me convey our appreciation for Australia’s assistance of 1.2 million vaccine doses, which arrived (in Indonesia) last week, and we warmly welcome the planned shipment of 10.5 million vaccine doses from Australia,” President Widodo said in a written statement received in Jakarta on Saturday.

The current condition of COVID-19 in Indonesia is very good, with the positivity rate below one percent and more than 185 million vaccines administered, he added.

“Of equal importance, we still uphold the health protocols,” he said.

The positive trend in the handling of COVID-19 has offered a chance to the two neighboring states to think of economic recovery, including in the tourism sector, he noted.

To that end, he proposed the creation of an Indonesia-Australia vaccinated travel lane (VTL) and cooperation for mutual recognition of vaccination certificates.

“I know that the foreign ministers of the two countries have begun communicating the possibility of the cooperation. May VTL and mutual recognition of vaccination certificates materialize soon. I believe this will accelerate economic recovery,” he said.

Source: Antara News

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said leaders of the G20 countries have agreed to achieve the global vaccination strategy set by the World Health Organization (WHO).

“The leaders also expressed their views on the need to vaccinate 40 percent by the end of 2021, and 70 percent in mid-2022. This is actually a global strategy given by WHO which is supported by the G20 leaders,” she said in a statement at the Splendide Royal Hotel, Rome, Italy, on Saturday.

Speaking after accompanying President Joko Widodo at the G20 Summit in La Nuvola, she said the G20 leaders discussed joint efforts to get out of the twin health and economic crises caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

They also discussed issues related to a close cooperation between the minister of finance and minister of health, and cooperation with such international organizations as the WHO, World Bank, and IMF, as well as the availability of funds to deal with the pandemic, Retno Marsudi said.

Meanwhile, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) in his statement emphasized the importance of strengthening an inclusive global health architecture that adheres to the principles of solidarity, justice, transparency, and equality.

President Jokowi proposed several steps, including creating a mechanism for raising global health resources; compiling a global health protocol for cross-border activities; and optimizing the role of the G20 in efforts to address the scarcity and gaps of vaccines, medicines, and essential medical devices, she said.

With regard to strengthening global health resilience, President Jokowi also emphasized the importance of accelerating a stronger and more inclusive and sustainable global economic recovery.

President Jokowi said the G20 leaders shared a similar view that the world economy had not yet revived, Retno Marsudi added.

Source: Antara News

Canadian Ambassador to Indonesia and Timor Leste Cameron MacKay said Canada is committed to working with Indonesia to improve the quality and competitiveness of micro, small and medium enterprises in the country.

He made the statement when speaking at an online discussion on sharing lessons learned among countries that Indonesia’s Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs held in collaboration with the NSLIC/NSELRED Project on October 29 (29/10).

The issues discussed included learning about good practices, challenges, and opportunities in creating better competitiveness and ecosystem of MSMEs.

Ambassador MacKay highlighted the importance of MSMEs for job creation in Indonesia, saying that 64 million micro, small and medium enterprises provide jobs to 97 percent of the national workforce.

“We are all aware of the importance of the micro and small enterprises in Indonesia,” the ambassador was quoted as saying in a statement that ANTARA received here Sunday.

Through the NSLIC project, Canada has been supporting micro and small businesses across Indonesia with total beneficiaries of approximately 5,278 business units, ranging from farmer groups, cooperatives, to micro and small enterprises that provide jobs to 71,376 individuals.

MSMEs play an important role to the Indonesian economy. As many as 97 percent of the workforce in Indonesia work in the MSME sector and this sector contributes 61 percent to GDP.

However, one of the most affected sectors by the COVID-19 pandemic is MSME.

Based on the study report of the University of Indonesia’s Faculty of Economics and Business Institute for Economic and Social Research (LPEM FEB UI) and UNDP in September 2020, the highest increase in unemployment occurred in the MSME sector. Nine out of 10 MSMEs in Indonesia experienced a decline in demand for their products during the pandemic.

In addition, Secretary of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs Susiwijono Moegiarso said the Job Creation Law mandated the convenience, protection, and empowerment of MSMEs through an integrated management of MSMEs, MSME participation in public infrastructure, ease of business licensing, legal assistance and assistance services, convenience facilitation of financing and fiscal incentives, as well as training and assistance in the use of bookkeeping systems/applications.

All these facilities could hopefully encourage the growth of MSMEs in Indonesia which would affect job creation, he said.

“In this webinar, participants are expected to be able to broaden their knowledge by getting lessons from international best practices on increasing economic competitiveness taken from policies that have been implemented so far by several member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD),” Susiwijono said.

A report of Indonesia’s Banking Development Institute (LPPI) and Bank Indonesia revealed that the barriers to MSMEs are in the form of internal barriers (financial access, human resources, legality, and accountability) and external barriers (unsupportive business climate, lack of infrastructure support and access to raw materials as well as access to international markets).

Deputy for Population and Manpower of Bappenas Pungky Sumadi, Head of the Regional Development Planning Agency of Central Java Province Prasetyo Aribowo, Head of the Regional Development Planning Agency of East Belitung District Bayu Priyambodo, Policy Analyst of OECD Marco Marchese, Expert on SMEs Policy and Best Practices Greg Elms, and Founder of Archipelago (the Canada-based digital platform for Indonesia SMEs products) Liza Wajong joined the webinar as speakers in the presentation and discussion sessions.

Lessons learned from developed countries highlighted the importance of utilizing digital technology, coordination between stakeholders, and coordination between levels of government, both central and regional.

Source: Antara News

The Indonesian Government’s COVID-19 Handling Task Force announced on Sunday that that as many as 119,662,248 Indonesians have received their first shots of COVID-19 vaccines.

According to the task force’s latest data, the number of first dose recipients across the country has increased to 119,662,248 after 510,430 people had their first vaccine jab on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the number of those having fully been vaccinated against the virus rose by 408,295, bringing the cumulative number of second dose recipients to 73,698,983 as of Sunday.

In addition to that, the number of the third dose or ‘booster’ vaccine recipients, mainly health workers, rose by 3,795 to touch 1,134,177.

The Indonesian Government has targeted to inoculate 208,265,720 citizens in a bid to achieve herd immunity.

Earlier, the spokesperson for COVID-19 vaccination at the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarimizi, informed that the country had received 312,335,760 vaccine doses in total, both in the form of bulk and finished products.

“Regions with low vaccination coverage should intensify vaccinations to reach 50 percent by November 2021,” she said.

The first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Indonesia in March 2020. According to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), as of October 31, 2021, at least 4,244,358 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the country, while 4,088,635 people have recovered, and 143,405 people have succumbed to the deadly coronavirus.

As one of the efforts to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indonesian Government launched a nationwide vaccination program on January 13, 2021. President Joko Widodo was the first vaccine recipient under the program.

The central government is aiming to vaccinate at least 70 percent of the population by December 2021.

Source: Antara News

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and her Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, discussed the possibility of the two countries exploring cooperation for the recognition of COVID-19 vaccination certificates.

The two foreign ministers held talks on Friday ahead of the Group of Twenty (G20) Leaders Meeting in Rome, Italy.

“We spoke about the possibility of opening vaccinated travel lanes (VTL) soon and recognizing (each other’s) vaccination certificates to ensure safe travel,” Marsudi remarked while delivering a press statement virtually from Rome on Saturday. Both foreign ministers further discussed the COVID-19 situation in each other’s country wherein significant progress had been recorded.

Marsudi pointed to the sound handling of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia, with a positivity rate of below one percent and even 0.4 percent in the past few days.

“I also said India is one of the 19 countries whose tourists are allowed to visit Bali,” she affirmed.

She also called on India to ship the vaccines ordered by Indonesia without further ado.

Both foreign ministers also discussed Indonesia’s presidency of G20 next year. India, which will take over the G20 presidency from Indonesia in 2023, fully supports the latter’s presidency of the group and has agreed to be heedful of the interests of developing nations at the forum.

G20 represents over 80 percent of the world’s gross domestic product, 75 percent of the global trade, and 60 percent of the global population.

Regarding climate change, Indonesia and India have agreed on the importance of all countries staying committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with their obligation.

“We sincerely hope that the developed countries would be able to fulfill their commitments to funding support and technological transfer,” she noted.

Source: Antara News

Indonesia has received 819,600 doses of the Moderna vaccine from the Dutch government as of Saturday to support the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, an official has said.

“The Indonesian government expresses its highest appreciation and gratitude to allied countries that have helped in supporting vaccinations,” director general of information and public communication at the Communications and Information Technology Ministry, Usman Kansong, said in a press statement released on Saturday. The vaccines were the 108th batch to arrive in Indonesian and were received in the finished form, he informed.

Adding the Dutch consignment, the total number of vaccine doses received by Indonesia has reached 313,155,360, he said. The vaccines are from various brands and have been received in both finished and bulk forms, he added. The vaccines have been obtained through direct purchase and assistance from allied countries, he informed.

“The smooth arrival of vaccines has made efforts to accelerate and expedite the vaccination program more optimal,” Kansong remarked.

In addition to ensuring the availability of vaccine stocks, the government is trying to expedite vaccinations by educating the public, he said. In particular, it is making efforts to counter false news or hoaxes about the COVID-19 vaccine, he added.

He said that these hoaxes have stalled the vaccination process in some areas. This is because false news exaggerating the effects of the vaccines has fueled concerns among the people, he explained. He stressed that all COVID-19 vaccines administered in the country have been deemed safe, efficacious, and permissible by the National Agency of Drug and Food Control. He said he expected people who have not received vaccinations to immediately get inoculated.

Those who have been vaccinated must also encourage their families and people around them to get the shot, he added. This is in line with the government’s measures to raise the vaccination rate in the regions as well as to anticipate the third wave of COVID-19, he said.

The government has also urged people to continue to follow the health protocols and remain vigilant to avoid a new wave of COVID-19 cases, he added.

Source: Antara News