Day: December 2, 2021

The phenomenon of digitalization, as part of the current development of digital technology, is a great opportunity for accelerating the growth of sharia economics and finance in Indonesia, Vice President Ma’ruf Amin has said.

“It (digitalization) is a great opportunity for accelerating sharia economic growth in Indonesia, and it can accelerate the market inflow of sharia financial institutions and businesses,” he noted at the opening of the 2021 virtual annual meeting of the Indonesian Sharia Supervisory Board (DPS) on Thursday.

The digitalization process, which is now growing quite rapidly, will enter the economic and Islamic finance ecosystem in Indonesia, he said.

Therefore, Amin urged the DPS and all stakeholders in the Islamic economy and finance sector to prepare the infrastructure to encourage progress in the sector.

“It is important for all stakeholders to prepare the infrastructure and its superstructure more thoroughly,” he added.

He also appealed to all members and leaders of DPS to build their literacy in digital and information technology to carry out supervision related to sharia compliance in every sharia financial institution and business.

“As a party directly involved in supervising sharia compliance in every sharia financial and business institution, DPS must be well-informed regarding economic digitalization,” Amin, who also serves as the chairman of the Advisory Council of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), remarked.

The MUI National Sharia Council (DSN) is also expected to prepare a fatwa (decree) as a tool to help DPS in conducting the economic supervision of sharia financial institutions and businesses, he informed.

Meanwhile, deputy chairperson of the MUI, Anwar Abbas, asked all parties to commit to realizing universal values in various Islamic economic and financial activities.

“Members of the Sharia Supervisory Board (DPS) attend this meeting in order to gain knowledge to carry out their duties,” Abbas said.

The annual meeting of the DPS is being held for two days—Thursday and Friday—to increase the capacity, insight, and knowledge of DPS members in the sharia financial industry sector, he added.

All DPS members in Indonesia, MUI board members, heads of Islamic financial institutions, sharia activists, and representatives from related ministries and non-ministerial government institutions (K/L) are attending the meeting.

Source: Antara News

Trade Minister Muhammad Lutfi on Thursday reiterated Indonesia’s commitment to applying the sustainable economy concept despite the current uncertainty in global trade.

“Indonesia is responsible for not only Indonesian goods, but also forests as the foothold for the nation in the present and future times,” Lutfi said at the launch of PT Asia Pacific Rayon’s (APR) viscose rayon production for the domestic and global markets in Pangkalan Kerinci sub-district, Pelalawan district, Riau, according to a statement released here on Thursday.

Lutfi simultaneously launched the export of PaperOne, a brand of office paper produced by PT Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper (RAPP). The product is being exported to more than 75 countries, with the total export volume pegged at 755 thousand tons, he noted.

The event was attended by Vice Governor of Riau, Edy Natar Nasution, Pelalawan district head Zukri Misran, RGE managing director Anderson Tanoto, COO APRIL Eduward Ginting, and APR director Basrie Kamba.

The government will continue to maintain a favorable climate for trade to increase exports and recover the national economy, Lutfi assured.

“In addition, the Trade Ministry will continue to maintain a favorable trade situation to penetrate the global market and maintain a sustainable supply for the domestic market,” he added.

Meanwhile, Riau Vice Governor Edy Natar Nasution said the export marks the recovery of Riau’s economy.

“The presence of a rayon factory in Riau is expected to increase the province’s gross domestic product by 1.49 percent from the non-oil and gas sector and encourage small and medium industries in several business sectors involved in factory activities. This can have a multiplier effect on sustainable economic development in Riau,” Nasution elaborated.

APRIL COO Eduward Ginting said that despite pressures from the COVID-19 pandemic situation, APR’s viscose rayon production and marketing have shown a positive performance.

“The launching of viscose rayon product is a new achievement for APR in its effort to strengthen the national textile industry while reducing dependence on imports of textile raw materials,” he added.

Source: Antara News

Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin emphasized that the transformation of health technology is one of the focuses of the government, especially in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The president has given me three assignments. The first is to conduct vaccinations, overcome the pandemic, and conduct major reforms and transformations in the health sector — the transformation of health technology,” the minister stated during an online broadcast on Thursday.

Sadikin remarked that the presence of digital technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and the Internet of Things (IoT), would drastically change activities in the health sector.

“The help of AI, big data, and IoT, will drastically change the constellation of the health industry, starting from diagnosis to testing, and screening, everything will change, including the delivery,” the minister emphasized.

“Currently, we still see many players in the delivery (sector), such as telemedicine, teleconsultation. However, with the data integration that we plan to conduct later, it is hoped that thousands and even millions of CT scans and tens of millions of MRI data would be recorded,” he remarked.

Sadikin expressed optimism that the role of technology companies would help the public in accessing health services.

“We use cloud services and maps, and I am optimistic of better communication. For instance, we can also disseminate information, educate, and promote health (industry and services) through YouTube. Thus, (health information) would not only be obtained (by the public) through books and newspapers but also through Google and YouTube,” the minister remarked.

Earlier, at the 2021 Indonesia Digital Conference (IDC) last week, Sadikin noted that health technology had become one of the pillars in digital transformation that refers to the five targets of National Health Insurance.

For the development of health technology, the Ministry of Health is currently preparing three integration projects: Data System, Service Application, and Ecosystem Development.

Source: Antara News

West Nusa Tenggara’s Central Lombok District government has striven to develop independent tourism village destinations that meet international standards in order to boost the local residents’ livelihood.

“Central Lombok District has been designated as the host for the World Superbike (WSBK) and MotoGP international championships that means our district has become an international tourism destination,” Central Lombok District deputy head HM Nursiah stated at a local focus group discussion (FGD) in Praya, Central Lombok District on Thursday.

Nursiah urged tourism villages and their operators to improve and upgrade tourism villages that they operated to be at par with international standards, as the Mandalika Special Economic Zone – located in Lombok Island – has been designated as a super priority tourism destination by the government.

He urged tourism village operators to enhance their human resources to maximize the tourism villages’ business potential for the local economy and residents’ livelihood.

“The presence of tourism villages would be beneficial for improving the residents’ livelihood,” Nursiah stated.

Tourism village operators must maintain security and convenience in catering to tourists that visit their tourism villages, he stated.

Nursiah also reiterated the authority’s commitment to supporting tourism villages in the district by providing new facilities or education to tourism village operators.

“Tourism village development has been designated as a priority programme of Central Lombok District in our efforts to encourage economic recovery and growth during the COVID-19 pandemic,” he remarked.

Lombok Island and Central Lombok District, in particular, are renowned as popular tourism destinations in Indonesia, with natural wonders and tourism attractions at par with world-renowned tourism destinations, he affirmed.

Tourism villages developed in Central Lombok District offers natural wonders and cultural attractions to visitors, he remarked.

Source: Antara News

The growth of digital product innovations has been faster than that in consumer literacy, chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the Financial Services Authority (OJK), Wimboh Santoso, has said.

“However, this has not only happened in Indonesia; the same situation has occurred all over the world,” he remarked at the OJK-OECD Conference here on Thursday.

Therefore, OJK needs to achieve a balance between innovation, risk mitigation, and consumer literacy to ensure the protection of clients and increase financial inclusion, he said.

The level of financial inclusion in Indonesia has risen from 67.8 percent in 2016 to 76.2 percent in 2019, he noted.

However, regrettably, financial literacy has not grown as quickly, reaching just 38 percent in 2019, Santoso said.

For instance, consumer interest is high in cryptocurrencies and other new digital products emerging around the world that offer large investments and gains, he pointed out.

“However, this kind of investment is very risky because it has no fundamental value,” he opined.

According to Santoso, regulators across the world have deemed this a serious matter and argued that financial digital products can be used for money laundering activities.

Many regulators are facing challenges in raising consumers’ literacy, which would allow the community to better understand the products and services they use, he said.

“Even in a state-of-the-art digital financial transaction, consumers’ literacy needs to be improved. This is important to guarantee the safety of consumers, investors, and their financial transaction ambition,” Santoso added.

Financial literacy is key to preventing crimes in the digital finance world, according to Wahyu Budi Nugroho, a sociologist from Udayana University. It is important to reduce the risks of illegal online loan cases, he added.

Source: Antara News

Synergy between parties could help reach the target of enabling 30 million micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to make the digital transition by 2024, the Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Ministry has said.

“The expectation is that we could all synergize. Yesterday, we held a National Coordination Meeting (Rakornas) concerning Indonesia’s MSMEs and digital transformation,” Fiki Satari, an official from the ministry, said at an online media conference on Thursday.

“We certainly expect multi-national corporations, such as Google, to help in terms of insight and conditions, and we encourage MSMEs to enter the digital ecosystem and in accordance with the market needs,” he added.

Moreover, the government is encouraging digital service providers to help prepare the digital ecosystem from upstream to downstream, which could be optimally utilized by MSMEs, he informed.

He then urged MSMEs to make products using local commodities so they can compete in a broader market within the existing digital ecosystem.

“The government is also providing various financing alternatives to MSMEs, such as micro loan (KUR), which we have specifically designed based on MSMEs’ problems per sector,” he elaborated.

The government has decided to encourage 30 million MSMEs to undergo the digital transition by 2024. To meet the target, 6 million MSMEs need to go digital every year, he pointed out.

According to Satari, around 15.6 million, or 26 percent of MSMEs, have been connected to the digital space this year. This figure is relatively huge compared to last year, when it was pegged at 13 percent or 8 million MSMEs.

The government is also planning a digitalization program to bolster MSMEs’ competitiveness, he informed.

Satari has also urged entrepreneurs to implement the health protocols and get vaccinated, citing the emergence of the new COVID-19 variant in a number of countries.

Source: Antara News