Day: December 15, 2021

Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi lauded Japan’s commitment to realizing the operations of the Car Terminal in a bid to optimize the utilization of Patimban Port.

“I am very happy to meet to discuss the operational readiness of the Car Terminal. Although some challenges were earlier encountered during the discussions, I laud the professionalism and commitment shown by the Japanese government and TTC to provide the best for the Patimban Port development project,” the minister delivered his statement here on Wednesday.

The minister welcomed Japanese Ambassador to Indonesia, Kanasugi Kenji, to discuss the operational readiness of the Car Terminal at Patimban Port.

The operational inauguration of the Car Terminal is planned on December 17, 2021, after its management is handed over from Pelindo to the PT Pelabuhan Patimban Indonesia (PPI) Consortium and Toyota Tsusho Corporation (TTC).

The minister spoke of the Japanese administration’s interest in participating in other infrastructure projects, such as the Proving Ground project located at the Bekasi Roadworthiness Testing and Motor Vehicle Certification Center.

“The success of the Patimban Project will be an important consideration for us, due to TTC’s plan to participate in the Proving Ground project,” Sumadi added.

Japanese Ambassador, Kanasugi Kenji, noted that his administration was committed to maximizing the utilization of Patimban Port in order to attract investment from automotive companies.

“We expect that Patimban Port that has been built can be successful and contribute to economic growth in Indonesia,” Kenji remarked.

Patimban Port will be the start of a new industrial and urban area in West Java called Rebana (Cirebon, Subang, Patimban and Kertajati) Metropolitan. It covers six districts and Cirebon City, with the Patimban Port area and Kertajati Airport as its hub of development.

The meeting were also attended by Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Rachmat Gobel, Secretary General of the Transportation Ministry Djoko Sasono, Acting Director General of Sea Transportation Arif Toha, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Chief Representative Ogawa Shigenori and Representative Suzuki Hideyuki, as well as representatives from TTC Division CEO TTC Yasuhiro Nagai, and TTC President Director Mitsuru Yanase.

Source: Antara News

The Finance Ministry’s Fiscal Policy Agency head, Febrio Kacaribu, projected a positive trend on the national export-import performance after 19 months of consecutive surplus on the national trade balance. The national export performance will increase following commodity price hikes and global demand increase, while domestic activities would stimulate import activity, he said.

“The government will continue to enact export-friendly policy by enhancing efficiency and economic competitiveness, increasing the value of export commodities, and augmenting the national industry by infrastructure and technology development,” Kacaribu stated in Jakarta Wednesday.

The authority will also strive in expanding the market accessibility by promoting national commodities in international forums and in bilateral or multilateral relations to enhance Indonesia’s involvement in the global trade, the agency head said.

“The government will encourage exports by continuing export development strategy implementation and promoting Indonesia tourism,” he noted.

Indonesia’s balance of trade has recorded a cumulative US$34.32 billion surplus for the last 19 months, with the surplus in November 2021 alone reaching US$3.51 billion, the agency head informed.

Kacaribu highlighted that the cumulative US$209.16 billion export value recorded from January until November 2021 was the highest since the 2000 period.

Besides the increase in main commodities’ price and volume, he said that positive growth in the manufacture and mining sectors is also causal to the increasing export performance.

Moreover, the positive trend in the import performance is triggered by the increasing demand for oil and gas, consumption commodities, and production and capital material, the agency head continued.

“Increasing activity in the production sector is indicated by the increase of production and capital materials. The cumulative import value from January to December 2021 has surpassed the annual import value recorded in 2020,” Kacaribu noted.

Source: Antara News

The National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) will build various research facilities in 2022 to complement numerous research infrastructures, an official from the agency stated.

“We will continue to focus on completing work to build national strategic research facilities next year,” Head of BRIN Laksana Tri Handoko stated during the Year-End Webinar and BRIN 2021 Journalists and Media Awards here, Wednesday.

In 2022, the agency is planning to build several research facilities in Cibinong, West Java, specifically a level-3 animal biosafety laboratory facility and a laboratory of the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) standards for producing vaccines.

Subsequently, in Lampung, BRIN will build a Strategic Local Mineral Processing Laboratory Facility based on low-cost and zero-waste technology and an Incubation Building and Integration Laboratory for Data Services and Remote Sensing Information.

Meanwhile, in Biak, Papua, the agency is planning to build an Earth Station Facility for Controlling and Receiving Satellite Data.

In addition, BRIN will focus on building research vessels to meet the requirements of a research vessel in the country.

BRIN will also continue to increase the utilization of research and innovation in the community by bolstering cooperation in the utilization of research and innovation with the industry, with the objective of intensifying collaboration between research and innovation producers and users.

Handoko stated that as an integrated research institution, the National Research and Innovation Agency has various schemes for improving human resource competence as well as utilizing the existing infrastructure.

BRIN continues to improve its human resources with postgraduate and doctoral education backgrounds, develop its research and innovation human resources’ competencies, and conduct functional and professional development of the agency’s research and innovation human resources.

Source: Antara News

Government investment in state-owned enterprises (BUMN) and public service agencies (BLU) reached Rp695.6 trillion during the period from 2005 to 2021, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has said.

“This government investment has mainly accelerated since 2015, when the Nawacita program asked many state-owned enterprises to conduct various development activities, especially in the infrastructure sector,” she said during a meeting with Commission XI of the House of Representatives here on Wednesday.

She revealed that the government gave Rp361.3 trillion or 51.8 percent of the total investment to BUMN and Rp334.3 trillion or 48.13 percent to BLU.

For more than 15 years, state-owned enterprises’ investment was allocated for three purposes, she said. A total of Rp3 trillion was provided for the establishment of the enterprises, which comprised financing and guaranteeing infrastructure (Rp2 trillion) and housing financing (up to Rp 1 trillion), she elaborated.

The second purpose for which investment was provided to state-owned enterprises was restructuring, Indrawati said.

A total of Rp12.7 trillion was invested in state-owned companies that had experienced difficulties, such as PT Dirgantara Indonesia, which received Rp3.99 trillion; PT Geo Dipa Energi, which received Rp440 billion; PT Garuda Indonesia, Rp1 trillion; and PT. Pupuk Iskandar Muda Rp1.34 trillion, she informed.

“In the future, I will request the Directorate General of State Assets to evaluate this restructuring,” she said.

The third purpose was to improve the performance of state-owned enterprises, the minister said. As much as Rp 345.6 trillion was invested for the purpose and covered export (Rp23.7 trillion), microcredit (Rp24.01 trillion), food sovereignty (Rp11.45 trillion), and infrastructure and connectivity development (Rp184.17 trillion), she added.

It also included Rp56.31 trillion allocated for energy independence, Rp12.3 trillion for housing financing, Rp15.73 trillion to increase strategic industries, and Rp12.83 trillion to improve social security (BPJS), she said.

She also detailed the purpose behind investing in public service agencies: Rp1.5 trillion was spent on optimizing state assets, Rp81.11 trillion on developing human resources, Rp6.3 trillion on strengthening international cooperation, and Rp245.4 trillion on financing support.

Financing support for public service agencies financing was provided in the form of housing financing (Rp66.7 trillion), infrastructure and connectivity development (Rp137.1 trillion), energy independence (Rp10.63 trillion), and the provision of microcredit (Rp30.96 trillion).

Source: Antara News