Day: December 27, 2021

Indonesian President Joko Widodo reviewed the Bali Bangkit Small and Medium Industry (IKM) exhibition at the Werdhi Budaya Art Center, Denpasar City, Bali Province, on Monday.

The head of state assessed that the products were of good quality.

“I really laud the exhibition. We can see very good quality works made by Balinese IKM actors,” he remarked.

The exhibition featured around 35 actors, showcasing various products, such as traditional clothes, folk crafts, traditional jewelries, and furniture.

The president also conversed with several IKM actors, including chair maker, woven clothes craftsperson, and painters.

On the occasion, Widodo was guided by Head of the Bali Provincial National Crafts Council (Dekranasda) Ni Luh Putu Putri Suastini Koster.

The president expressed optimism that one of the local products would be selected to become the souvenirs for the participants of the 2022 G20 meeting to be held in the province.

“We plan to showcase the products at the 2022 G20 event in addition to other products that will be selected from other provinces,” Jokowi added.

In addition to Bali Provincial Head Dekranasda, Jokowi was accompanied by Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Investment Minister/Head of Investment Coordinating Board Bahlil Lahadalia, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, and Bali Governor I Wayan Koster.

Before visiting the exhibition, the president officiated the groundbreaking of the Bali International Hospital in Denpasar City, Bali Province.

Source: Antara News

State-owned train operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) served 146,634 long-distance train customers, or an average of 48,878 customers per day during the 2021 Christmas holiday period on December 24-26, 2021.

“The number reached 60 percent of the passenger capacity provided or 242,466 seats,” the company’s Vice President of Public Relations, Joni Martinus, said in a statement here on Monday.

Martinus remarked that most passengers were recorded on the Jakarta – Cirebon, Jakarta – Purwokerto, Yogyakarta – Purwokerto, and Surabaya – Madiun shuttle routes.

He emphasized that KAI had consistently implemented strict health protocols to curb the transmission of COVID-19 in modes of transportation by limiting the passenger capacity to a maximum of 80 percent of the total seats.

“Furthermore, we ensure that only customers that have met the requirements are allowed to ride by train amid the 2021 Christmas and 2022 New Year holiday period in accordance with government regulations,” KAI’s vice president stated.

Meanwhile, 10,432 customers were unable to embark on trips during the 2021 Christmas holiday period due to various reasons.

Some 2,115 customers had not received the first and second vaccination doses; 5,373 customers under 12 years of age had not brought along the PCR test results; 36 customers were sick; while 2,908 others did not have the antigen test results.

“According to the Transportation Ministry’s Circular Letter Number 112 of 2021, from December 24, 2021, to January 2, 2022, prospective customers over the age of 17 years should have complete vaccination, while children under 12 years of age must bring negative results of the PCR test taken within 72 hours,” Martinus explained.

Meanwhile, for the 2022 New Year holiday period, 154,154 long-distance train tickets were booked, or an average of 17,128 tickets each day. The number is still below 30 percent of the provided capacity, which is 658,670 seats.

However, the corporation’s vice president projects the figure to still increase, as ticket sales are still ongoing.

Source: Antara News

Cooperation with South Korea is important for Indonesian micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to compete globally, Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Teten Masduki has said.

“Why? We (MSMEs) must begin to explore products based on creativity and technological innovation. South Korea is one of those (nations) that I think has very superior MSMEs that are included as a part of their national industrial supply chain,” he highlighted at the 2021 Dialogue of Entrepreneurial Innovation Competition Winners on Monday.

The event was the result of collaborative efforts between the Cooperatives and SMEs Ministry with the South Korea SMEs and Startups Ministry, he noted.

The cooperation built between Indonesia and South Korea will be beneficial for the development of MSMEs, especially for young entrepreneurs focusing on innovation, sustainability, and job creation, the minister said.

Indonesia has a wealth of potential natural and human resources and extraordinary, creative ideas, thus, it is not just a market country, he added.

The ministry is focusing on boosting the number of MSME players to reinforce the economic structure, he informed. To meet that end, it requires the development of innovation-driven enterprises that can become superior and sustainable high-growth enterprises, he said.

“We encourage business players to increase awareness of green economy that supports the Sustainable Development Goals with business principles—which implements the principles of people, profit, and planet,” he added.

Masduki also said that his ministry is encouraging startups to support the development of MSMEs. Startups are expected to serve as a catalyst and motor for the advancement of national MSMEs, he remarked.

In addition, startups are expected to be aggregators or a bridge for micro-enterprises to help them advance further, he said.

To create impactful startups that push the national economy, the contribution of stakeholders is essential so that the startups can define the future of national MSMEs, Masduki added.

“I urge all stakeholders here to create an integrated ecosystem of upstream and downstream value chains on the economic scale,” he said.

Source: Antara News

The Financial Services Authority (OJK) has urged people caught in the clutches of illegal online lenders to come forward and report them to the police so action can be initiated against the lenders without delay.

“For those who have borrowed from illegal online lenders and have been charged, please report them to the police,” chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the Financial Services Authority, Wimboh Santoso, said in Solo on Monday.

He said that so far, OJK has issued permits to 104 legal online loan services. He then asked the public to utilize the legal services instead.

“But, if there is an online loan that is legal (but) unruly, report it to the Financial Services Authority, and report those who violate the law to the police. Meanwhile, if there are illegal loans outside the 104 (registered to us), please report them to the Financial Services Authority. For those who have borrowed illegal loans and were charged (by them), please report them to the police, because it is illegal,” he added.

Until now, OJK is still disseminating information to the public so that they are not tempted to apply for online loans from parties who do not have permits, he informed.

Meanwhile, Surakarta Mayor, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, said his administration has been receiving reports related to online loans on a daily basis.

“There are many victims, there are several but not hundreds (per day). They complain about billing problems,” he informed.

He said that people have also complained about the misuse of their names or identity cards.

“(It has) been reported to the police, we are also coordinating with the Financial Services Authority. This (illegal lending) has gone down a bit, but reports are still coming every day,” he added.

Source: Antara News

The Job Creation Law can help resolve disputes involving palm oil businesses and communities, including indigenous people, that are often constrained by overlapping regulations, an official at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights has said.

“The Job Creation Law can help resolve regulatory overlapping so it does not happen again,” director general of human rights at the ministry, Mualimin Abdi, said at a webinar on ‘Uncovering the Impacts of the Palm Oil Industry Business’, which was streamed on the House of Representatives’ (DPR RI) Youtube channel here on Monday.

According to Abdi, overlapping regulations can result in legal uncertainty for involved parties. The involved parties comprise business players and indigenous peoples, including communities in the palm oil area that uphold indigenous law, he said.

“Disputes often occur because there are many owners in a single, wide land. Unfortunately, all the owners have (land ownership) certificates,” he pointed out.

Furthermore, legal uncertainty is often the cause of agrarian conflicts between indigenous communities and company owners who conduct activities, such as expansion of palm oil plantations, he explained.

“Indigenous people always get marginalized in the conflicts regarding the corporation’s activities,” he noted.

One of the government’s solutions for overcoming the underlying legal problems is the Job Creation Law, he explained. Through the law, the government hopes to simplify regulations, especially those related to large-scale businesses such as palm oil, he said.

“Nevertheless, the Constitutional Court has ruled Job Creation (law) as conditionally unconstitutional,” Abdi remarked.

In addition to overlapping legal problems, differences in the interpretation of regulatory norms are also a problem that Abdi said he and his team often come across.

“This is often a problem in palm oil business activities. Palm oil is a top product that requires spacious land, so it often collides with various matters, such as the indigenous peoples,” he explained.

Source: Antara News

Tax revenues until December 26, 2021, had reached Rp 1,231.87 trillion, or 100.19 percent of the target mandated in the State-Budget (APBN) for the 2021 fiscal year, according to Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati.

“Until December 26, 2021, the net tax revenue amounted to Rp1,231.87 trillion. This figure is equal to 100.19 percent of the target mandated in the 2021 APBN Fiscal Year of Rp1,229.6 trillion,” Indrawati said in an official statement on Monday.

The minister also lauded and thanked the work of the Directorate General of Taxes (DJP) for the achievement in 2021.

“Today is a historic day, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, while the economy is still recovering, we are able to achieve 100-percent tax revenue. I express my gratitude and appreciation to DJP,” she affirmed.

Indrawati remarked that the achievement of tax revenues in 2021 is a provision to fulfill the subsequent tasks of the Finance Ministry in future.

Furthermore, the DJP recorded that 138 Tax Service Offices (KPP) across Indonesia had exceeded the target of each KPP.

In addition, tax revenues in the seven Regional Offices (Kanwil) had also reached over 100 percent of the target set for each Regional Office.

The regional offices are the South Jakarta I DJP Regional Office, the Large Taxpayer DJP Regional Office, the Special Jakarta DJP Regional Office, the Central Sulawesi DJP Regional Office, the North Sulawesi DJP Regional Office, Gorontalo DJP Regional Office, and North Maluku DJP Regional Office.

The West Kalimantan DJP Regional Office, South and Central Kalimantan DJP Regional Offices, and North Jakarta DJP Regional Office were the other regional offices.

Director General of Taxes Suryo Utomo believes this success could not be separated from the participation of taxpayers and the hard work of over 46 thousand DJP employees to exceed the tax revenue target after 12 years.

However, Utomo noted that the euphoria regarding this success should not be excessive. In future, the challenge will be tougher since the APBN deficit exceeding three percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) is only permitted until 2022.

Concurrently, uncertainty triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic continues to loom large. State revenues are also demanded to be bigger to return the APBN deficit in 2023 back to below three percent of the GDP.

“Hence, the DJP will continue to evaluate the performance in 2021 to prepare for a better output in 2022. We will continue our good performance and strategies in 2022 while replacing poor performance and strategies,” he affirmed.

Source: Antara News