Day: January 11, 2022

Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan met with Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) Hagiuda Koichi on Tuesday to discuss cooperation in green energy, fisheries, environment, and petrochemical industries.

At the meeting, which took place at his office here, Pandjaitan also sought investment from Japan in the construction of hydroelectric power plants in North Kalimantan, which can produce 11 thousand MW of electricity.

“In December 2021, President Jokowi (Joko Widodo) has inaugurated a groundbreaking green industrial park of 30 hectares,” the coordinating minister told Koichi, according to a written statement released here on Tuesday.

Indonesia has changed a lot in the last seven years, he observed. The country’s development is almost evenly distributed in the western and the eastern regions, he added.

Pandjaitan told Koichi that the development of downstream industries is the current investment focus of Indonesia, which is mainly centering its attention on stainless steel, a component for producing lithium.

He also assured that Indonesia has a considerable stock of nickel ore with a total upstream production capacity of up to 12 million tons per year.

“Downstream industries have changed Indonesia’s economic structure, such as reducing dependence on raw commodities,” he added.

The coordinating minister also proposed that the two countries create a scheme for technical discussions to intensively converse about points of cooperation.

Meanwhile, Koichi thanked the Indonesian government for the release of a coal transport ship. He also welcomed the discussion proposal that will involve the government and the private sector.

He then outlined the development of Japanese investment in the ammonia industry in Bintuni Bay, West Papua, stating that the project has reached the feasibility study stage.

Koichi also expressed hope for further cooperation with Indonesia in battery development for solar power plants as well as a closer relationship in the future.

Source: Antara News

The phasing out of 3G mobile services in Indonesia is still being reviewed, telecommunications standards coordinator at the Ministry of Communication and Informatics, Indra Utama, has said.

The phaseout is still being reviewed because there are still several areas in Indonesia that do not have 4G Internet access, Utama informed here on Tuesday.

“The 3G network can already be served by 4G services. If both co-exist, it will be superfluous for the operator. However, we also have to look at which areas (still need 3G connections),” he explained.

Utama cited data showing that 70,870 of 83,218 villages in Indonesia already have 4G networks. Meanwhile, 12,548 villages do not have 4G services, he added

Moreover, at least 9,113 villages are located in Indonesia’s outermost, remote, and underdeveloped (3T) regions and the rest 3,435 are non-3T, he pointed out.

Currently, 3G Internet access is still being provided in areas that are not served by 4G, he informed.

“If the 4G network is not available yet, that means they still need 3G, and it will be maintained until 4G reaches those regions,” he explained.

Meanwhile, cellular operator Telkomsel’s GM of network strategic roadmap, Christian G. Gustiana, said that the transition from 3G to 4G is necessary because many users are not comfortable accessing the Internet using 3G services.

“We have to do it. It is inevitable because the users are no longer comfortable. It is an improvement that needs to be made,” Gustiana stressed.

Earlier, Minister of Communications and Informatics, Johnny G Plate, had asked mobile operators to gradually discontinue 3G networks.

“3G is slow in data communication but 4G is faster. I ask 3G to be gradually phased out and changed into 4G,” Plate said.

Source: Antara News

Indonesia will allow coal export to resume starting Tuesday, Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said.

The decision came after domestic supply has been fulfilled, amid protest from Japan and South Korea as the commodity is urgently needed during the winter season.

“We will gradually see starting from Wednesday,” an online media portal quoted him as saying, adding “several ships off the coast will be verified tonight and release tomorrow (Tuesday).”

The domestic market mechanism on coal production states that 25 per cent of coal production must be sold to government utility company, PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PT PLN).

The month-long coal export ban for January was imposed earlier this week after coal stocks fell to a low level in several power-generating plants run by PT PLN.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

Indonesia and Japan have agreed to enhance cooperation in innovation and sustainable economic development through the Public-Private Track 1.5 Initiative forum.

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto agreed to the cooperation proposal during a meeting with Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry Hagiuda Koichi in Jakarta.

“Indonesia is always ready to cooperate with the Japanese government to maximize the great potential of cooperation between the two countries,” said Hartarto in an official statement issued here on Tuesday.

Under the Public-Private Track 1.5: Japan Indonesia Co-Creation Partnership for Innovative and Sustainable Economic Society, the two countries will enhance cooperation in regional and global supply chains, infrastructure development, digital economy, human resource development, and sustainable industry, which is a priority for Indonesia’s development, the minister informed.

The bilateral forum is also expected to promote the development of the digital economy and Indonesia’s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which have grown to become the main supporting sector of the national economy, with a contribution of more than 60 percent to gross domestic product (GDP), Hartarto said.

MSMEs also absorbed more than 90 percent of the workforce in 2020, he noted.

He further noted that the digital economy sector has also made an important contribution to Indonesia, he said. The value of Indonesian e-commerce is projected to continue to increase to US$32 billion by 2025, with an annual growth rate of 54 percent.

During their meeting, Hartarto and Koichi also discussed opportunities for cooperation during Indonesia’s 2022 G20 Presidency, which is themed “Recover Together, Recover Stronger”.

Hartarto appealed to the Japanese Government to cooperate and support Indonesia’s initiatives to make the agenda of the Indonesian G20 Presidency a success.

They also discussed access to trade between the two countries, as well as increasing cooperation in the region, especially in ASEAN and Indo-Pacific countries’ forums.

The total trade between Indonesia and Japan in January–November 2021 reached US$28.5 billion, an increase of 31 percent compared to US$21.7 billion in the same period of 2020, Hartarto said.

Meanwhile, Japanese investment in Indonesia during the period from January to September 2021 reached US$1.7 billion through 6,794 projects, making Japan the fourth largest investor in Indonesia, he noted.

During the meeting, Hartarto also congratulated Koichi on his appointment as Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry. Hartarto said he is optimistic that the bilateral relationship between Indonesia and Japan will be stronger in the future, especially in infrastructure development where Indonesia and Japan have been involved in many collaborations.

“Some of Indonesia’s main infrastructure has been built in collaboration with Japan, including the construction of the Jakarta MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) and Patimban Port. I believe that the new dialogue will be able to further strengthen and expand bilateral cooperation in this sector,” Hartarto remarked.

Source: Antara News

Indonesian authorities, said, the country will resume coal export in phases, starting from tomorrow, with dozens of ships carrying coal cleared to depart.

Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, told a press conference yesterday that, the official regulation to lift the coal export ban was being finalised.

The world’s largest thermal coal exporter, imposed on Dec 31, 2021, a policy to ban coal exports for the entire month of Jan this year, to avert a looming power crisis in the country, that could lead to widespread blackouts.

The government said, the crisis occurred because most mining companies had failed to meet their domestic market obligation, under which they must supply 25 percent of annual production to the local market.

Pandjaitan said, the ban would be lifted, as the country’s domestic coal reserves has gradually increased and “the situation was getting better.”

The decision to resume coal exports also came, after increasing pressures from Asian countries, including Japan, South Korea and the Philippines, that rely on Indonesia’s coal for their energy supplies, and protests from mining companies, as the ban would cause them to lose millions of U.S. dollars.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK