Day: January 26, 2022

Indonesian President, Joko Widodo, and visiting Singaporean Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, signed agreements yesterday, on economy, travel bubbles and the extradition of fugitives.

At a press conference with Lee, after their meeting in Bintan city, Riau Islands province, Widodo said, the two leaders agreed to strengthen cooperation, to recover the economies of the two countries amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The meeting noted new investments worth 9.2 billion U.S. dollars, including those in the field of renewable energy, as well as, a construction of a logistics hub at Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta,” Widodo said, in a speech broadcast by his official YouTube account.

Singapore is Indonesia’s largest investor with an investment value of 7.3 billion U.S. dollars, from Jan to Sept last year, Widodo noted.

The two leaders also welcomed the signing of defence cooperation, reopening of quarantine-free cross-border travels in Batam and Bintan, extension of a bilateral extradition agreement from 15 to 18 years, and continuation of the Jakarta Flight Information Region (FIR) and Singapore FIR agreements.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno has asked the regional government of Central Sulawesi to take efforts to develop regional tourism that is geared towards economic recovery.

“Some of the interesting sub-sectors of the creative economy are culinary, craft, fashion, and there is also a growing film sub-sector in Central Sulawesi,” he noted at the Sapta Pesona Building, Jakarta, according to a press statement received here on Tuesday (January 25, 2022).

Uno said that he had visited Central Sulawesi several times and that the province is considered abundant in natural resources, with a plethora of tourist destinations and an extensive creative economy.

He expressed his target to return to Central Sulawesi with effective and efficient policies and programs.

“I myself have often been to Central Sulawesi, and apart from Palu, I haven’t had time to visit Poso. I will visit the Lake Poso festival in August 2022,” he disclosed.

He said that his ministry will conduct programs to improve the welfare of the public, create job opportunities, and empower micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

The efforts were in accordance with the goals of the Central Sulawesi government and directions by President Joko Widodo to reduce unemployment, poverty, as well as stabilizing prices in the region, he said.

“I believe that the community wants to (grow better), as soon as possible. This is what the people need so that the (entire) community can be evenly prosperous through tourism because tourism can provide opportunities for everyone, and it can create job (opportunities) six times faster than other industries,” he added.

Source: Antara News

Bank Indonesia (BI) believes the national economy will grow at a faster pace this year as compared to that in 2021.

The projection is contained in the Indonesian Economic Report published along with Bank Indonesia’s Annual Report and Indonesia Sharia Economic and Financial Report 2021.

“Under the Indonesian Economic Report, we convey our optimism in 2022 in detail. InsyaAllah (God Willing), the economy will perform better within the range of 4.7 percent to 5.4 percent,” BI Governor Perry Warjiyo stated in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Warjiyo forecast inflation to increase in 2022, albeit under control, to achieve the target of three percent, give or take one percent.

“The exchange rate will come under pressure this year. However, we have committed ourselves to maintaining the stability of the exchange rate in coordination with the Finance Ministry,” he remarked.

The BI governor further urged the banking industry to increase the amount of loans extended to the public.

Warjiyo forecast credit growth in 2022 to cross seven to nine percent.

“Let us increase the amount of credits and financing to help economic and business recovery that constitutes the power of our synergy, national economic policy synergy. Vaccination is a prerequisite,” he remarked.

He expressed gratitude to the government for its fast vaccination drive.

“InsyaAllah (God Willing), we will get the booster vaccination soon, so that the economic sector, fiscal and monetary stimuli, financing and reform in the real and financial sectors will soon open,” he remarked.

BI will direct its monetary policy this year towards keeping inflation under control and stabilizing the exchange rate that comes under increasing global pressure, he affirmed.

“With regard to four other policies, macroprudential, payment system, market deepening, economic and financial inclusion, green economy and international policy, we will coordinate with the government to push economic recovery,” he remarked.

Source: Antara News

The Ministry of Religious Affairs advised the Alms Institution, or LAZ, that alms distribution must increase the productive value of its recipients and not solely be limited to handing out essential commodities or cash aid.

“This is because essential commodities or cash will run out after the recipients return from the LAZ office,” Director of Alms and Waqf Empowerment at the ministry, Tarmizi Tohor, stated here on Wednesday.

Tohor pointed out that the main objective behind alms distribution is to improve the people’s standard of living in terms of the economy, education, social, and health aspects. Hence, alms should be aimed at alleviating poverty, he affirmed.

To achieve this goal, the Ministry of Religious Affairs has made several endeavors to develop productive alms programs, such as building platforms for waqf that have economic potential by providing access to capital, training, and mentoring for the recipients.

“Coaching is necessary, so this alms can turn the mustahik (recipient) into muzaki (giver),” he affirmed.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Religious Affairs will strengthen alms management resources through the sharia auditing program.

Based on his experience on managing an alms agency in a village, not many personnel working at LAZ understood auditing. He contended that this matter had lowered public confidence to distribute alms through LAZ.

“Alhamdulillah (Praise to be God), currently, LAZ has professional accountants, in addition to SKKNI or the National Standards for Work Competency that enhances the performance of alms management,” he explained.

Tohor also highlighted the Kampung Zakat or village alms program that had been running at 15 locations across Indonesia to empower people in the outermost, remote, and underdeveloped areas (3T).

Kampung Zakat is a program that offers benefits for the economic development of communities living in disadvantaged areas, he added.

Source: Antara News

Indonesia must continue to develop innovations in the maritime sector to achieve the national vision of global maritime axis by 2045, according to former minister of research and technology/head of National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) Bambang Brodjonegoro.

As the largest island country, with the second-longest coastline, Indonesia must harness its marine potential as the ultimate source of livelihood for driving its advancement, he noted.

“The idea of smart maritime development must be directed to bolster our efforts to achieve a sovereign, just, advanced, and prosperous Indonesia in 2045, the centenary of our independence,” Brodjonegoro stated during an online webinar on smart maritime and smart agriculture in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The maritime sector contributed merely 6.4 percent to the national economy in 2015, and Indonesia must strive to double the percentage to 12.5 percent by 2045 to achieve the global maritime axis vision by that time, he noted.

“The development must be focused on maritime connectivity, industrialisation of the fishery sector, and marine tourism,” the former minister affirmed.

Apart from boosting the maritime sector as the nation’s economic powerhouse, developing national human resources for the maritime sector is equally essential, he stressed.

“We must develop advanced maritime human resources through innovations in marine technology,” Brodjonegoro remarked.

He reiterated the significance of innovation-based development for boosting the nation’s economy and escaping from the middle-income trap.

“Innovation in the marine sector is essential because Indonesia’s territory mostly comprises the sea. Indonesia must also be able to sustain by making the most of its own marine industry capability and protecting its maritime territory,” the former minister stated.

Indonesia must also work towards honing its information technology capabilities for complementing development of the marine industry, he added.

“If we are not yet able to create the technology, at least we must optimise the use of technology to achieve efficiency in the maritime sector,” Brodjonegoro added.

Source: Antara News

The new national capital, Nusantara, will provide new spaces and opportunities for middle- and long-term investment in the future, the Ministry of National Development Planning’s deputy for economic affairs, Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti, has said.

“The capital relocation will not only provide opportunities for the government but also present new middle- and long-term investment opportunities and facilities,” she remarked during the Indonesia Economic Outlook event, which was broadcast online on Wednesday.

The capital relocation is intended to spread out economic opportunities to all Indonesian regions and avoid Java-centric economic development in the future, she noted.

“Investments and exports will be the key to economic recovery. This means the government must provide a proper playing field and facilities for investors to invest in Indonesia,” the deputy said.

The development of the new national capital in East Kalimantan is also an effort to bolster Indonesia’s mission of achieving a developed economy status by 2045, she added.

Apart from providing new investment opportunities, the new national capital is also intended to become a new benchmark for a smart, green, aesthetic, and sustainable national capital, developed to meet international standards, Widyasanti remarked.

“One of the factors that will contribute to economic activities in the new capital is infrastructure development in the capital and its periphery, which includes the development of basic, logistics, and supporting infrastructures,” the deputy stated.

The government has also conceived an economic development plan for the new capital and surrounding regions in East Kalimantan, which are projected to serve as supporting regions for Nusantara city, the official said.

Samarinda, the provincial capital, will serve as a sustainable development and renewable energy manufacture development center, while Balikpapan will support the new capital in the downstream production of oil and gas commodities to petrochemical products, she informed.

“As the new capital becomes the new development hub for the province and regions, it must provide new middle- and long-term investment opportunities that will create new jobs and bolster economic development,” Widyasanti said.

The deputy pointed out the six clusters of clean technology industry, integrated healthcare and pharmacy, sustainable agriculture, eco-tourism, chemical material industry, and low-carbon energy industry will be developed in the new capital’s periphery.

Source: Antara News