Day: January 2, 2023

Mayor of Solo Gibran Rakabuming Raka has said that his administration will utilize a US$15-million grant sanctioned by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government to promptly construct infrastructure in Solo City, Central Java.

“It is still in process. Yes, let’s just wait. Let’s take care of the administrative matters first,” Raka said here on Monday.

The grant will be received by the related ministry first and will be transferred to the regional budget (APBD) for Solo or Surakarta City.

“The important thing is that it is all set,” he added.

In addition to the grant, the Surakarta city government will also get funds for the construction of the Islamic Center from the UAE government.

According to the plan, the Islamic Center in Solo will be located in Gilingan village, Banjarsari sub-district, near the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, whose construction was also aided by the UAE.

Meanwhile, the US$15-million grant will be used for developing public facilities, such as road surface paving, and the Manahan Indoor Sports Complex (GOR) construction project.

“The US$15 million will be for uninhabitable houses, road paving, GOR Manahan Indoor (construction) which is stalled, then for integrated health posts, local health centers, and schools,” Mayor Raka said.

Earlier, on December 26, 2022, Raka made an official trip to the UAE to seek additional funds for the development of Solo City.

He also informed that the Surakarta city government will cooperate with the UAE government for a community poverty alleviation program.

“The target is 100 percent poverty alleviation with the UAE government’s help,” he said.

Without UAE’s assistance, poverty alleviation in Solo can be realized around 2025–2026, he added. However, with assistance, the poverty alleviation program can be completed in the next two years.

In the business sector, the grant will be used for traditional market development and providing business capital assistance to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

 

Source: Antara News

Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno has appealed to tourism players to continue participating in the Cleanliness, Health, Safety, and Environment Sustainability (CHSE) certification program voluntarily to increase the trust of tourists.

He made the appeal in view of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) revoking the community activity restrictions (PPKM) policy on December 30, 2022.

“The termination of PPKM is a breath of fresh air and very influential for the tourists (in making travel decisions), since it shows that COVID-19 condition in Indonesia is very under control,” the minister said during a virtual weekly briefing on Monday.

Still, his ministry has reminded the public and tourists to maintain their safety and health. In addition, the ministry will continue to promote the implementation of the CHSE certification program among tourism business actors.

CHSE 9042 has become a part of the Indonesian National Standard (SNI), which serves as a reference for managers and organizers of tourism activities to improve the quality of their services.

Uno said he expects the implementation of the CHSE standard to boost the trust of visitors.

“(The certification is a) part of the development of higher quality and sustainable tourism,” he remarked.

Later, there will be an audit and inspection conducted by the tourism affairs certification body for each CHSE certification holder regarding the implementation of the standard, he informed.

The community and local tourism institutions will also monitor the services of every CHSE-certified tourism business, destination, and product.

The minister informed that the chairperson of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI), Haryadi Sukamdani, has said that the PeduliLindungi application will still be used at hotels and restaurants as an anticipatory measure against any spike in COVID-19 cases.

Uno said he expects that the effectiveness of the application in preventing a surge in COVID-19 cases will improve.

“The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry, PHRI, and all local governments will keep strengthening vigilance even in the (current) transitional period (from pandemic) towards endemic through the revocation of PPKM,” he added.

 

Source: Antara News

Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration (PDTT) Minister Abdul Halim Iskandar has emphasized that the implementation of the ministry’s programs in 2023 will involve the use of information technology (IT).

“Our challenge in the future, which we must start (solving) at the beginning of 2023, is that we must implement IT-based development management, planning, evaluation, and governance,” he said at a joint assembly of the ranks of the ministry at the ministry’s headquarters here on Monday.

Conventional methods are no longer suitable for implementing the ministry’s programs, he observed.

Hence, he asked all civil servants and supporting officers of the ministry to increase their capacity so that they can adapt to the latest technology.

“We will start 2023 with a new (working) step — (namely) a new development and governance implementation with various (suitable) models, which we have applied and evaluated,” the minister informed.

Village development efforts must take advantage of sophisticated information technology, including by updating data as a reference to optimize the potential of villages and overcome the problems they face, he added.

“Development in disadvantaged areas is required. We cannot do all of it without using a sophisticated technological approach. I invite all (officers) to continue to improve ourselves and increase our capacity to meet nowadays demands,” he stated.

Still, the development and implementation of information technology will center on preserving native cultural practices to make the ministry’s programs a success, Iskandar said.

The attempt is in accordance with the implementation of the 18th village sustainable development goal (SDG), namely building dynamic village institutions and adaptive village culture.

“We must keep up with the changes and developments of the times, but we must remain down-to-earth. It means that whatever the (latest) development of global technology is, we must continue to develop (technology) in accordance with Indonesian cultural roots,” the minister said.

 

Source: Antara News

State-owned Enterprises (SoE) Minister Erick Thohir stated that state companies’ consolidation roadmap in the 2024-2034 period targeted the existing large number of state companies to consolidate to 30.

“Our road map for the 2024-2034 period aims for only 30 state companies. With the company cluster at 12, the companies would be only 30,” Thohir stated at a press conference here Monday.

The minister said that the decision to consolidate state-owned enterprises into 30 companies aims to develop state companies as the bulwark of the national economy and avoid excessive government monopolies in too many economic sectors.

“We will develop the ecosystem together with MSMEs, regional enterprises, and the private sector. If an extraordinary situation occurs, state companies, as the bulwark of the national economy, could then intervene,” the minister stated.

Meanwhile, the same consolidation roadmap targets the development of state companies as world-class companies to support the national economy, he remarked.

Earlier, the minister affirmed that state companies’ transformation, performed to improve and enhance SOEs’ performance, will continue despite leadership succession in 2024.

SOEs’ transformation successfully dispels negative public perceptions deriding government companies as inherently corrupt, as the consolidated income of Rp124.7 trillion recorded by SOEs in 2021, increased to Rp155 trillion by September 2022, proving their capabilities to compete economically, he remarked.

Thohir affirmed that his side will continue to create more breakthroughs, including by consolidating a large number of state companies to only 30 firms in order to realize healthy and dependable companies for national development.

Through the transformation to develop formidable state-owned enterprises, they could be the bulwark of the national economy to relieve economic growth discrepancy and realize the people’s economy, he remarked.

 

Source: Antara News