Mulyani meets OECD secretary-general on sidelines of G20 agenda

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani conducted a bilateral meeting with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Secretary-General Mathias Cormann on the sidelines of a G20 agenda in India.This bilateral meeting was held to discuss several priority agendas of Indonesia and the ASEAN in the finance track of India G20 in 2023, according to an official statement on Friday.

These agendas comprise the ASEAN Chairmanship and ASEAN+3 Co-Chairmanship 2023, Finance Track G20 2023, Inclusive Forum on Carbon Mitigation Approaches (IFCMA), and OECD Economic Survey of Indonesia 2023.

Mulyani noted in the statement that OECD is not a new partner for Indonesia, so they have a similar mission to boost prosperity and alleviate poverty in Indonesia and the world.

s a partner, OECD has frequently assisted Indonesia, such as by supporting Indonesia’s G20 Presidency last year, specifically in international taxation as well as supporting the G20 Ministerial Symposium on Tax and Development.

In addition, Indonesia and OECD have collaborated to hold the G20 Infrastructure Investors Dialogue in 2022.

Meanwhile, Indonesia proposed three Strategic Thrusts and three Priority Economic Deliverables (PED) for this year’s ASEAN presidency and Co-Chairmanship ASEAN+3 that were developed together by the Ministry of Finance, Bank Indonesia (BI), and Financial Services Authority (OJK).

These are directed toward ensuring inclusive economic recovery and growth and strengthening the resiliency of ASEAN’s stable and sustainable financial sector, including cooperation in the issues of climate change, energy transition, and digitalization.

In future, the minister expects that the cooperation between Indonesia and OECD would continue to be maintained, especially in realizing the vision of global prosperity.

ccording to the statement, Mulyani held a bilateral meeting with Indian Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman in Bangalore, India, on Thursday.

One of the goals of the meeting was to convey support to India’s G20 priority agendas.

Source: Antara News Agency

Expect IBEA to support renewable energy transition: Ministry

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Secretary general of the Energy and Mineral Resources MinistryRida Mulyanain a statement issued on Friday, said he expects the Indonesia Best Electricity Award (IBEA) to play a part in expediting the transition to renewable energy.The 2023 IBEA, an awards event for companies in the electricity sector, also seeks to encourage the green energy transition in Indonesia, he added.

ccording to Mulyana, around 86 percent of the energy used in Indonesia comes from fossils, while the remaining 14 percent is derived from new and renewable energy.

Meanwhile, energy fossil fuels used in Indonesia are also dominated by coal, which accounts for 66 percent of the fuel consumption, and it is also the largest contributor to climate change.

“To fight against the issue (fossil energy dominance), the cooperation of all parties is necessary,” he said while concluding the 2023 IBEA event on Thursday.

The parties include the government, SOEs (state-owned enterprises), private sector, academicians, the media, and the broader public, he added.

Managing director of Listrik Indonesia, Irwadhi Marzuki, said that the 2023 IBEA event served as a momentum for all electricity and energy sector entrepreneurs to support the government’s effort to reduce carbon emissions.

This effort is being realized through the new and renewable energy transition.

“The 2023 IBEA gave the highest appreciation to companies and individuals that showed their commitment to developing the country through the electricity and energy sector,” he explained.

The highlight of the 2023 IBEA was the selection of winners.

The 2023 IBEA jury board, which comprised 19 experts from the electricity and energy sector, conducted their final evaluation of 30 companies that became the 2023 IBEA finalists through a presentation during a symposium.

The board of juries decided the winners in five featured categories: Best Electricity Supporting Company, Best OandM Company, Best EPC Company, and Best Power Plant Company (Non-Renewable Energy).

Moreover, a special award as well as an appreciation were presented by Listrik Indonesia Magazine.

One of the recipients of the appreciation was the president director of state-owned electric company PT PLN (Persero), Darmawan Prasodjo, who was named “Innovation Leader in Implementing Energy Transition in Indonesia.”

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Source: Antara News Agency

Committed to helping Palestine create decent jobs: Govt

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Indonesian government has declared its commitment to helping realize economic growth, decent jobs, and social justice in Palestine.In a statement issued on Friday, Manpower Minister Ida Fauziyah said that in order to realize all three, her ministry has stressed three important actions.

The first is strengthening the manpower market management, while developing active manpower market policies and programs.

This would help create manpower and decent jobs that can be accessed by more people, she explained during the “Minister of Manpower Intervention on the High-Level Partners’ Meeting” in Amman, Jordan, on Thursday.

Realizing this requires improving job seekers’ motivation and incentives, improving work motivation, proper job support, and expansion of work opportunities, she noted.

She added that sustainable monitoring and evaluation of policy and program impacts is also necessary to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of policies that meet the demands of various groups.

ccording to the minister, the second action is aligning education to the demands of the manpower market. The manpower market, which shifts rapidly, requires striking a balance between stakeholders’ needs and goals.

Meanwhile, the third action concerns improving the resiliency and capacity of the private sector to improve productivity and create proper employment opportunities for job seekers, particularly youngsters and women.

The Indonesian government once again stressed its readiness to cooperate with the Palestinian government and supporting partners in exploring cooperation methods.

This is aimed at helping realize decent jobs and inclusive growth for all, specifically for Palestinians.

During the event, Fauziyah also informed that her ministry is discussing potential work opportunity expansion in Jordan for Indonesian migrant workers in the garment sector.

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Source: Antara News Agency

Minister calls for expanding Indonesia-Japan cooperation

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Arifin Tasrif, during the commemoration of Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s 63rd Birthday, here, Thursday, expressed Indonesia’s keenness to expand cooperation with Japan in new areas.”I believe that several opportunities still exist that can be seized by both countries. I expect that we can explore and intensify cooperation in new areas,” he affirmed.

Japan is a country, with the third-biggest economy in the world according to the gross domestic product (GDP), and continues to play a significant role throughout 2022, he stated.

Japan is also the fourth-biggest economy based on its purchasing power parity while also playing a role in the international community as a main source of donation and capital in the world, he noted.

Japan has always been an important partner for Indonesia in various areas, both at bilateral and multilateral levels, he remarked.

Indonesia and Japan are able to explore and be involved in several areas of cooperation that benefit the two countries, he noted.

The dynamic relationship between Indonesia and Japan as well as their people also allows the two countries to realize world peace, stability, and prosperity.

Moreover, Japan is Indonesia’s partner in investment and trade and became the country’s fourth-biggest foreign investor in 2022, he highlighted.

The total value of bilateral trade between Indonesia and Japan in 2022 had reached US$42 billion, or 29 percent higher as compared to the value in 2021.

On account of the cooperation in several areas that has been developed, Tasrif believes that the two countries can still forge cooperation in new fields.

He deemed that 2023 is an important year for the two countries as, beyond marking the 65th anniversary of bilateral relations between Indonesia and Japan, it also marks 50 years of partnership between the ASEAN and Japan.

Moreover, 2023 is also the year when Indonesia became the ASEAN chair while Japan is leading the G7 Summit.

“This is a historical momentum for the two countries,” he remarked.

Thus, this year offers the right momentum for Indonesia and Japan to strengthen partnership and intensify cooperation in various fields, he said.

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Source: Antara News Agency

W Sumatra invites investment in renewable energy from Norway

Several of these companies declared their interest and will come to West Sumatra to continue the discussion and to conduct location survey to explore the investment plan.

Padang, West Sumatera (ANTARA) – The West Sumatra government sought investment from Norwegian investors for managing the province’s renewable energy potential during a business meeting held on February 16, 2023, in Oslo, Norway.”We have many renewable energy potentials such as geothermal, micro hydropower plant, solar cell, to ocean wave energy. Investors from Norway are interested in this,” Deputy Governor of West Sumatra Audy Joinaldy informed here on Friday.

“Several of these companies declared their interest and will come to West Sumatra to continue the discussion and to conduct location survey to explore the investment plan,” he added.

The companies mostly showed interest in investing in Mentawai Islands, which still have major renewable energy potential.

Mentawai is a tourism region that still requires electricity supply as the end result of renewable energy management.

Meanwhile, other regions in West Sumatra, on average, already have surplus electricity, thus their renewable energy development potential is not deemed too significant.

This is especially important since there is a regulation on energy offtake managed by state-run electric company PLN. Thus, investment opportunities will also depend on PLN’s willingness to purchase energy produced by the investors.

Head of the West Sumatra Administration BureauDoni Rahmad Samulo, who joined the Norway delegation, said that the province is highly dedicated to attracting investment from abroad to support the regional economy.

There are cooperations that have been undertaken with various parties to develop the potential that exists in the region.

The business meeting in Norway was conducted at Aker Solution and was joined by several companies such as Norfund, NORAD, Norwegian Solar, NPC Group, Ocean Sun, Scatec Solar, and Tinfos, a Norwegian investment capital company.

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Source: Antara News Agency

Economy recovery bolsters performance of Indonesia’s capital market

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Looking at the rapidly growing trend of its investment portfolio last year, the Indonesian capital market has become one of the benchmarks for national economic growth.t the end of 2022, the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) Composite (IHSG/CSPI) reached a level of 6,850.26, an increase of 4.09 percent compared to the beginning of 2022 (year-to-date/ytd).

IHSG even set a new record last year by breaching a level of 7,318.02 on September 13.

Meanwhile, Indonesia’s market capitalization was recorded at Rp9,529.86 trillion at the year-end and reached an all-time high of Rp9,600 trillion (around US$629.3 billion) on December 27, 2022.

By the end of last year, 59 companies had conducted an initial public offering (IPO) and listed their shares on the IDX, taking the total number of companies listed on the IDX to 825.

The total funds raised from IPO shares reached Rp33.06 trillion last year–the highest level since IDX’s privatization in 1992.

Meanwhile, the number of investors in the Indonesian capital market increased by 37.5 percent year-on-year (yoy) to 10.3 million. Compared to 2017, the number showed an almost ninefold increase.

The Director of Corporate Assessment at IDX, I Gede Nyoman Yetna, said that the high number of listed companies and the rapid growth of retail investors were thanks to the government’s consistency in maintaining the trend of economic growth over the past two years amid post-pandemic recovery efforts.

Head of the Finance Ministry’s Financial Sector Policy Center, Adi Budiarso, said that Indonesia recorded one of the most resilient economic performances in 2022.

The Indonesian economy managed to grow 5.31 percent yoy in 2022 from 3.69 percent yoy in 2021. This achievement met the government’s target of 5.3 percent.

With the improving economic conditions post-pandemic, the 2023 state budget (APBN) has returned to the path of fiscal discipline by capping the budget deficit at 3 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

Budiarso said the government is committed to increasing economic productivity, which can help maintain the economic recovery momentum, considering that the fear of recession is still looming large this year.

He said that the efforts to mitigate risks are carried out by controlling deficit and debt, as well as supporting fiscal reforms.

ccording to Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto, over the past year, the state budget has acted as a shock absorber that has helped control inflation and maintain purchasing power.

“This can be seen in Indonesia’s economic growth rate, which ranked second in the G20 countries, below Saudi Arabia,” Hartarto highlighted.

P2SK Law

This year, the capital market is expected to continue its growth trajectory with the sustained and robust national economic recovery. Moreover, the government has issued the Financial Sector Development and Strengthening (P2SK) Law.

Luthfy Zain Fuady, Director of Capital Market Regulation at the Financial Services Authority (OJK), emphasized the importance of implementing the P2SK Law as the regulatory outlook for the capital market in 2023.

“We realize that the details in the P2SK Law require coordination between ministries and institutions, for example, in the implementation of carbon trading, the development of financial derivative products, and the management of technological innovations in the financial sector,” Fuady explained.

The P2SK Law covers consumer protection, with the Security Investor Protection Fund (SIPF) expected to ensure the safety of transactions in the capital market.

OJK is also seeking to cooperate with law enforcement institutions to crack down on financial crimes.

Nevertheless, the growth of the capital market sector needs to be supported by the trust of its users, Chairperson of the Indonesian Fintech Association (AFTECH), Pandu Sjahrir, said.

“Industry players need to increase public trust to prevent a false sense of confidence,” Sjahrir added.

Financial crimes have a long-term impact on public perception, for instance, they can trigger insecurity or even antipathy against certain financial products and capital markets.

Therefore, Sjahrir said, regulators need to have the capacity to tackle finance-related crimes, and one of the tools to do that is the P2SK Law.

He deemed the P2SK Law comprehensive enough to regulate the high dynamics of the financial sector, such as in the capital market.

Deputy Minister of Finance, Suahasil Nazara, informed that there are five pillars of focus of the P2SK Law.

The first is strengthening financial service institutions; second, increasing the trust of investors, consumers, and financial service users; and third, promoting long-term fund accumulation.

The fourth pillar is state protection for financial product consumers, and lastly, digital financial sector literacy and inclusion.

Measures to protect consumers have included the opening of the long-awaited insurance policy guarantee program as a mandate of the Insurance Law enacted in 2014.

Through the P2SK Law, financial institutions such as Bank Indonesia (BI), OJK, and the Deposit Insurance Corporation (IDIC/LPS) will also be strengthened by additional functions and mandates.

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Source: Antara News Agency

President sets location for football training center in Nusantara City

Jakarta (ANTARA) – President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), during a review of the development area in Nusantara City on Friday, set the location where a center for football training would be established.In a video broadcast by the Presidential Secretariat’s YouTube channel on Friday, the head of state was seen conversing with Head of the Nusantara City Authority Bambang Susantono and State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir, who also served as Head of the National Football Association for the 2023-2027 period.

“This is a training center for the National Football Association, for football, for the national team. There will be eight football fields here,” the president noted after pointing to a spot on the map for the development of Nusantara City.

The National Football Association head positively responded to the president’s statement and commended him for the plan.

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Thohir noted that FIFA, the global authority on football, would also aid in the funding for the training center.

“It is a great honor that Mr (President) has decided for the training center development in the middle of the city. This is something that we ensure will be completed at the earliest because funding from FIFA has been prepared, and what remains is the matter of the plot,” he elaborated.

Moreover, he spoke of his intent to set aside time to visit the plot for the training center along with the national team’s coach, Shin Tae-yong.

The president targeted that development of the training center would be completed in a year at most.

The arrival of leaders and high-ranking officials of the National Football Association to Nusantara City is a follow-up to their meeting with President Jokowi on Monday, February 20, after the association’s new executives for the 2023-2027 period were elected.

t that time, Thohir highlighted the president’s message that the government was committed to supporting development of the national football scene by providing infrastructure, including the training center in Nusantara City.

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Source: Antara News Agency

FIFA inspects Manahan Stadium’s renovation progress for U-20 World Cup

Solo (ANTARA) – Representatives from the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) reviewed the progress in renovation of Manahan Stadium in Surakarta, Central Java, Friday, which is one of the arenas for the U-20 World Cup in Indonesia.The team from FIFA comprised Sunny Kohli and Thomas, who were accompanied by the Indonesia FIFA U-20 World Cup Organizing Committee (Inafoc), representatives of the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI), and the National Police.

fter listening to the presentation from Nindya Karya, as the contractor, the entourage undertook a tour of the stadium area to view the progress in renovation.

ccording to Head of the Surakarta City Youth and Sports ServiceRini Kusumandari, FIFA’s visit aimed at inspecting Manahan Stadium that will be used to host the U-20 World Cup from May 20 to June 11, 2023.

“FIFA made the visit accompanied by Inafoc, PSSI, and the National Police to review the progress in grass repair work at Manahan Stadium,” she remarked.

Kusumandari noted that FIFA, during its first visit to Manahan Stadium in early January 2023, had provided recommendations regarding several improvements. During this February visit, it visited to check the realization or progress in terms of the improvements made.

“This has been presented by Nindya Karya, as the contractor, who informed that the progress in the stadium renovation work has reached 68.7-percent completion,” she stated.

She explained that several overhauls were in progress in the form of renovation of the gate to enable the players’ bus to enter directly into the stadium, the increase in the number of toilets in the stands for men and women, and the construction of stairs in the mix zone that has been completed.

In addition, the stadium grass will be renovated once the top-dress grass grows a little more. Once the grass grows, it can form the top-dress that will be installed around mid-March, she remarked.

“Special installation of grass is only done at Manahan Stadium as the main venue,” she added.

Kusumandari noted that the lighting inside the stadium had met the standard set by FIFA. However, the work for lighting outside the stadium had yet to be done. Several CCTV installations also need to be changed, with the progress achieved, so far, being 50 percent, she noted.

Since the progress in renovation has reached 68.7 percent, in plain view, almost all the recommendations have been implemented, such as anti-skid carpets that only need to be installed, she noted.

She estimates that the Manahan Stadium will be ready to host the U-20 World Cup in mid-March.

Meanwhile, after checking the progress in renovation at Manahan Stadium, the FIFA delegation headed straight to Bung Tomo Stadium in Surabaya and Bali.

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Source: Antara News Agency