Day: March 6, 2023

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno has urged foreign tourists to comply with all laws, regulations, and existing norms while on vacation in Indonesia.”We are very open to foreign tourists but they must comply with all laws, regulations, and all existing norms in Indonesia,” he stressed during the “Weekly Brief with Sandi Uno,” which was followed from Jakarta on Monday.

The minister also reminded business actors in Bali who are operating motorcycle rental businesses to remind their consumers to comply with traffic regulations, including not changing the license plates of rented motorbikes as some tourists did in Bali.

ccording to him, business owners who do not comply or fail to convince their consumers to follow the law must be given social sanctions.

“We will coordinate this matter with the Bali Tourism Board and the Bali Tourism and Creative Economy Service. We will prepare a task force decree regarding the handling of the tourism situation in Bali in the context of tourist activities. This will certainly have an impact on quality tourism,” he emphasized.

He informed that his ministry will socialize the dos and don’ts for foreign tourists in Bali and reminded them to maintain and respect religious norms, customs, culture, and values of life that exist in the local community.

If these efforts are not heeded, then his ministry will repatriate tourists who often violate Indonesian laws by reporting them to the embassies of the relevant countries and taking the deportation route as a firm step.

He informed that foreign tourists’ misbehavior has an impact on quality tourism because other tourists would also be very disturbed by the irresponsible behaviors of tourists who break the law.

Source: Antara News Agency

Jakarta (ANTARA) – State-owned oil company Pertamina has agreed to relocate its fuel terminal in Plumpang, North Jakarta, to land owned by state-owned port operator PT Pelindo following last week’s fire,State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Erick Thohir has informed.”The result from our meeting was the relocation of Plumpang fuel terminal to land owned by Pelindo,” he confirmed in Jakarta on Monday.

ccording to him, his ministry is coordinating with Pelindo regarding the construction of the terminal, which will be prepared to be built by the end of 2024.

“The construction may take two to 2.5 years. We still have 3.5 years to move the fuel terminal,” he informed.

Thohir informed that the relocation is a follow-up to an agreement between him; Coordinating Minister for Human Development and CultureMuhadjir Effendy; Jakarta’s acting Governor Heru Budi Hartono; SOEs Deputy Minister Pahala Mansury; and President Director of PertaminaNicke Widyawati.

“Of course, it started from President Joko Widodo’s direction to serve and protect the people. Therefore, Pertamina will ensure protection for the surrounding people, especially the victims who have been affected. We will take care of them and we will ensure temporary housing for them. We will also support their livelihood for the next few months,” Thohir said.

His ministry has agreed that public safety is an important matter. Therefore, he urged Pertamina to establish a safe zone or buffer zone around Pertamina’s national vital objects, not only in Plumpang, but also at other locations, such as Balongan and Semarang, to prevent unwanted occurrences in the future.

“Especially for Plumpang fuel terminal, the buffer zone is approximately 50 meters from the fence. This solution requires joint support from the local government and the community since we always prioritize safety for all people,” Thohir said.

The fire at Plumpang fuel terminal on March 3, 2023, resulted in many fatalities and injuries. The victims included residents from two neighborhood units (RW) who had to flee their burning homes and seek shelter at temporary refugee posts.

Source: Antara News Agency

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Investment Ministry/Investment Coordinating Board (Kemeninves BKPM) has asked micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to not be afraid of paying the business tax.Most entrepreneurs have not created business identification numbers (NIB) out of fear of paying taxes, Spokesperson for the Investment Ministry/Investment Coordinating Board Tina Talisa noted.

“The tax for MSMEs is not too big. The tax will also only be imposed if their income exceeds Rp500 million,” she said during a workshop here on Monday.

Moreover, the business tax for MSMEs is only 0.5 percent of their total excess income, she added.

For instance, if the turnover of a certain business reaches Rp600 million within a year, then a tax of just 0.5 percent tax will be imposed on Rp100 million, that is, Rp500 thousand.

“How much if Rp500 thousand is divided by 12 months? Then it only needs to pay around Rp40 thousand per month in tax,” Talisa elaborated.

Meanwhile, the tax incentive for MSMEs continues to be provided through the Online Single Submission (OSS) system, she informed.

The incentive aims to alleviate MSMEs’ tax burden in order to encourage them to invest.

Talisa also urged MSMEs to legalize their business without delay by creating NIBs since that would support all licensing requirements and push up sales.

For a number of e-commerce platforms, an NIB is required for receiving an official store label, which can significantly increase sales since it improves customers’ trust.

“Since the Job Creation Law was ratified in 2020, the NIB creation process is no longer complicated thanks to significant paring down of bureaucracy,” Talisa said.

NIB has also become the only permit or legal business requirement in Indonesia. MSMEs no longer need to register for other permits or certificates such as the Trade Business License Permit (SIUP) or Business Certificate (SKU).

n NIB can be created through electronically integrated business licensing, namely OSS. An NIB document is akin to a citizenship ID for businesspersons. It is also necessary for obtaining other licenses such as halal as well as Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM) certification.

Source: Antara News Agency

W Sumatra (ANTARA) – The West Sumatra provincial government is aiming to increase life expectancy in the province to 70.17 years by 2024 by improving health access and services to the community.”Life expectancy is directly correlated with health. Thus, programs in the health sector, both preventive (efforts) and access to health services, continue to be improved,” West Sumatra Governor Mahyeldi informed here on Monday.

ccording to him, life expectancy in the province has continued to improve every year. In 2021, the province’s life expectancy stood at 69.59 years. Then, in 2022, life expectancy reached 69.90 years, exceeding the target of 69.80 years.

For 2023, the life expectancy target is 69.89 years, and for 2024, 70.17 years.

The governor said that the life expectancy targets have been included in the 20212026 Regional Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMD).

The target has continued to increase each year, he added. However, because the realization in 2022 was higher than the target of 69.80 years, the target set earlier for 2023 seems lower.

“Nevertheless, we hope the realization in 2023 will also surpass the target,” he said.

The increase in life expectancy, in general, has shown that there has been an increase in development in the health field and other supporting fields, Mahyeldi observed.

“Efforts for public health continue to be strived for by improving knowledge and awareness regarding health in the community through promotive and preventive efforts and the Community Healthy Lifestyle Movement (Germas), which is increasingly being promoted,” he said.

Those efforts are being made to reduce stunting prevalence and improve residents’ productivity as well as reduce the burden of costs for health services.

The provincial government, through the Health Office, has continued to improve health access and service quality for under-five children. Recently, the government launched a community health center in each village in the province.

The provision of health services at the village level is expected to accelerate stunting reduction as well as allow early detection of pneumonia and other diseases. That way, life expectancy can continue to increase.

The governor said he hoped for support from all parties, especially financial and legislative support, and optimization of village funds to improve the health of children in villages.

Source: Antara News Agency

Jakarta (ANTARA) – State-run cellular operator Telkomsel has agreed to cooperate with a private company to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into its marketing platform.”Artificial intelligence technology has rapidly developed. It is now able to change the way businesses operate in various industries,” Telkomsel’s marketing director, Derrick Heng, said in a statement issued on Monday.

The collaboration is intended to improve consumers’ involvement and customers’ satisfaction.

The integration of artificial intelligence with Telkomsel’s marketing platform will support the analysis of data so that a more personalized experience can be offered to consumers.

The two companies will determine the end-to-end process for improving and developing Telkomsel’s marketing platform by combining neural language processing technology, which can analyze data and produce inputs that can help optimize business strategies effectively.

Telkomsel will use an artificial intelligence-based machine learning algorithm to analyze data, neural language processing to better understand customers’ interactions and sentiments, and predictive analysis to anticipate future behaviors.

The technology will allow Telkomsel to create more personalized products and services, based on each customers’ unique needs and preferences.

Telkomsel said it believes that the use of artificial intelligence would help it deliver a more personal, efficient, and good experience to customers and help them enjoy various digital lifestyle activities.

“Telkomsel will continue to explore, test, and develop the latest technological inventions to present the best digital service and experiences through more comprehensive service solutions, based on customers’ needs,” Heng said.

The cellular operator, which is a subsidiary of state-owned enterprise Telkom, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Microsoft to integrate Azure AI into its marketing platform.

This integration was further discussed in Barcelona, Spain, during the “2023 Mobile World Congress.”

Source: Antara News Agency

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Collaboration among related elements is important to accelerate extreme poverty handling, Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Muhadjir Effendyhas said.”Our ministry encourages all relevant stakeholders to increase collaboration, coordination, and synergy in order to accelerate the handling of extreme poverty,” he informed in Jakarta on Monday.

Presidential Instruction Number 4 of 2022 concerning the acceleration of the elimination of extreme poverty requires relevant ministriesagencies as well as local governments to make measurable efforts to expedite the eradication of extreme poverty, he said.

The minister also reminded all stakeholders to ensure that the programs implemented to achieve this target are integrated and right on target. In addition, community involvement to support the program is also required.

He then outlined three key activities that would be carried out to support efforts to accelerate the handling of extreme poverty.

“The government continues to focus on three key activities for handling extreme poverty,” he said.

First, the government is providing social assistance and subsidies to reduce the expenditure burden on the extremely poor, he informed.

Second, the government will start community empowerment to increase the income of the extremely poor, and third, it will develop basic service infrastructure to reduce the number of poor areas, he added.

These three key activities are expected to support the government’s commitment to eliminating extreme poverty by 2024, he said.

The minister also reminded that the program to accelerate the handling of extreme poverty must focus on priority locations.

ccording to him, the government is targeting to bring down the number of extremely poor from four percent or 10.86 million in 2021 to zero percent by 2024.

He also said that handling stunting and extreme poverty will be a priority in 2023.

“Our effort to handle stunting and extreme poverty is included in a priority program, according to President Joko Widodo’s direction,” he disclosed.

Source: Antara News Agency

Osaka (ANTARA) – Vice President Ma’ruf Amin held a meeting with Ezaki Katsuhisa, chairman of Japanese food processing company Ezaki Glico Co, in Osaka, Monday, to discuss development of the world’s halal ecosystem and improvement in human resources (HR).”I seek an opportunity for Indonesians to work in Glico’s office in Japan through a staff dispatch scheme, such as specific skilled workers and professional recruitment to the holding company,” Amin affirmed.

t the meeting, he encouraged active cooperation between the Japanese company and its partners in Indonesia, especially related to food safety management and product quality, to support food security efforts in Indonesia.

The VP believes it will prove to be beneficial to the people of both countries.

“I believe that the increase in this human resource capacity will benefit the people’s welfare in both countries as well as strengthen the Indonesia-Japan strategic partnership,” he affirmed.

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The VP recalled that when he was a member of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) and had visited Japan in 2016, Japan had already given special attention regarding halal certification, while on the other hand, halal certification in Japan has been recognized by the MUI.

While attending the funeral of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in September last year, Amin had the opportunity to speak with Japanese PM Fumio Kishida to discuss development of the halal industry, such as in the areas of food and beverage, tourism, and fashion.

Furthermore, he expressed optimism that Glico would build a halal ecosystem network not only in Indonesia but also in other countries.

“I hope Glico would build a network of halal ecosystems not only in Indonesia but also market halal products from Indonesian factories to other countries,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Chairman of Ezaki Glico Co, Ezaki Katsuhisa, lauded the government for supporting the halal certification process for Glico products.

Katsuhisa ensured that halal certification is a top priority, given the large number of Muslims in Indonesia.

Source: Antara News Agency

Bali (ANTARA) – Tourism has been the main driver of Bali’s economy since Indonesia was still colonized by the Dutch.Historical records show that the tourism industry in Bali began to develop rapidly in the 1930s as was proven by the visits of celebrities, one of which was Charlie Chaplin, then world-renowned painters, such as Walter Spies, Miguel Covarrubias, and Rudolf Bonnet, who lived for a long time in Bali and made the Island of the Gods as an inspiration for his famous works.

Bali started its fame on the world stage when the Dutch East Indies government built a replica of a traditional Balinese house and presented about 50 dancers and musicians at the Paris Colonial Exhibition in 1931.

That exhibition, which showcased the culture and natural wealth of colonized countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, lasted for six months and garnered 33 million visitors.

Bali then became one of the popular tourist destinations in Asia, supported by the Dutch East Indies government’s tourism office (VTV) in Batavia (Jakarta).

t that time, VTV promoted Bali as “The Lost Paradise”.

Bali’s situation did not change much after Indonesia gained its independence. Bali’s beauty was still a magnet for foreign tourists.

The only difference, after independence, was that Indonesian and Balinese people were not just objects that were “sold” to foreign tourists for watching.

Balinese began to start and own businesses and made the most of the tourism potential.

Political dynamics and grassroots conflicts during the transition of power from the Old Order to the New Order government as well as natural disasters did not dampen the enthusiasm of foreign tourists to visit Bali.

However, the growth in the number of tourist visits and the proliferation of tourism-based industries on the island have affected the relationship within the Balinese society, culture, and also nature conservation.

Several rice fields, which supported food security in Bali and even the country, have been converted into hotels, villas, luxury resorts, restaurants, cafes, and entertainment venues.

s a result, problems began to occur on the island, starting from gentrification, overflowing waste, cultural and traditional practices being left behind, and water supply problems to crimes.

These various issues have spurred Bali tourism business players to restore balance in Bali.

To this end, one of the steps to do is to return Bali’s tourism to its roots that must align with Bali’s life and the people’s philosophy of Tri Hita Karana.

Tri Hita Karana

Tri Hita Karana upholds the balance of the relationship between human and God (parahyangan), human and fellow human beings (pawongan), and human and nature (palemahan).

Since 2020, when Bali Provincial Regulation No. 5 of 2020 concerning Standards for the Bali Cultural Tourism Implementation was issued, local governments have made Tri Hita Karana and local wisdom Sad Kerthi as a reference in conducting tourism practices.

The regulation, signed by Bali Governor I Wayan Koster, stipulates that tourism practices should be oriented towards sustainability principles.

Chair of the Alliance of Bali Marginal Tourism Actors, I Wayan Puspa Negara, explained that tourism in Bali has prioritized the balance of nature based on Tri Hita Karana.

“When talking about destinations in Bali, most of them are natural destinations in which there are living cultures because Balinese culture is sourced from agriculture. Hence, if there is no agriculture, there is no Balinese culture,” Negara stated.

Nature plays an important role in terms of Bali’s destinations, he added.

Hence, he said, tourism practices in Bali cannot be separated from the Tri Hita Karana philosophy, as it is what makes it sustainable.

Environmental and cultural preservation will happen if agriculture and nature are maintained. Hence, Negara said his side seeks to strike a balance between agricultural development and tourism development.

He affirmed that a strong agriculture system will result in plentiful food production and sustain the ecosystem.

ccording to Negara, Bali’s remaining rice fields must be protected, as land conversion remains the main threat.

He highlighted the need to improve spatial governance in Bali.

Nusa Dua as example

State-run Indonesia Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) is committed to applying the Tri Hita Karana philosophy in managing the Nusa Dua area.

eneral Manager of The Nusa Dua I Gusti Ngurah Ardita stated that Tri Hita Karana is a concept that is inseparable from the area planning, development, management, and maintenance.

“We have a master plan that has the layout of buildings that is based on the concept of Bali Tri Hita Karana. In the Nusa Dua area, there are palemahan, pawongan, and parahyangan,” he revealed.

The concept of palemahan is applied to the greening zone, and pawongan in the hotel area, while the parahyangan concept is where places of worship in the area will not be touched in the development, Ardita elaborated.

Hotels built in the Nusa Dua area must comply with the master plan and ITDC’s block plan.

“We have a community design, the hotel buildings here strongly implement the Balinese building layout, starting from the height rules, and the architectural style also combines modern architecture and Balinese architecture,” Ardita remarked.

Nine temples are located in the Nusa Dua area, and one of them is in the Grand Hyatt Hotel, which the community manages instead of the hotel. During the melasti ceremony, people will flock to the temple inside the hotel.

Tourism can go hand in hand with the Balinese life rooted in the Tri Hita Karana philosophy that preserves nature and maintains harmonious relations between people and tourists as well as the relationship with God.

Source: Antara News Agency