Category: Trading

The Security Maintenance Agency (Baharkam) of the Indonesian Police has captured four Vietnamese fishing boats for illegally fishing in the North Natuna Sea Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

“On August 27 (2021), the Bisma 8001 patrol boat captured four Vietnamese boats,” Baharkam head, Police Commissioner General Arif Sulistyanto, disclosed in Batam on Tuesday.

The four boats, which were carrying around one ton of fish, were towed to Batuampar dock in Batam City and taken into evidence, he said. The four captains of the boats and 36 crew members were also arrested by police.

As the crime scene is within the national Exclusive Economic Zone, the investigation into the illegal fishing case would be assisted by the Directorate General of Marine and Fisheries Resources Surveillance (PSDKP), Sulistyanto informed.

“We are used to collaborating and working together. Despite different legal basis, procedures, and work scope, protecting the country remains our common duty,” he remarked. Meanwhile, director general of the PSDKP, Rear Admiral Adin Nurawaluddin, confirmed his agency’s readiness to collaborate with Baharkam to investigate illegal fishing practices within Indonesia’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

“There would not be any compromise to eradicate illegal fishing practices in Indonesian waters,” Nurawaluddin stated.

Director of the Water and Air Police Corps, Police Brigadier General Yassin Kosasih, confirmed that security officers received a tip from local fishermen concerning foreign boats conducting illegal fishing in Indonesian waters.

The foreign fishing boats arrived in Indonesian waters at night and departed by dawn to evade Indonesian surveillance ships, he informed. Upon seizing the boats, police officials found they contained 39 hatches that could hold a maximum of five tons of fish, he said.

From the operation against four Vietnamese boats alone, around 2,340 tons of fish, with Rp1 billion (around US$70 million) income potential, have been saved, he added.

Source: Antara News

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has said that she believes all indicators of the demand side that support the economy will improve in 2021, and not just government spending indicators.

“This year, we hope that every demand aggregate element starts to enter the positive zone. Hence, the state budget will not work alone, but together with other indicators and demand variables,” she added at the opening of the ISEI Congress XXI, held virtually here on Tuesday.

She said she is optimistic that the demand side will experience positive growth along with the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) that remained expansive at 53.5 in June 2021.

On the global scale, the manufacturing industry’s global performance has also shown an upward trend compared to last year, she noted.

“This means every nation’s economy has started to move, which will create a demand for our export and, of course, capital flow for investment,” Indrawati explained. However, the finance minister still cautioned about the spread of COVID 19. Last month, the spread of the Delta variant compelled the government to slam the emergency brakes in the form of public activity restrictions (PPKM), she said.

This resulted in the lowering of PMI to 40.1 in July 2021, based on IHS Markit’s report, she noted.

“Even so, in August (2021), we have seen that there is a reversal of direction after we face PPKM. Citizens’ mobility has started to increase, which raise consumption activities,” Indrawati remarked.

The minister said that she will continue to use the state budget to control COVID-19 and recover the economy.

This will be done by tightening the implementation of the health protocols, vaccinations, raising tracing, testing, and treatment, as well as distributing social aid to the 50.4 percent of the population that is most economically vulnerable to the pandemic’s impact, she elaborated.

“At the moment, the realization of the National Economic Recovery Program (PEN) has reached 43 percent from the budgeted Rp326 trillion. There are still four months ahead to continue its distribution,” Indrawati asserted.

Source: Antara News

The government has spent Rp340.84 trillion on the national economic recovery program, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs and chief of the COVID-19 Handling and National Economic Recovery Committee (KPC-PEN), Airlangga Hartarto, has said.

“The realization of the national economic recovery program has reached 45.8 percent, or Rp340.84 trillion,” he said at an online press conference here on Monday

The realization of the national economic recovery program for the health sector has reached 34 percent, or Rp80 trillion; social protection 55 percent, or Rp102.69 trillion; micro, small, and medium entrepreneurs 29 percent, or Rp48 trillion; priority programs 44 percent, or Rp52.3 trillion; and business incentive program 50.3 percent, or Rp56.7 trillion, he informed.

He said the government has distributed 10 kilograms of rice each to 28.8 million families across Indonesia as of August 30, 2021.

“Non-cash food assistance (BPNT) for non-Family Hope Program has been 100 percent channeled to 8.8 million people,” he informed.

In addition, the government has also disbursed a wage subsidy of Rp1 million for each of 2.09 million workers, he added.

“The realization of Presidential assistance for micro businesses has reached 90.52 percent, or Rp14.2 trillion, for 11.84 micro business agents,” he said.

He further said President Joko Widodo has also noted progress in the handling of COVID-19 cases in Java and Bali as reflected by a decline in the number of agglomeration areas whose public activity restriction (PPKM) level has been downgraded.

“The government has declared the PPKM level for Greater Malang and Greater Solo has been downgraded to 3 from 4 as of August 31, 2021, so that the regions implementing level 3 PPKM in Java and Bali this week include Jabodetabek (Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi), Greater Bandung, Greater Surabaya, Greater Malang, and Greater Solo,” he added.

According to the President, the number of districts and cities in Java and Bali implementing level 4 PPKM has declined to 25 from 51, the number of districts and cities implementing level 3 PPKM has increased to 76 from 67, and the number of districts and cities implementing level 2 PPKM has risen to 27 from 10. Meanwhile, the number of provinces outside Java and Bali implementing level 4 PPKM has also declined to four from seven earlier.

Source: Antara News

Bank Indonesia (BI) has continued to encourage digital finance development, which it considers one of the transformation pillars of the national economic structure, Bank Indonesia Deputy Governor Rosmaya Hadi has said.

The central bank’s commitment to continue to support digital economic and financial integration is being realized through the Indonesian Payment System Blueprint for 2025, Hadi informed at the JaKreatif Fest (Jakarta Creative Festival) 2021 here on Monday.

“Through this blueprint, it is expected that an integrated digital payment ecosystem will be established,” the deputy governor said.

The interoperability, access expansion, and multi-instruments that will emerge through the blueprint will make transactions convenient for the public, she explained.

The blueprint envisages basic infrastructure for new economic sources that optimize digital processes, she added.

“It will also increase national efficiency and economic growth, and eventually financial inclusion,” Hadi continued. Furthermore, Bank Indonesia has launched the National Standard Open API Payment (SNAP), Hadi said.

SNAP has been created to build a healthy, competitive, and innovative payment system industry, so as to facilitate efficient, secure, and reliable payment services to the public, she explained.

The existence of SNAP will unite, integrate, and connect various payment system steps and services that are performed for the advancement of the Indonesian economy, Hadi informed.

“Bank Indonesia has continued to push digitalization of retail payment systems through the use of QRIS (Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard),” she noted.

According to Hadi, the current number of QRIS user accounts is close to 9 million, dominated by micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

“In 2021, BI targets that the use of QRIS will reach 12 million merchants,” the deputy governor said.

Meanwhile, BI Governor Perry Warjiyo has said he is optimistic the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), or digital rupiah, will be able to increase national economic efficiency.

“We will circulate the digital rupiah through digital blockchain technology and distributed ledger technology (DLT) so it will really be efficient,” Warjiyo said earlier while announcing the outcome of the monthly meeting of the central bank’s board of governors here.

Banks connected to the DLT system, in the context of digital rupiah wholesale, will also feel the efficiency while making transactions in the money market since they will not incur a transaction fee, he added.

The digital rupiah will also make retail trade efficient since it would lower transaction costs, Warjiyo said.

Source: Antara News

The Jakarta Creative Festival (JaKreatiFest) 2021 was held to support the ‘Proud of Indonesian Products’ and ‘Proud of Indonesian Tourism’ campaigns and expedite national economic recovery (PEN), head representative of Jakarta’s Bank Indonesia, Onny Widjanarko, said.

“We want to provide information, story, and interaction with industry players in syariah enterprises, creative industry, national film industry, coffee industry, Jakarta tourism, fashion industry, and payment digitalization,” he explained at the JaKreatiFest opening ceremony, held virtually here on Monday.

By collaborating to find various potential new sources of economic growth, syariah enterprises, creative tourism industry, including MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferencing, Exhibitions), as well as digital economy and finance, can find the space and opportunity to expedite national economic recovery, he said.

With this consideration, the theme of JaKreatiFest 2021 is empowering new, creative, innovative, and inspirational sources of economic growth in the digital era to accelerate PEN, Widjanarko added.

He expressed the hope that the event will have an impact, such as adding MSMEs to the marketplace.

Meanwhile, Governor of Jakarta, Anies Baswedan, said JaKreatiFest 2021 has the potential to expedite economic recovery by supporting entrepreneurs’ capacity in terms of funding access, production, and marketing.

JaKreatiFest has the potential to have a positive impact on MSME development, creative industry, tourism, and digitalization, especially in Jakarta, he elaborated.

JaKreatiFest has been jointly organized by Jakarta’s Bank Indonesia and Jakarta’s provincial government to synergize creative economy development activities.

Based on data from JaKreatiFest’s website, around 144 MSMEs entrepreneurs attended the virtual exhibition.

Before JaKreatiFest began, it was preceded with training activities such as halal certification, coaching clinic, and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) consulting at the Tokopedia Marketplace.

Podcasts and competitions related to tourism and coffee were also held as part of the festival.

Source: Antara News

The capital city Jakarta has become an important part of Indonesia’s economic recovery given the big contribution the province makes to the national economy, Jakarta’s Governor Anies Baswedan said during the JaKreatiFest 2021 event here on Monday.

According to data provided by Statistics Indonesia (BPS), Jakarta remains the biggest contributor to the national economy. The province contributed 17 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP), followed by East Java and West Java, in the second quarter of 2020, Baswedan noted.

Meanwhile, according to BPS, the gross regional domestic product of Jakarta has reached Rp721.5 trillion in the second quarter of 2021, he said.

The governor also revealed that Jakarta’s economic growth in the second quarter of 2021 is in the positive zone at 10.9 percent.

Based on Jakarta BPS data, this economic growth has followed an 8.33-percent contraction during the same period of 2021.

This is a sign of an economic recovery that must be utilized by entrepreneurs, Baswedan said.

One of the strategies that the Jakarta provincial government is implementing is vaccination as it is one of the solutions to recover the economy from COVID-19’s impact, the governor added.

“Vaccination has become important. This has become a game-changer and we hope that the vaccination movement can be completed soon,” he said.

As of Sunday, the number of first COVID-19 vaccine dose recipients in Jakarta has reached 9.6 million, 107.7 percent of the 8.9 million targeted recipients.

Earlier, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto had said that stemming the spread of COVID-19 is key for accelerating Indonesia’s economic recovery in the second quarter of 2021.

Source: Antara News

All stakeholders must work to resolve issues concerning the distribution of social aid that have continued to persist, vice chairman of Commission VIII of the House of Representatives (DPR) Ace Hasan Syadzily has said.

“Commission VIII has reminded several times regarding this issue,” Syadzily told ANTARA here on Monday.

He highlighted Social Affairs Minister Tri Rismaharini’s findings regarding allegations of rice social aid monopoly in Lumajang, East Java, on Saturday, in addition to a field report the minister received while visiting Bandung District on Friday.

In its implementation, social aid distribution has been plagued with a variety of issues, from the aid recipient data collection to aid distribution, Syadzily said.

When it comes to data, there remains the problem of records reflecting the names of people who have passed away as social aid recipients, as seen in Bandung, he elaborated.

There is another problem regarding the distributed Non-Cash Food Aid (BPNT), the commodity value of which is above average and the quality is not as expected, he added.

He urged the Social Affairs Ministry to promptly resolve the social aid issue by fixing the system that has been deemed problematic for some time.

“Fix the system immediately. The problem is clear. Issues regarding social aid have been unresolved for too long,” Syadzily asserted.

In addition, he also announced that the House’ Commission VIII will invite State-owned Banks Association (Himbara) that has been tasked to distribute aid funds to help recipient families (KPM) in the near future.

Source: Antara News

The development and execution of Indonesia’s national public communication system must be more swift in keeping pace with ongoing changes, Minister of Communication and Informatics Johnny G. Plate has said.

“We need to immediately upgrade the capabilities of the national public communication system so that it quickly follows the dynamics that are occurring,” the minister remarked in an official statement released here on Monday.

Indonesia must prepare to face the challenges of the geopolitical and global economic situation, as well as the advancement of communication and information technology (ICT), he said.

“This demand (of public communication development) becomes an urgency, as it is in line with the national goal through the realization of Golden Indonesia 2045 vision, which is sovereign, advanced, just, and prosperous Indonesia,” he remarked.

Plate said the government’s credibility also needs to be built through a holistic approach. Thus, public communication is not only about promoting government activities, he emphasized.

“We need to reach out to the public through various methods so that public participation in national development can be facilitated,” he highlighted.

To improve public participation, the Ministry of Communication and Informatics has made the Grand Design of the National Public Communication System for 2020-2045, he revealed.

“The year 2020 to 2024 is the first milestone of the public communication advancement,” Plate explained.

In certain phases, achievements must already be obtained by all elements of public communication, including the ministry’s public relations agency (Pranata Humas) as human resources (HR) in the management of public communication, he stressed.

Regarding HR, there are targets of formation, readjustment, and improvement of HR skills, he pointed out.

“Other targets are the development of system standardization and human resources certification, and enhancement of media literacy, data literacy, and public information literacy on part of the public,” he explained.

In 2021, the target of public communication development includes the establishment of institutions or groups of public communication volunteers from millennials for the success of Indonesia’s four pillars of advancement in 2045, he said.

It is time to increase the role of traditional media, conventional media, new media, and content production in public communication, he added.

Source: Antara News