Indonesia News Gazette

The government’s efforts to attract investment will not be in contravention to the principles of green and blue economy for achieving sustainable economic growth, the Presidential Office (KSP) said.

Clarifying the concept of green economy mentioned by President Joko Widodo in his state address on Monday, the Office’s third deputy chief expert, Bustanul Arifin, explained that green economy refers to economic development that focuses on sustainability.

In a written statement received here on Tuesday, Arifin said that blue economy refers to economic development that focuses on improving people’s well-being and social equality, while at the same time, reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcity.

“Operationally, the green and blue economic strategy are always applied in the field, with emphasis on the uniqueness of specific locations and social systems that surround it,” he explained.

“There are similarities between a green economy and a blue economy. Both foreground the principles of minimizing waste, enhancing the zero waste mission, and supporting the 3R (reduce, reuse, and recycle),” he pointed out. “Every two years Indonesia conveys the progress of periodical achievements of all SGD objectives in a Voluntary National Review (VNR). The last VNR in 2021 has been delivered through the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development with 44 other countries in the world, and the delivery is available online and publicly accessible,” he informed.

Indonesia is also committed to implementing all 17 points of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), he affirmed.

In his state address at the annual session of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) and the joint session of the House of Representatives (DPR) and the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) on Monday, the President had touched on sustainable green and blue economy while discussing the investment and collaboration ecosystem in the business world for strengthening economic advancement based on innovation and technology.

During the first half of 2021, he informed, the realization of investment, excluding the upstream oil, gas, and financial services sector, reached at least Rp442.8 trillion, with 51.5 percent of the investment in regions outside Java and 48.5 percent in Java.

The investment absorbed more than 620 thousand Indonesian workers, he said.

 

Source: Antara News

Bank Indonesia (BI) has said it has submitted the 2022 Bank Indonesia Annual Budget Plan (ATBI) to the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia (DPR RI).

“The submission of the budget plan is a manifestation of BI’s commitment to always prioritize the principles of governance, including transparency and accountability in carrying out its duties and authorities as the central bank in order to achieve the mandated goals,” said chief executive director of BI’s communications department, Erwin Haryono, in an official statement released here on Tuesday.

He said the mandate is contained in the Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 23 of 1999 concerning Bank Indonesia, which has been amended several times, most recently by Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 6 of 2009.

The budget plan describes the central bank’s revenue and expenditure plans in the context of implementing programs and activities to support the achievement of its main tasks, as mandated in the law, including operational budgets and policy budgets, both at the head office, domestic representative offices, and foreign representative offices, he informed. The 2022 budget plan covers the implementation of Bank Indonesia’s tasks in 2021, evaluation of the implementation of the budget plan in 2021, the policy direction of Bank Indonesia in 2022, and the budget plan for 2022, Haryono said.

BI is committed to continuing to contribute significantly to the economy and the welfare of the Indonesian people by optimizing all its policies and national policies in 2022 to maintain macroeconomic stability and financial system stability, as well as support further national economic recovery efforts, he added.

In supporting the intended policy direction, BI will continue to strengthen synergy and policy coordination with the government and relevant authorities to maintain economic stability, encourage economic growth, and control the current account deficit, he said. The central bank will also continue to strengthen monetary-fiscal policy coordination, including regarding the continuation of BI’s contribution to financing for the national economic recovery (PEN), he added.

“The direction of BI’s policies that are responsive to the latest economic developments, the dynamic condition of the strategic environment, as well as challenges and future projections characterize the preparation of the 2022 budget plan,” Haryono said.

To support the policy that will be pursued in 2022, BI will continue four transformations — policy transformation, organizational transformation, human resources and work culture transformation, and digital transformation, he added.

To ensure that the 2022 budget plan was prepared in an accountable manner and took into account the sustainability of the previous year’s strategy, the preparation of the 2022 work program and budget was strengthened and aligned with the stages of BI’s 2020-2025 Strategic Business Plan (SBP), and with attention paid to the achievement of outcomes, outputs, and the strategic program process, Haryono informed.

Therefore, the work program and budget prepared can support efforts to achieve BI’s 2025 vision of “being a leading digital central bank that contributes significantly to the Indonesian economy and the best among emerging markets countries for advanced Indonesia”, he added.

 

Source: Antara News

Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) proposed a budget of Rp770.4 trillion for transfers to regions and village funds for 2022 in his state budget speech on Monday.

“For 2022, the budget of transfers to the regions and village funds is planned at Rp770.4 trillion,” President Joko Widodo said in his speech, delivered at the Parliamentary Complex in Jakarta.

The budget will focus on improving the quality of regional expenditure to speed up welfare improvement and equality achievement and continuing the implementation of policies on the use of the General Transfer Fund to improve the quality of public infrastructure in the regions, recover the economy in the regions, develop human resources in the education sector, and increase spending priorities in the health sector, he informed.

Furthermore, the government will also seek more efficient use of the Special Transfer Fund through disbursement of the contract-based Special Allocation Fund for Infrastructure and Operational Special Allocation Fund to improve output and outcome achievements and to support service quality improvement, he said.

It will also continue to strengthen budget planning synergy through greater budget harmonization among ministries/institutions and the Transfer to the Regions and Village Funds, he added.

Furthermore, it will prioritize the use of village funds to recover villages’ economy through social protection programs and COVID-19 handling measures as well as to support priority sectors, he said.

“The government will also continue to strengthen quality control on the Transfer to the Regions and Village Funds to improve and equalize access to public services throughout Indonesia as well as to ensure national priority programs implemented by the regional governments run in an efficient, effective, transparent, and just manner,” the President informed.

A better targeting of policies for the management of the Special Autonomy Fund for Papua and West Papua provinces has also been undertaken, he added.

He said that the issuance of Law Number 2 of 2021 has laid the groundwork for the better management of the Special Autonomy Fund.

The extension of the Special Autonomy Funds and the 2.25-percent increase in the National General Allocation Fund ceiling will be combined with the improvement and better targeting of policies on allocation, disbursement, and management schemes of Special Autonomy Fund, he added.

“These efforts are expected to bring significant impacts to the improvement of the welfare of the Papuan people,” the President remarked.

 

Source: Antara News

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has praised members of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR), House of Representatives (DPR), and Regional Representative Council (DPD) for contributing to efforts to support national development and COVID-19 handling.

“I appreciate MPR with its four-pillar program, which has consistently strengthened the state ideology Pancasila, the 1945 Constitution, the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, and Diversity in Unity,” he noted during his state-of-the-nation address at the annual session of the MPR and the joint session of the DPR and DPD at the Parliamentary Complex, here on Monday.

The head of state said MPR’s agenda to study the legal substance and model of state guideline principles to lay a basis for inter-leadership sustainable development is also worthy of praise.

He stressed that the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic requires extraordinary efforts. The government and the DPR have worked hard and built synergies to lay a legal foundation for the handling of COVID-19.

In addition, the government and DPR have ratified the Job Creation Law, Indonesia’s first omnibus law, which serves as the main pillar for structural reform in the country, Jokowi said.

The DPR has continued to accommodate public aspirations and control the realization of the government’s programs through several innovations, he noted

In the meantime, the DPD has also taken an active part in the deliberations of bills, including those related to budgetary policy, and in supervising public services and the implementation of the village law, he added.

Through this role, it has contributed to the accurate handling of the pandemic and, at the same time, improved the institution of regional government for the future, the President said.

Efforts to save the people are the supreme law in the country, he remarked.

He then lauded the State Audit Board (BPK) for its role in auditing the state finance amid the need for swift government action to rescue the people from the pandemic.

“The pandemic is not a normal situation, so the audit cannot use normal standards. The important thing is rescuing people. Rescuing people is the supreme law in a state. BPK’s innovations to create accountability for all in our country are worthy of praise,” Jokowi said.

 

Source: Antara News

The Indonesian Government has allocated a social protection budget of Rp427.5 trillion in the 2022 draft State Budget (APBN) to help the poor and the vulnerable meet their basic needs.

“In the long term, (the budget) is expected to be able to cut the chain of poverty,” President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said in his speech on the State Budget Bill for Fiscal Year 2022 and Financial Notes at the Plenary Meeting of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia (DPR-RI) Session Year 2021-2022 at the Parliament Complex here on Monday.

President Jokowi said that the government will continue to improve the Integrated Social Welfare Data (DTKS) and synergize it with other related data to support the reform of the social protection program.

The harmonization of the data is meant to support gradual and measurable social protection reforms, support the Job Loss Guarantee Program in accordance with the Job Creation Law, and improve the quality of social protection implementation as well as the development of adaptive social protection schemes, he elaborated.

According to the website of the Directorate General of Treasury of the Finance Ministry, the social protection program is part of the government’s efforts to provide protection to the poor and vulnerable so that they are able to meet their basic needs, such as food, education, health and other essentials. The program is expected to protect the community from the risk of social setbacks, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it stated.

Some forms of social protection offered by the government include the provision of cash assistance to the poor and vulnerable across Indonesia through the Family Hope Program (PKH), Non-Cash Food Assistance (BPNT) or Basic Food Program, and Social Cash Assistance (BTS).

By 2022, the government is targeting to lower the open unemployment rate to 5.5-6.3 percent and the poverty rate to around 8.5-9.0 percent, with reducing extreme poverty levels serving as its primary focus, Widodo said.

Furthermore, the level of inequality in the Gini ratio is targeted to be around 0.376-0.378 and the human development index at around 73.41-73.46, he added.

 

Source: Antara News

Speaker of the House of Representatives Puan Maharani wore a traditional Payas Agung Bali outfit at the annual session of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) at the Parliamentary Complex in Jakarta on Monday.

The annual session was held along with the joint session of the House of Representatives (DPR) and the Regional Representatives Council (DPD).

The traditional Balinese dress, which is favored by the Balinese royalty, comprises the Balinese songket and Gringsing, a type of woven fabric.

Maharani wore the Bali Payang Agung Gelungan as a headdress with sandat flowers on the crown.

The House Speaker attended the MPR annual session and the DPR-DPD joint session at the Nusantara Building in the Parliament Complex in Jakarta.

At the annual state event, Maharani and leaders of other state institutions listened to the government’s performance report, which President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) presented in his state speech.

While delivering his speech, which also covered the 2022 State Budget Bill, President Jokowi wore traditional clothes from the Baduy tribe.

The meeting, which was held in both offline and online formats, was attended by 311 of the total 363 legislative members.

 

Source: Antara News

The Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR) has said it will focus on completing first-level discussions on seven bills during the First Sitting Period of the 2021-2022 Sitting Year.

The House Speaker, Puan Maharani, said that the House is committed to assisting the state administration, even amid the pandemic.

She delivered the statement at the House’s Plenary Session on the Opening of the First Sitting Period of the 2021-2022 Sitting Year at the legislative complex here on Monday.

The seven bills comprise the Personal Data Protection Bill, the Disaster Management Bill, the Fifth Amendment Bill of the Law Number 6/1983 on General Provisions and Tax Procedures, the Central and Regional Governments’ Financial Relations Bill, the Roads Bill, the Village-Owned Enterprises Bill, and the National Sports System Bill.

“In addition, the House, along with the government, will prepare for the discussion of other bills that have become a joint commitment in the 2021 Priority National Legislation Program,” she added.

Furthermore, the House will also focus on the handling of COVID-19 and its supervisory function, the House Speaker informed.

The DPR will also supervise the State Defense Strategy and Policy for 2020-2024 as well as the concept and design of the general election and the regional heads election in 2024, she said.

“Moreover, the House will also conduct the supervision of the foreigners’ residence permits and activities in Indonesia to curb the transmission of COVID-19,” Maharani said.

In addition, the House will monitor national food availability and price stability, the use of village funds, state finances administration, as well as drugs and medical equipment management, she added.

It will also monitor and assist in the distribution of social assistance as well as supervise the One Million Contract-based Government Employees Teacher Program in 2021 to deal with teacher shortages across Indonesia, Maharani informed.

“The House will also monitor the implementation of monetary and financial policies in the National Economic Recovery program,” she added.

 

Source: Antara News

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has stressed the importance of shifting to new and renewable energy and accelerating a green technology-based economy to spur national economic growth.

“Transformation towards new and renewable energy as well as acceleration of green technology-based economy will become a crucial change in our economy,” he noted during his state-of-the-nation address at the annual session of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) and joint session of the House of Representatives (DPR) and the Regional Representative Council (DPD) at the Parliamentary Complex here on Monday.

He said he believes the use of clean energy and green technology will have an impact on the creation of a more environmentally friendly economy.

Hence, efforts will be made to consolidate the strength of national research to align with the country’s development agenda, he added.

In the first half of 2021, the realization of investment in Indonesia, excluding that in the upstream oil and gas sector and the financial service sector, reached Rp442.8 trillion, he noted.

Nearly 51.5 percent of the investment was outside Java and 48.5 percent in Java, and absorbed more than 620 thousand local workers, Jokowi said.

He expressed the hope the realization of investment until December 2021 will reach the government-set target of Rp900 trillion, creating more jobs and boosting the economy significantly.

“The development of investment must be an integral part of just and inclusive economic growth,” he remarked.

The government is upbeat about contributing optimally to the settlement of its commitment to climate change adaptation in the Paris Agreement, he said. The accelerated energy transition from fossil fuels to new and renewable energy is expected to help cut greenhouse gas emissions by 29 percent in 2030 and limit global warming by no less than 2 degrees Celsius.

According to data from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, new and renewable energy has shown significant development in contributing to electrical power and fuel usage.

For instance, the use of biodiesel grew threefold in the past five years. The use of biodiesel started in 2008 when the government launched the 10-percent biodiesel (B10).

The production of B10 biodiesel reached a record 3.01 million kiloliters in 2015. The government later raised the biodiesel mix to 30 percent. The use of B30 biodiesel stood at 8.46 million kiloliters in 2020.

The success prompted other countries to reckon Indonesia as the world’s largest biodiesel producer ahead of the United States, Brazil, and Germany. As a result, Indonesia managed to save Rp38.31 trillion, or US$2.66 billion, in foreign exchange in 2020.

In terms of the electrical power mix, new and renewable energy has increased the capacity of power plants by two gigawatts in the past five years, Sadikin said.

By the end of 2022, the realization of new and renewable energy mix is expected to touch 11.31 percent, he added. The government is optimistic about answering the challenge to achieve the target of new and renewable energy mix of 23 percent by 2025.

 

Source: Antara News