VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto (front) held a coordination meeting in Nusa Dua, Bali on Friday (Aug 21, 2020) to discuss the strategic program and policies to handle the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy. ANTARA/HO-Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs/sh

Coordinating Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartarto shed light on measures to expedite state expenditure through programs to drive economic growth in the third and fourth quarters of 2020.

"This will help in bringing about a recovery in Indonesia's economy and steer it in the direction of positive growth," Hartarto noted during a coordination meeting held in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Friday to discuss the strategic program and policies to handle the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy.

In his statement, the minister noted that efforts will be made to accelerate state expenditure in some areas, including in the manpower sector, through the issuance of the pre-employment card, with the fifth batch underway.

In its earlier four batches, over 13 million people had applied for the card, nine million had conducted email verification, while seven million others have had their citizenship registration number (NIK) validated.

In the food and agriculture sector, the government has encouraged gross domestic product growth in the sector in the second quarter of 2020, as it began registering a positive growth of 2.19 percent.

The government has also developed a food estate in a swamp area in Central Kalimantan to establish a modern and sustainable food production system to boost food resilience and improve the farmers' welfare.

This year, the government is targeting to develop 30 thousand hectares of food estate in the region.

The minister pointed out that in order to lend a positive sentiment to investors and accelerate economic recovery in trade and industry, the government had encouraged investment facilities in taxation and non-taxation, land availability, and infrastructure.

For micro, small, and medium-scale enterprises (MSME), the government had expedited the disbursement of productive aid and micro loans for laid-off workers' housewives keen on starting a business.

In the field of research and innovations, the government will forge cooperation with state enterprises and private companies in the pharmaceutical industry for mass production of the vaccine.

During the 2020-2024 period, Hartarto affirmed that some of the national strategic projects (PSN) were implemented with the labor-intensive program that involved 209,139 people.

The projects comprised the construction of dams, irrigation system, toll road, clean water facility, sanitation, airport, port, railway, and regional infrastructure.

The government has also forged cooperation with the United Arab Emirates and South Korea to impose the travel corridor arrangement (TCA).

TCA is a short-visit facility for businesspersons and diplomats keen on continuing bilateral cooperation in investment and business projects in adherence with the health protocols amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Currently, the Indonesian government is in discussions with China over the TCA," Hartarto added. (ANTARA)