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July
Campaign for the Use of Prohibited Substances in the World of Sports in Indonesia
Written by Rahma
The Central Indonesian National Sports Committee (KONI) and the Indonesian Anti-Doping Organization (IADO) are collaborating to promote anti-doping education in the country. For this reason, the General Chairperson of the Central KONI Marciano Norman and the Chairman of IADO, Gatot Dewa Broto, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at the Central KONI Office, Senayan, Jakarta, Tuesday. This collaboration includes various activities to clean sports in Indonesia from the use of prohibited substances.
KONI and IADO synergize in carrying out anti-doping campaigns, doping prevention, making doping guidebooks in the implementation of the National Sports Week (PON) and national sports championships, regular anti-doping education in the overall development of sports achievements, and others.
Chairman of the Central KONI Marciano Norman said the signing of this collaboration was very important because it contained how to educate athletes and all stakeholders in sports so that in the future they fully understand doping, so that there are no more cases that ensnare Indonesian athletes for doping. He also said the potential for doping could be intentional or ignorance.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of IADO, Gatot Dewabroto said this was the first MoU to precede the Indonesian Olympic Committee (KOI/NOC Indonesia) and the Indonesian Paralympic Committee (NPC). This collaboration is very strategic, because the Central KONI has 34 provincial KONI members who oversee 514 district/city and 71 main sports branches.
July
The Indonesian government and UK government agreed on low-carbon transportation in Indonesia through the program "Future Cities: UK-Indonesia Low Carbon Partnership" held in Jakarta, Tuesday (5/7). Director-General of Land Transportation at the Transportation Ministry, Hendro Sugiatno said that the cooperation is expected to help a sustainable and eco-friendly developing urban transportation system in Indonesia. He said previously that the implementing agreement to start the cooperation was done by the Transportation Ministry's Secretary-General, Novie Riyanto and UK Ambassador to Indonesia and Timor Leste, Owen Jenkins. The signing was a follow-up of the memorandum of understanding signed by Minister of Transportation, Budi Karya Sumadi and Minister of State in the Department for Transport, Wendy Morton MP in June 2022. Hendro further stated that the transportation quality improvement effort is in line with the efforts to increase economic growth and climate change impact mitigation. The Indonesian government is developing some urban mass-transport in the forms of integrated and electric bus rapid transit and railways. On the same occasion, Ambassador Owen Jenkins explained that the Indonesian government through the UK Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transition (UK PACT) gave funding support amounting to 9 million British Pound Sterling. The fund is aimed for eco-friendly urban transportation in some provinces across Indonesia. such as North Sumatra, Jakarta, West Java, Central Java, East Java, and South Sulawesi. Ambassador Owen Jenkins added that through this program, both countries intend to seize the great opportunities, such as roadmap development for efficient vehicle electrification, climate friendly solution integration into national and regional development plans, and low-carbon transportation project planning that can attract investment. There are five projects of the Future Cities Program which include first the integration of LRT, transit-oriented development, and land value capture in Semarang. Second, there is a transition to an inclusive low-carbon transportation through various safety improvements for the vulnerable group, and third, it’s a sustainable urban transportation strengthening in the coasts. Fourth, it’s an inclusive transportation decarbonization in Indonesia. Fifth, there is a clean mobility for the metropolitan area of Jakarta.
July
Indonesian Minister of State-Owned Enterprises, Erick Thohir announced increased cooperative relationship between Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) through the Indonesia-United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (UAE-CEPA). He said that both countries agreed to increase trade, investment and economic cooperation. The bilateral agreement was signed by Indonesian President Joko Widodo and UAE President Mohammed Bin Zayed.
In a written statement on Sunday (3/7) as quoted on the Sindonews.com page (03/7), Minister Erick Thohir said, the Indonesian government discussed the cooperation that has been established so far and the potential for other strategic partnerships.
Previously, Minister Erick Thohir also met leaders of large companies in the UAE. The potential partnership between Indonesian State-Owned airline company, Garuda Indonesia, the Indonesia Investment Authority and UAE was discussed with Emirates Group Managing Director, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum.
Minister Erick Thohir also explained that this collaboration is an effort to improve the Indonesian aviation industry, and support Indonesia's domestic tourism economy. He has also built a partnership with a multinational logistics company from Dubai, DP World to strengthen Indonesia's logistics ecosystem in a bid to make it more efficient and professional. It is expected that in the future, the Indonesian port industry can be more competitive among neighboring countries like Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines.
July
Early June, ANOC (Association of National Olympic Committees) officially announced that Indonesia will host the ANOC World Beach Games-AWBG to take place in Bali in 2023. In addition to hosting the beach and water sports events from 5-12 August 2023, Bali will also host the XXVII ANOC General Assembly.
In the official website for the World Beach Games Activities, a qualification system has been released for the seven mandatory sports to be competed, namely aquathlon, beach handball, beach football, beach tennis, beach wrestling, karate, and 5km open water swimming. However, to participate in the event, even though as the host, Indonesian athletes must take part in the selection or a qualifying championship.
In response to this, the Secretary General of the Indonesian Olympic Committee (KOI) Ferry J Kono, recently in Jakarta, reminded the related sports branches in Indonesia to prepare for the qualifying championship. Ferry in his statement said that based on the inaugural games of the AWBG in Doha, the host Qatar still had to pass qualifying tournaments for several sports. Likewise with the one to be held in Bali, Indonesian athletes must participate in the qualifying round. The qualification system will refer to the world rankings and the quota will be given in two ways, namely the results at the World Championships and the continental qualifiers.
In addition to organizing the 7 sports that have been approved, Indonesia as the host has the right to propose several sports to be competed. According to Ferry J Kono, Indonesia has proposed several sports, including water badminton, sport climbing, beach dragon boat, and paragliding. In addition, Indonesia also asked for two sports to be exhibited, namely sepak takraw and pencak silat..
July
The Head of System and Compliance Standardization at Maritime & Fishery Ministry's Fish Quarantine, Quality Control, and Fishery Product Security Agency Teguh Samudro said Indonesian fishery products have been accepted in 171 countries. Indonesia's top fishery export products include tuna, skipjack, shrimp, squid, lobster, and crab. Meanwhile, the main export destination countries include the US, China, Japan, and the European Union. That was stated by Teguh in Quarantine Quality Month 2022 held at Yogyakarta Fish Quarantine and Fishery Quality Control on Tuesday.
Teguh said the fishery product export value in 2021 was 5.5 billion USD and was aimed to reach 6.5 billion USD this year. According to Teguh, the value was achieved because besides the existing potential, the program also supported the production increase. The government must ensure that the products meet the quality standard of the destination country. Teguh added that the requirements keep developing because they are related to health issues including the environment, human, and animal's health.
Teguh explained that the duty of the Fish Quarantine, Quality Control, and Fishery Product Security Agency is to ensure the fishery products' health quality and security are guaranteed. The monitoring is done from the beginning of the production, fishing ships, and seedings for cultivation, both for export or local consumption.
March
Supporting the Digital Economy, SOEs Builds Infrastructure and Funding
Written by Maryati
The Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises –SOEs supports the digital economy by building infrastructure and opening funding access. That was stated by Deputy Minister of the State-owned Enterprises, I Pahala Mansury during the Forum Ekonomi Merdeka virtually on Monday (28/2).
Pahala Mansury said that Indonesia has a great potential in the digital economy sector. In 2025, Indonesian digital economic value will be projected to reach US$124 billion. With this amount, the digital economy contributes more than 10 percent to Indonesian Gross Domestic Product –GDP or 0.7 percent to global digital economy by 2025. Therefore, Pahala also remarked that Indonesia must use the potential optimally to be a main player and not just being a market for other countries.
Pahala further explained that to support the digital economy development, SOEs has 3 strategies. The first one is by building digital infrastructure from data center, cloud, to the 5G fiber optic network. Pahala also said that the business in the digital infrastructure has a great potential with market capitalization up to Rp400 trillion. The second one is by building a digital platform offering products or services needed or known in the world, such as game, healthtech, and edutech.
The third strategy is by establishing the Merah-Putih Fund to finance the potential startups. This becomes an alternative for the startups in reducing foreign capital. Pahala further stated that the Merah-Putih Fund would focus on funding the local startups so that the "soonicorn" or soon-to-be unicorn will still operate in Indonesia. In addition, this will help the local unicorns to join the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX).
The Merah- Putih Fund is targeted to be launched in Q2 2022. This fund would be managed by five corporations of SOEs in venture capital, namely Mandiri Capital Indonesia, MDI Ventures, Telkomsel Mitra Inovasi, BRI Ventures, and BNI Ventures.
March
Indonesia and Switzerland Discuss Solutions to Global Supply Chain Problems
Written by Maryati
Indonesia and Switzerland discussed various issues ranging from solutions to global supply chain problems to palm oil on February 24, 2022. This was stated in the 9th Session of the Joint Economic and Trade Commission (JETC) of the two countries. The Meeting is a routine bilateral consultation mechanism in the economic and trade fields between Indonesia and Switzerland which has been taking place since 2010.
Head of Bilateral Economic Relations for Asia and Oceania at the Swiss Ministry of Economy, Fabienne Wassermann, said that Swiss shipping companies are ready to provide assistance to overcome global supply chain and logistics problems in Indonesia, by opening direct shipping lines from Indonesia to export destination countries.
As quoted from the kemlu.go.id page (25/2) regarding palm oil, the Director General of America and Europe, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, Ambassador Ngurah Swajaya, who led the Indonesian Delegation, hoped that the Swiss Government would soon receive the certification of the Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil – ISPO which is s one of the four certifications that have been recognized in the palm oil Ordinance in Switzerland. According to him, to make this happen, Switzerland is committed to helping increase the capacity of Indonesian small-scale farmers, through the 2021-2024 development cooperation scheme.
In addition, Ngurah Swajaya welcomed the planned visit of the Swiss Minister of Economy, Education and Research, Guy Parmelin along with a business delegation to Indonesia in March 2022. Ngurah Swajaya said he would convey concrete cooperation which is expected to be achieved during the visit of the Minister and the Swiss delegation to Indonesia.
Meanwhile, considering that Switzerland is one of the leading countries in the healthcare sector, the Indonesian Ambassador to Switzerland in Bern, Muliaman Hadad, also invited Swiss pharmaceutical and medical device industry players to develop their portfolio in Indonesia.
Besides being attended by delegates from both governments, the 9th Session of the Joint Commission on Economic and Trade between Indonesia and Switzerland was also attended by Deputy Chairperson of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Shinta Kamdani, and several businessmen. In the dialogue session between business actors, Indonesia offered an opportunity to increase exports of cocoa products to meet the needs of the global Swiss chocolate industry. Meanwhile, a consortium of Swiss companies has shown interest in a number of infrastructure projects in Indonesia, including to develop the new National Capital.
The economic performance of Indonesia and Switzerland continues to show improvement even in the midst of the pandemic. Swiss investment in Indonesia in 2021 will quadruple to US$576.3 million, from previously US$130.9 million in 2020. This figure has even exceeded the investment value in the pre-pandemic period. In the last three years (2019-2021), Indonesia continued to record a surplus in the trade balance with Switzerland
February
The Governments of Indonesia and the UK seek to strengthen trade and investment relations through a meeting between Indonesian Minister of Trade Muhammad Lutfi and British Minister of International Trade Anne-Marie Trevelyan in Jakarta. The meeting was the first to be held within the framework of the Joint Economy and Trade Committee (JETCO) Indonesia-United Kingdom which was agreed upon April 2021. Minister of Trade Muhammad Lutfi in a virtual press conference in Jakarta last Wednesday 23 February said during the meeting, they discussed several issues, including increasing trade transactions between the two countries.
In addition, the two countries also discussed cooperation in renewable energy, food, beverage, agriculture as well as their engagement at the G20 Forum and the World Trade Organization (WTO). They also discussed what next steps could be for the two countries to cooperate in the future. Muhammad Lutfi emphasized specifically for the green energy, food, beverage and agriculture sector, Indonesia and the UK have also formed two working groups. He hopes that through the working group a concrete agreement can be established between the two countries. One of them regarding future free trade agreements (FTAs).
Meanwhile, British Minister of International Trade Anne-Marie Trevelyan said the total trade value between Indonesia and the UK has reached £2.6 billion. According to Trevelyan, through JETCO, the British government wants to strengthen it and see the great potential between the two countries. She emphasized Indonesia and the UK have the potential to strengthen cooperation in the fields of trade and investment.
February
1st G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting Results in a Joint Commitment
Written by Maryati
Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Governor of Bank Indonesia, Perry Warjiyo explained the result of the 1st Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting with some international organizations virtually on Friday (18/2).
In a press release, Minister Sri Mulyani pointed out that the 1st FMCBG discussed six priority agendas namely global economy & health, international financial architecture, financial sector issues, sustainable finance, international infrastructure & taxation.
She also remarked that on the first day, there was a high-level seminar joined by world's figures to discuss strengthening the global health architecture in facing the Covid-19 pandemic. Until now, many countries' economies are badly affected and not yet recovering.
On the second day, there were some issues namely sustainable finance, climate crisis, infrastructure, and international taxation. Special for tax, was discussed in an agreement involving two pillars namely taxation in the digital sector and global minimal taxation.
Minister Sri Mulyani further said that the participants also discussed the condition of poor and developing countries stuck in debt. Therefore, a global cooperation from the creditors is needed to provide space for these countries so that they can recover.
In the same press release, Governor Perry Warjiyo said that the international monetary system was also an important discussion. It was mainly related to the plan and anticipation of the policy normalization in developed countries.
The meeting participants agreed some commitments, such as the need to support macro stability and global finance. G20 is committed to implementing a normalization that has been properly calibrated, planned, and communicated. This is important so that the policy normalization by developed countries will have minimal impact on global finance market conditions.
The other issues being discussed were a more varied currency in trade and investment, and global finance sector reform. Referring to the G20 roadmap, the participants were committed to further strengthening and expanding payment digitalization as well as promoting an easy, fast, and cheap transaction. This is aimed at increasing retail trade development, financial inclusion and supporting the micro, small, and medium enterprises, especially for women and youths.
The 1st Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting also supports the FInancial Action Task Force (FATF) as a global standardization agency to prevent and fight money laundering, terrorists funding, and proliferation funding.
February
Indonesian G20 presidency pushes for concrete steps in 3 priority areas
Written by Maryati
Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto stated the Indonesian G20 presidency encourages concrete steps for three priority areas, namely the global health architecture, digital economic transformation and energy transition.
Airlangga Hartarto in a written statement last Thursday 17 February said in the health sector an important aspect promoted by the Indonesian Presidency is the global response and inclusiveness in overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for the affordability and accessibility of vaccines and strengthening the global health architecture.
Regarding digital transformation efforts, Airlangga said Indonesia emphasized the importance of the availability of digital infrastructure or hardware such as fiber optic networks so that various digital platforms can be affordable and easily accessible. He gave an example of a government program, namely the Pre-Employment Card as part of digital transformation in the form of a digital training mechanism to improve the quality of Indonesian human resources. Training in the form of skilling, reskilling and upskilling is done digitally. The Pre-Employment Card is also a semi-social assistance platform for people affected by the pandemic.
For the energy transition, Indonesia is reviewing the appropriate financing mechanism in order to realize transformation steps that are driven by investment in renewable energy. This sector is being developed in various regions in Indonesia, including related to hydropower and diesel/ carbon capture and storage technology, all of which require a large amount of financing. Airlangga Hartarto added in line with the Glasgow Climate Pact, Indonesia has also launched an innovative financing scheme in order to accelerate the closure of coal-based power plants.
He revealed, Indonesia is cooperating with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) through the Energy Transition Mechanism and utilizing ammonia gas for power generation. For that innovative financing solutions and schemes and international support are really needed and this is in line with the Glasgow's commitment. The focus of the Indonesian government regarding the electricity aspect is affordability and availability of technology and commitment to implementation.