VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto has urged the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to increase and strengthen cooperation for developing artificial intelligence (IAI) technology to usher in business efficiency.

Cooperation will enable the region not only to manage opportunities and challenges arising from AI but to also strengthen stability and achieve regional prosperity using the digital roadmap in the upcoming years, he said in a statement released on Thursday.

“In the past few years, one of the fastest-growing technologies for practical purposes has been AI,” he said at the online ASEAN Workshop on the 4th Industrial Revolution.

The Industrial Revolution 4.0 has the potential to raise global income and improve the quality of people’s lives worldwide, Hartarto said.

Technology has created new products and services to improve efficiency and provide comfort, he said.

According to the minister, AI makes it possible for a machine to perform duties that usually need human intelligence. Hence, it has been empowered and adopted widely in various applications, ranging from simple daily tasks, intelligent assistants, finance, specific orders, operation control, to national security.

It is hoped that the use of AI will improve business efficiency, increase productivity, encourage innovations in various sectors, and answer national and regional development problems, including post-COVID-19 pandemic economic recovery, creation of new jobs outside the manufacturing sector such as the logistics supply chain, service centers, and research, he added.

A survey conducted by Kearney and EDBI (2020) has predicted that AI can have a comprehensive and strong impact, including bringing about an increase in the gross domestic product (GDP) of 10 percent to 18 percent across Southeast Asia by 2030.

The National Culture Week (PKN) 2021 is promoting content concerning the beauty of Indonesian culture, the director general of culture at the Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Ministry has said.

"PKN 2021 promotes a variety of contents that show how culture could become the solution to our problems today," Hilmar Farid stated in a written statement issued here on Thursday.

"Indonesia culture was not born out of nowhere, but arose from the ability to process local opportunities," he said.

Indonesia has a variety of inherited practices related to clothing, food, and housing that are useful as a guideline for managing life, he added.

"Culture is not just about past inherited practices, but also an effort to ensure present safety, and create a better future," Farid remarked.

A variety of cultural content produced by people from various regions in Indonesia has been featured on indonesiana.tv and can be directly accessed on pkn.id, he informed.

"This is the biggest cultural festival in Indonesia in 2021 in two senses. The first is that it is the biggest in terms of the scale of public involvement with three thousand cultural figures and 70 regional governments taking an active part in PKN 2021," he highlighted.

"The second is that it is the biggest in terms of its mission of processing the brilliance of local culture to resolve contemporary challenges," he added.

Farid then highlighted a number of exciting programs broadcast every day from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

For instance, the Bincang Cerlang, a discussion on protecting Indonesia's intellectual property, the role of the younger generation, and the use of digital technology for preserving the nation's architecture and mainstreaming local food culture.

The local food culture segment featured Robert Oliver, a food activist from the Pacific islands, and Janice Gabriel, a culinary television show producer from the United Kingdom.

There was also a variety show featuring, among other things, a documentary film by Riri Riza on the clothing, food, and housing culture in South Solok District, West Sumatra.

Other programs included a series of cultural broadcasts hosted by Jimi Multhazam and Ricky Malau, the host of Ngobryls on YouTube.

Next was the Icip Pangan program featuring a variety of spice drink recipes, Star Jamming, Di Dalam Indonesia (Inside Indonesia), Cultural Fashion, and other shows. The programs also had participation from partnering countries, Farid noted.

"The National Culture Week was designed to be a meeting and consolidation space for Indonesia's cultural richness. Hence, the diversity of events on display is the consequence of that richness," he added.

Health protocols and vaccinations are crucial for preventing a surge in coronavirus infections during the Christmas and New Year holidays, a government official has said.

"The keys to our success in facing the Christmas and New Year period are two, the first is public awareness to continue to wear masks and social distancing, and not to delay vaccination," Spokesperson for the COVID-19 Task Force Wiku Adisasmito said at a press conference accessed from here on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the second key is the government's seriousness in monitoring the health protocols and distributing vaccines to areas with low vaccination coverage, he said.

Currently, Indonesians are still being allowed to carry out their activities by implementing the health protocols, he noted. However, mask-wearing is not yet being monitored well despite being mandatory, he pointed out.

"In fact, in some public places such as terminals and markets, there are still many violations," he said.

For that reason, the implementation of the health protocols should be monitored seriously by ensuring that the task force is mobilized in all public places, he suggested. If people are careless, the potential for an increase in cases will be even greater, Adisasmito said.

In addition, the government also needs to increase the country's vaccination coverage since it is still less than 50 percent, he said.

Complete vaccination coverage is the current focus of the government since people can be better protected against the virus once they receive a full dose compared to only one dose, he said.

"Therefore, Indonesia can avoid the threat of a third wave after the Christmas and New Year period if at least the implementation of the health protocols and vaccination coverage continues to be increased," he added.

The Indonesian Government will use electric cars as the main vehicles for officials during its G20 presidency next year as a manifestation of its commitment to climate change mitigation and adaptation, a senior minister stated.

“Indonesia emphasizes concrete steps to address environmental and climate change issues. One of the actions to reflect (the concept of) leading by example is that we will use electric vehicles for officials during the Presidency of G20,” Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto noted in Jakarta on Thursday.

The Indonesian Government has set a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 29 percent from the business-as-usual scenario and 41 percent with international support by 2030.

The government is collaborating with Hyundai Motor Indonesia (HMD) to provide electric cars for officials during Indonesia’s G20 Presidency.

Hyundai remains committed to providing 42 electric cars for the First Sherpa Meeting of Indonesia’s G20 Presidency in 2022. In addition, it has organized a special training course for would-be drivers of electric cars and set up two EV charging stations at the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs.

“The collaboration with Hyundai is a form of support from the private sector in ensuring the success of Indonesia’s G20 Presidency through the use of environmentally friendly means of transportation,” he remarked.

The first Sherpa meeting is part of a series of openers of Indonesia’s G20 Presidency in 2022 to be held offline in Jakarta on December 6-8, 2020

As many as 104 delegations from 39 G20 countries, invited nations, and international organizations are expected to attend the event in Jakarta.

Indonesia’s Presidency of G20 will also offer an opportunity to showcase the success of the government’s structural reform in the fields of trade, investment, and industry.

Moreover, Hyundai has invested US$1.55 billion in developing ASEAN’s first manufacturing hub in Deltamas Bekasi City, West Java.

“With a maximum (production) capacity of 250 thousand per year, (the company) will surely create jobs for thousands of people,” he added.