VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta - Newly inducted Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs Saiful Rahmat Dasuki revealed that he would continue to apply religious moderation policies and focus on assisting Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas during the remainder of the cabinet term.

"To complete given duties and functions, assisting the minister, and ensuring the success of the minister's principal programs for the next 1.5 years on religious moderation, realize greater tolerance, and maintain plurality in Indonesia," Dasuki stated at the Presidential Palace here, Monday.

The deputy minister reiterated his commitment to working in line with the wishes and instructions of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and Minister Qoumas.

Meanwhile, Dasuki said he is replacing his predecessor Zainut Tauhid Saadi, his colleague in the United Development Party (PPP), who has been named a legislative candidate in the 2024 General Elections.

"This reshuffle is indeed the president's prerogative, but coincidentally, the president also asked for it. In the end, the party chair gave the mandate to me," the deputy minister stated.

Earlier, Jokowi confirmed that PPP had requested the replacement of the deputy minister.

"It was the party's request," the president stated with regard to the reshuffle on the deputy minister.

Meanwhile, acting PPP chairperson Muhamad Mardiono stated that the cabinet reshuffle is within the president's prerogatives, as he has appropriate instruments to determine which figures can serve in the cabinet.

"As the chair of a political party, I am required to assist Mr President to harmonize our development in the remainder of the current government's term," Mardiono remarked.

Dasuki was one of the several party cadres whose names were submitted to the president to consider their inclusion in government ministries or offices, he noted.

Mardiono also clarified that no bad intentions were behind Saadi's discharge, stressing that changes in the president's cabinet are inevitable.

"It is an inevitability, so as part of the Indonesian nation, we should abide by Mr President's prerogatives," he remarked. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - Indonesia has a crucial leadership role in the green transition toward a low-carbon country, as it is a developing country and market, Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani stated.

This aligns with Indonesia's long-term climate resilience and low-carbon strategy. Moreover, the country is committed to achieving zero emission by 2060, she stated during the High-Level G20 India side event, as quoted from a statement on Tuesday.

To this end, Indonesia continues to intensify cooperation with other stakeholders, such as through the Green Climate Fund, Global Environmental Facility and Adaptation Fund.

According to the minister, this cooperation should be translated into effective and credible actions. Thus, Sri Mulyani ensures that Indonesia will continue to play a role.

The High-Level G20 India side event -- Seminar Achieving Growth-Friendly Climate Action and Financing for Emerging and Developing Economies -- is part of G20's 3rd Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governor Meeting (FMCBG) agenda in India.

The meeting discussed the challenging condition of the global economy and the policies to respond to it.

The recent years have become very important because the world is in a weak state and geopolitics affects the decline in the world economy. This fragmented condition should be understood and properly managed, Mulyani emphasized.

Because of this, Indonesia continues to improve its economic performance. Throughout the meetings, Indonesia is deemed to be one of the countries, with good economic and financial performance.

In addition, the minister stressed that Indonesia will continue to play an active role in global forums, especially to convince that it is able to anticipate and manage various global policies and maintain its interests at the global level.

She also emphasized that Indonesia will work hard to maintain its economy and state budget. (Antaranews)

East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa has urged all regional leaders in the province as well as stakeholders to consistently collaborate in efforts to eradicate extreme poverty and suppress stunting.

She made the request at the opening of the highlights of Public Collaboration Month XX and the 51st commemoration of the Family Welfare Empowerment Collective Movement in Madiun, East Java, on July 16, 2023.

According to a statement received in Madiun on Monday, the governor said that the special month can serve as an opportunity to boost collaboration among all stakeholders, including tertiary education institutions, by outlining a comprehensive community service program (KKN) that can suppress the rate of extreme poverty and stunting at a faster pace.

"The national target of 2024 is for extreme poverty rate to reach zero percent, whereas the stunting rate (is targeted to come down) to 14 percent. God willing, East Java can achieve those earlier if collaboration is consistently improved," Parawansa added.

She cited 2020 data from the province's Health Office, which pegged the region's stunting prevalence at 25.6 percent. In 2021, the figure declined to 23.5 percent, and in 2022, it fell further to 19.2 percent, she noted. The governor informed that the latest rate was below the World Health Organization's (WHO’s) stunting threshold of 20 percent.

She said that there was an interesting finding from a professor of science in nutrition—that stunting does not merely denote a lack of nutrition, but also hints at underlying issues within families.

"(The professor) did a survey in one South Asian country, in a village in which usually the children grew up with stunting. Turns out the problem is not just low nutritional intake, or lacking protein and calories. But instead, the lack of love and (attention)," she added.

According to Parawansa, the period of gestation, not birth marks the beginning of life. Hence, a mother must be loved and cared for a lot by her spouse and family.

"So our intervention measure can't just be limited to nutritional stuff. But also on educating about parenting in every prospective family who will be wedded, it must be done (effectively)," she added.

The governor said that the province recorded an extreme poverty rate of 1.8 percent in 2022; hence, she urged everyone to use the collaboration month to bring down the poverty rate significantly by working hand in hand. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati discussed tax reform with her Australian counterpart James Edward Chalmers on the sidelines of the 3rd G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (3rd G20 FMCBG) Meeting in India.

"One of the topics of discussion is taxation, especially related to tax reform," she said on her official Instagram account @smindrawati, which was accessed from Jakarta on Monday.

Apart from taxation, Indrawati and Chalmers also discussed other topics relevant to India's Presidency of the G20.

On climate change financing, they explored the potential for collaboration regarding taxonomy and green financing in the Asian region.

They also discussed infrastructure and its financing by integrating public-private partnership.

"I also take this opportunity to express my appreciation for Jim's support regarding Indonesia's membership in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)," Indrawati said.

She attended the FMCBG meeting organized under India’s G20 Presidency in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India.

As part of the agenda, she shared her views on economic development and increasing cooperation with various stakeholders.

To strengthen bilateral cooperation, the Indonesian minister and Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched the Economic and Financial Cooperation Dialogue (EFD) in Gandhinagar.

The dialogue will discuss policies ranging from the highest level to the technical level. The discussion will be targeted at meeting the domestic development needs of each country, as well as efforts to maintain high economic growth performance, create jobs, reduce poverty, and increase cooperation, not only within a bilateral framework, but also at the multilateral level. (Antaranews)