VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian economy development  is one of the fastest countries in Asia. This is also similar with technology development that emerges as the people’s needs. The combination between the two has a remarkable impact on trade and investment. During a press conference on the sidelines of Indonesia-Australia Digital Forum 2018 in Jakarta on Thursday (February 1st 2018), Chairman of Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board, Thomas Lembong stated that today,Indonesian people have gone through shifting of need from offline to online. That’s why,digital technology is needed.

“…I think digital economy is tremendously helpfull in moving small and medium enterprise and individual entreperneur from the informal sector to the formal sector. Think about grab, gojek, uber hundreds of thousand of drivers were already tukang ojek (motorcycle taxi) before this digital platform come along. But they were not organized, not in frame right not in an formal sector. Once they join the digital platform like grab or gojek or uber they become part of the formal sector. They receive some training. We now have data on those drivers. Digital platform is also collecting taxes on behalf of the government so the digital economy will have a big impact in moving from informal sector to formal sector,” Thomas Lembong said.

Thomas Lembong added that Indonesian people shift their needs in goods. This can be seen from the way they shop where they prefer to use online transaction. This is one of the impacts of digital technology for trade and investment development in Indonesia.//// (VOI/NK/AHM)

Indonesian Minister of Tourism Arief Yahya said that in 2017, Indonesia's tourism grew 22 percent. In a meeting of the Trade Ministry held in Jakarta on Thursday, (February 1^st), he explained that the figure is 3 times higher than that of tourism in ASEAN region and globally. The tourism growth in ASEAN grew 7% and global grew 6.4%. Indonesia becomes the second largest tourism growth country in ASEAN after Vietnam with 25.2 percent growth. Minister Arief Yahya targets that tourism will become the largest foreign exchange earner in Indonesia. By 2016, tourism became the second largest foreign exchange earnings after Crude Palm Oil. He views that deregulation is the key in promoting tourism growth. There are three major deregulations that have been done by the government in promoting tourism growth.

“…For us to be fast, we have to do deregulation whether in tourism, trade, and investment. So do deregulation! But the philosophy, in tourism, is that ease for entering Indonesia. Make people easy to enter Indonesia. The big three were before, one was a visa free, the second one was easy to enter, the three is the cruise to easily enter into Indonesia,” Arief Yahya said.

Minister Arief Yahya further explained that to facilitate the entry of tourists to Indonesia, the Ministry of Tourism has granted visa-free for 169 countries. In 2013, only 15 countries were granted visa-free. He added, the technology revolution through online-based travel business also contributes the increasing growth of tourism in Indonesia. In 2018, the Ministry of Tourism targets 17 million foreign tourists or grows 20 percent. (VOI/Sekar/trs Rezha)

Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi appeals for support from the ex-separatist group of the South Philippines, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front–MILF in relation to the release of three Indonesian citizens who are still held hostage by the Abu Sayyaf militant group. Spokesperson of Indonesian Foreign Ministry, Arrmanatha Nasir in his press conference, Jakarta on Thursday (February 1, 2018) said the appeal was submitted by Minister Retno Marsudi in her meeting with the MILF delegation in Jakarta on Thursday (February 1^st, 2018).

“…In the context of hostages problem, the Minister also expressed her concern about this matter; the Minister also stated that the government has made various efforts through all of our channels and of course, we also appeal for support from MILF if they can help to free the hostages, but more than the appeal, we also ask them to help preventing this problem in the future,” Armanatha said.

The meeting of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) delegation led by All Hajj Murad Ebrahim with the Indonesian Minister Retno in Jakarta was conducted with the main objective of studying the sucessful peace process or reconciliation in Aceh. Besides, the MILF delegation also held a meeting with Vice President Jusuf Kalla and representatives of Islamic organizations in Indonesia, such as Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah.//// (VOI/Rezha/AHM)

The Indonesian government will further encourage and develop the manufacturing sector. This is in accordance with the direction of President Joko Widodo to enhance the economic growth. Minister of Industry, Airlangga Hartarto said that the manufacturing industry sector is the mainstay of Indonesia's exports due to its high competitiveness. In a meeting of the Trade Ministry held in Jakarta on Thursday (February 1st), Minister Airlangga explained that there are five main commodities of manufacturing exports. They are food and beverage, chemical industry, metal, rubber and food. Thus, the government will improve the good climate in the manufacturing industry.

"... Well, if we see there, that the export we send is 74% of our exports from the industry. And from investment, it is the industry's highest sector. So, the only way we can do to improve the job is by providing industry with a good climate, including giving ease in getting raw materials. Well…, if this can be provided, I'm sure the investment will increase," Airlangga said.

Minister Airlangga further explained that in the future, there will be some sectors that can also be prioritized for exports, such as automotive, electronics, food and beverages. He views that the future of the sector will be the determinant sector of the world’s economy. These sectors have also run a 4.0 industry revolution or industry that utilizes technological advances to boost competitiveness. Minister Airlangga added that Indonesia's competitiveness rate has improved, namely at 36^th rank out of 137 countries. But there are some sectors that still cannot compete in the field of primary education and labor market efficiency. To cope with it, the government encourages vocational education programs and facilitates the permits of foreign workers.///(VOI/Skr/AHM)