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People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) deputy speaker Lestari Moerdijat stated that youngsters are the main actors in sustainable development, and the realization of a global vision of an inclusive and equal world becomes their responsibility.

"Youngsters or the younger generation are the main actors in sustainable development. We cannot deny that the global vision of an inclusive and equal world will be the responsibility of the current generation and to be continued by the younger generation," Moerdijat noted at the Denpasar 12 discussion forum titled "Strategic Synergy for Youth Empowerment in 2023" followed online on Wednesday.

Moerdijat affirmed that to carry out the responsibility, the younger generation needs to tackle several complex challenges, such as the current increasingly worsening geopolitical turmoil, the possibility of a worsening economic situation, changes in political governance, and climate change.

In addition, youth empowerment should be optimized, so that they have the ability to face those various challenges.

Nevertheless, she expressed optimism that the younger generation would realize sustainable development, as they have much energy.

She then reminded all parties that youth empowerment could not be separated from the "corridor" of the nation and state life philosophy. She affirmed that the development of youngsters must be based on the values of the state ideology of Pancasila, the 1945 Constitution, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity), and the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI).

The MPR deputy speaker also pressed for bolstering synergy among various parties in realizing the youth empowerment strategy.

"Synergy for youth empowerment strategies must be increased to not only encourage Indonesian youngsters in certain sectors but more than that also to open up all possibilities as wide as possible, including opening various channels to support youngsters to gain skills and be able to stand tall in all areas of life," she remarked.  (Antaranews)

Deputy chairperson of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) Shinta Widjaja Kamdani has expressed optimism that Indonesia's economy will continue to grow in 2023 despite a global slowdown.

"We agree with the government and remain optimistic that Indonesia's economy will continue to grow throughout this year even though the global economic climate is not conducive or supports growth in developing countries," she said when contacted here on Wednesday.

Kamdani further said that she did not see external pressures, such as the weakening global economy, causing a crisis or a decline in economic performance, even though they may pose a risk in the form of triggering a decline or slowdown in growth.

Nevertheless, the risk would not be as severe as in G7 countries such as Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US, she added.

"On the contrary, we have a very good chance of being able to maintain the performance of the economic recovery that has occurred since 2021 because our macroeconomic fundamentals are very solid and support stability," she explained.

"This is an important factor in the current condition (the high risk of a global crisis) to support more optimal economic growth in Indonesia," she added.

Indonesia is considered to have an opportunity to grow better compared to last year if the country can maintain and increase conduciveness, maintain the momentum of structural reforms, and improve the efficiency of the national business or investment climate amid the political campaigns this year.

"However, with the presence of those global pressures, we must remain alert and be more active in boosting national economic performance," Kamdani said.

Several efforts need to be made to realize continuous national economic growth, such as improving people’s purchasing power, boosting consumption, and controlling inflation and the exchange rate, she added.

In addition, it is necessary to maximize the growth of investment and the healthy performance of national business actors at various levels so that they continue to grow and are not affected by external pressures from the global economy, which is not in a good condition. (Antaranews)

Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo affirmed that his side is preparing a microtargeting strategy to overcome various problems of poverty and stunting whose prevalence and figures remain high in the province.

"We follow up on President Joko Widodo's directive by creating a program to tackle poverty and stunting with the microtargeting (strategy)," Pranowo stated here on Wednesday.

He explained that the new strategy in dealing with poverty and stunting will involve village and sub-districts heads in all regions across Central Java.

"That way, (information on the targeted population) can be in detail, such as who is poor, where are them, how many are there, and what kind of intervention (is needed). When the (intervention) is ready, the handling must be done collaboratively," he remarked.

At the “2023 National Coordination Meeting of Regional Heads and the Regional Leadership Communication Forum” in Sentul, West Java, on Tuesday (January 17), the president has emphasized the need for regions to reduce stunting cases and poverty rates.

So far, Pranowo highlighted that the programs to reduce the poor population and stunted children prevalence had been running well in Central Java, but the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered an increase in poverty in some regions in the province.

"We are on standby, (Insya Allah) God willing, starting this week, we will do a 'roadshow' (visit) to several regions and assign village heads to record data of (targeted population) in detail," he explained.

In addition, he urged sub-district heads to coordinate with the related parties and each district head will be responsible in their respective areas.

The Central Java governor also highlighted the president's message that investment must be facilitated, including the use of the regional budget and the state budget to provide stimulus for economic growth, help reduce unemployment, and alleviate poverty.

"Hopefully, after the briefing, we will all be more solid and ready to face 2023 with more certainty, more measured with a clearer target," he stated. (antaranews)

Indonesia will not import fossil fuels from 2045 as it will have developed the potential of palm oil as an alternative fuel by then, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, has informed.

"We are currently researching (the potential of) palm oil because we believe that we will be able to produce around 100 million tons of palm oil by 2045,” he said in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday local time.

He made the statement during a presentation entitled “Indonesia Zero Pathway: Opportunity & Challenges” at the Indonesian Pavilion at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting 2023.

At least 30 percent of palm oil production will be used for the food industry, while the remaining 70 percent will be used to manufacture ethanol, the coordinating minister said.

"Thus, we will not need to import fossil fuel at that time (by 2045)," he added.

He said that the development of alternative fuels is one of the five green economy pillars whose implementation is being intensified by Indonesia.

The other four pillars are the decarbonization of the electricity sector, the utilization of low-carbon transportation, the development of green industry, and the strengthening of carbon sink.

According to Pandjaitan, the transition from fossil energy to renewable energy would encourage the realization of net-zero emissions by 2060.

"That is the reason that the (utilization of the derivative products of) palm oil will have big impacts in the upcoming years," he said.

The Indonesian government has put a moratorium on oil palm plantation permits, thus the productivity of the plantations can be increased from 2.3 tons per hectare to 8–10 tons per hectare in the next 10–15 years, he observed.

In addition, the moratorium policy aims to reduce deforestation due to the expansion of oil palm plantations.

Furthermore, as the world’s largest crude palm oil (CPO) producer in the world, Indonesia has also implemented a mandatory program to push the use of CPO-based biodiesel since 2008, the coordinating minister said.

The mandatory program aims to cut imports of fossil fuels, increase the use of renewable energy, as well as minimize emissions from the use of fossil fuels. (Antaranews)