VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Minister Teten Masduki has said that his ministry is supporting the entry of Papua MSMEs into the digital ecosystem.

One form of this support has been the provision of assistance through the Integrated Business Service Center (PLUT) for Cooperatives and MSMEs.

After inaugurating the Papua Cooperatives and MSMEs' PLUT in Mandala village here on Wednesday, Masduki said that PLUTs have an essential role in assisting MSMEs so that their products can be marketed either through the e-catalogue of the government or e-commerce.

"The goal is that Papuan MSME products can enter a wider market through the digital market. Thus, we are encouraging PLUTs to continue to assist MSMEs to enter the digital ecosystem," he said.

The MSMEs that PLUTs assist are advised to pick products that have local flagship value and are unique in Papua, he informed.

The MSME products must be sorted into those that are targeted for the local market, national market, and international market, he said.

The Papua PLUT could help obtain distribution permits for products made by the MSMEs that it assists and help them access business capital, he added.

"The Papua PLUT can become a pilot (project) for the implementation of smallholder business credit (KUR) so that MSMEs can access business capital through KUR clusters, which can reach a maximum ceiling of Rp500 million," he said.

Meanwhile, assistant for the economy and people's welfare division at the Papua Regional Secretariat, Muhammad Musa’ad, said that his party has also launched a local e-catalogue as a form of commitment to maximizing regional budget (APBD) spending on local products.

"Then, for MSME development, the Papua provincial government has the Papeda program that offers interest-free (business) capital for MSMEs," he pointed out.

He informed that the program is now being carried out selectively by targeting MSMEs that are considered to have the potential to develop.  (Antaranews)

Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said on Wednesday Papua New Guinea had proposed a security treaty between both countries amid increasing tensions in the Pacific islands after China struck a security pact with neighbouring Solomon Islands.

PNG Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko also told ABC Television he had discussed a security treaty with his Australian counterpart Penny Wong during her visit to Port Moresby on Tuesday, while Wong told ABC the discussions were in a "very early stage."

The Solomon Islands has had a tense relationship with the United States and its Pacific allies since striking a security pact with China in April. Australia, New Zealand and other Pacific island countries have said security needs should be met within the region.

"This is an idea that has been put forward by PNG," Marles told ABC radio on Wednesday.

"We have been making it really clear we want to be as close to PNG as we can be. We want to build on the already close military to military relationship that we have with Papua New Guinea, which we see as one of the most important military to military relationships that we have," he added.

Papua New Guinea is Australia's closest northern neighbour, separated by only a few kilometres, and a former colony, but has increasing trade and investment ties with China.

China failed to reach a sweeping trade and security pact with 10 Pacific nations including PNG in June.

Australia and the United States are funding the upgrade of a naval base on PNG's Manus Island, after a failed Chinese offer to redevelop a naval base in 2018.

Chinese navy vessels transit through the narrow Torres Strait separating Australia and PNG, with the activity becoming a point of friction in February when a Chinese ship directed a laser at an Australian military surveillance aircraft in flight over Australia's northern approaches.

The Solomon Islands, which has maritime borders with PNG and Australia, on Tuesday said it was suspending port visits by foreign navies until it puts in place a new approval process.

Marles declined to comment directly on whether Australia had been notified of the moratorium on port visits, after the United States government received notice a week after a U.S. coast guard vessel was unable to make a port call in Honiara.

"We want to see Australia be the natural partner of choice for the countries of the Pacific, that is not something that we take for granted," he said. (Reuters)

Hundreds of public housing apartments in Singapore, one of the world's most expensive cities, are being sold for over one million Singapore dollars ($716,000) as COVID-related construction delays create a shortage of new units.

At least two units have surpassed the million-dollar mark in U.S. dollars, and the high prices are fuelling talk of new government measures to try to cool thriving property markets.

The Southeast Asian city-state's public housing system – which sells government-built apartment units directly to citizens on a 99-year lease - has led to over 80% of Singaporeans owning their homes, one of the world's highest rates.

Many units - known as Housing & Development Board (HDB) flats - are conveniently located near train stations and malls and cater to various socioeconomic groups.

As ownership is transferable to both citizens and permanent residents after five years, a resale market has emerged. Some apartments originally purchased for around S$500,000 are now fetching double that, depending on size and location.

The most expensive resale public flat - a spacious 122-square metre unit close to train stations and schools and with 92 years' lease left - sold this year for S$1.418 million.

For decades, Singaporeans have used their HDB flats for extra cash by renting them out or reselling at a profit.

"Million-dollar HDB flats are here to stay, as there will always be people who like to live in central locations or larger spaces," said Clarence Long, who brokered a 113-sqm public flat sale for S$1.4 million in May.

"If you're looking at private condo of similar size in the same location, the price could easily be S$2.5 million," Long said.

Unlike HDB flats, private condos in Singapore typically have security guards and facilities including swimming pools and gyms.

Most first-time public flat buyers can apply for government housing grants and loans, making them less affected by rising bank interest rates, and keen to exit the rental market that has also soared amid the pandemic. 

"The monthly mortgage for my HDB flat is about S$3,400, this is much cheaper as the rental for a similar flat now will be about S$5,000," said Rajiv Malhotra, 45, who bought a 94-sqm public flat for S$1.08 million last year.

The proportion of monthly income used for mortgage payments has for three years remained at about 23% on average for public flat buyers with government loans, the government said late last year.

RISING PRICES

Singapore's construction sector, heavily reliant on foreign labour, has experienced major disruptions amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with tight supplies of materials also leading to delays.

Analysts expect tight supply to ease in early 2023.

While million-dollar flats are still less than 2% of total transactions, a record 259 public flats have been sold for S$1 million or more last year, official data shows, and there have already been about 230 by August this year.

Those finding the resale market unaffordable can seek to buy off-plan public flats directly from the government, known as HDB Built-To-Order (BTO) public flats, typically selling for about S$300,000 to S$700,000.

However, most popular BTO projects are overly subscribed and take around five years to complete construction, pushing many to the resale market.

When contacted by Reuters about any new cooling measures in the pipeline, HDB did not comment but referred to earlier government statements.

The Ministry of National Development said last month the government planned to ramp up supply of new BTO flats to meet demand.

Singapore announced cooling measures on property markets last December, including raising stamp duties and tightening loan limits and transaction volumes have seen some softening.

"There is a possibility that the government may consider another round of cooling measures given the rising prices in both public and private residential markets," said Christine Sun, the senior vice president of research & analytics at OrangeTee & Tie.

"But it won't be easy...because it's willing seller, willing buyer," Sun added. (Reuters)

Officials from the Group of 20 major economies meeting on Wednesday for climate talks in Bali have been unable to agree a joint communique, amid objections over language used on climate targets and the war in Ukraine, two sources told Reuters.

Indonesia's Environment Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar had started the meeting by urging countries to cut emissions and prevent the planet from being pushed to a point "where no future will be sustainable".

But some countries, including China, had objected to previously agreed language in the Glasgow climate pact and past G20 agreements on efforts to limit global average temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius, said an official with knowledge of the meeting, declining to be identified because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

China's foreign ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Another diplomatic source told Reuters there had been disagreements about language around climate and also references to the war in Ukraine.

Siti had earlier said she hoped a joint communique would be signed by the end of the day, but made no mention of it in her press conference later on Wednesday.

A spokesperson for Indonesia's environment ministry was not immediately available for comment on the matter.

The G20 climate meeting, hosted by this year's chair Indonesia, comes as extreme weather events - fires, floods and heat waves - pummel several parts of the world, including unprecedented flooding in Pakistan in recent weeks that has killed at least 1,000 people.

Scientists say most such extreme weather events are attributable to human-caused climate change and will only increase in severity and frequency as the globe edges closer to the warming threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Environment officials from Australia, Brazil, India, Japan, South Korea, and U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, were among those attending the talks in Bali, with more bilateral meetings expected on Thursday.

Indonesia as current G20 chair invited representatives from the African Union to join the talks for the first time, said Siti, adding that voices from all countries, regardless of their wealth and size, must be heard.

Also in attendance was Alok Sharma, president of last year's 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), who said the war in Ukraine had increased the urgency of a need to shift to renewable sources of energy. The COP27 climate summit will be held in Egypt this November.

"The current energy crisis has demonstrated the vulnerability of countries relying on fossil fuels controlled by hostile actors," he said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Climate security has become synonymous with energy security and the chronic threat of climate change is not going away," he said. (Reuters)