VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) clarified not being behind the narrative recently gaining traction in which he was proposed as vice presidential candidate for the 2024 election.

"If it is from me, I will explain. If (it is) not from me, (then) I do not want to explain. That is all, thank you," President Jokowi stated in response to reporters' questions at the Merdeka Palace here on Friday.

President Jokowi made the remarks following a rumor circulating in the mass media that said Jokowi could become the vice presidential candidate after his two consecutive terms in the presidential office.

"From the start, I said that it was not me who (said) it. I have answered the inquiries about three terms of office. Once I answered it, more (questions) about (re-election) came up, which I also addressed. (Suddenly) this (rumor) about becoming vice president springs up. Who is it from?" he elaborated.

The narrative about President Jokowi being a vice presidential candidate spread after a statement made by spokesman for the Constitutional Court, Fajar Laksono, who said that the president, who had ruled for two terms, could become a vice president.

Laksono said that according to the 1945 Constitution, one was limited to two terms of presidential candidacy, yet there was no limit on former presidents running for vice president.

"On a normative aspect, it is fine. There is no prohibition, but it is just a matter of political ethics, in my opinion," he added.

However, the Constitutional Court highlighted this statement as a personal remark by Laksono alone. It did not reflect the official outlook of the court as a whole on the matter.

The statement regarding the issue in question was not an official statement, unrelated to the implementation of the Constitutional Court's authority.

Former Head of the Constitutional Court Jimly Asshiddiqie then emphasized that a two-term president could not run for vice president due to limitations listed in articles 7 and 8 of the 1945 Constitution.

Article 7 of the 1945 Constitution stipulates that the president and vice president hold office for five years and thereafter may be re-elected in the same position for one term only.

On the other hand, Article 8 (1) states that should a president die, quit, be dismissed, or be unable to fulfill her or her obligations within his or her term of office, then that person would be replaced by the vice president until the end of term of office.

Hence, if President Jokowi were to become vice president in 2024, then Article 8, paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution could not be implemented since it conflicted with Article 7. (Antaranews)

The G20 Infrastructure Working Group (IWG) has achieved deliverables in the form of blueprints for increasing Infratech financing and Quality Infrastructure Investment (QII) indicators.



"The two documents are expected to be inputs for G20 member countries in encouraging investment in digitized and quality infrastructure," Head of the Communication and Information Services Bureau at the Finance Ministry Rahayu Puspasari informed here on Friday.



The IWG is a part of G20 Indonesia's Finance Track, which is focused on six main issues or agendas: sustainable infrastructure investment, social inclusion and reducing regional inequality, post-pandemic transformative infrastructure, QII indicators, digital infrastructure and Infratech, and governance of the Global Infrastructure Hub (GI Hub).



The 4th G20 IWG meeting was held from September 14–16, 2022, in Yogyakarta.



The two deliverables will be approved by the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) forum in October.



Before the 4th IWG meeting, the Indonesian G20 Presidency organized the "Advancing Sustainable and Inclusive Infrastructure Investment" seminar to encourage the implementation of IWG deliverables for realizing regional infrastructure development through the presentation of case studies and how they can be replicated.



"Therefore, infrastructure development is not only focused in terms of quantity, but (it must) also (be) sustainable, inclusive, and able to reduce regional inequality," Puspasari said.



The completion of the deliverables of all the main agendas in the infrastructure sector is the result of good cooperation with G20 countries and international organizations, she added.



Although they are non-binding and voluntary, the deliverables are expected to be applied in G20 countries and make real contributions to achieving the G20's common goal, “Recover Together, Recover Stronger,” Puspasari stated.



"This effort is also a commitment of the next presidency that will be held by India, based on the priorities and agendas presented at the end of the 4th IWG meeting," she added. (Antaranews)

The Indonesian government established cooperation with the Dutch government for opportunities in the creative economy sector, Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno stated here on Thursday.

Uno made the statement during the signing event of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the creative economy sector between Indonesia's Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry and the Netherlands' Ministry of Education, Culture and Science in Jakarta on Thursday.

"I am interested in (establishing cooperation) in the film industry because it creates many jobs we need. This year, we are targeting 1.1 million new jobs and 700 thousand in the creative economy sector, and the film industry has the potential to generate 200-300 thousand jobs ranging from cameramen, sound engineers, actors, producers, (to) executive producers," Uno elaborated.

In detail, the MoU between the two governments will encourage cooperation in the fields of culinary; architecture; design encompassing fashion, product design, and interior design; audiovisual encompassing film and music, TV and radio, new media; game development, applications, Over-The-Top (OTT) media service; digital transformation, and publishing.

Through this collaboration, Uno expects Netherlands' capital Amsterdam and Indonesia's capital Jakarta to become European and Asian hubs for initiatives and development in the creative economy sector.

"I am very happy that after a four-year process, we finally signed an MoU with the Netherlands Government in the creative economy sector. We will follow up by forming a working group with the three focuses that we have chosen, films, games, (and) another one will be determined together," Uno stated.

In addition, Uno said his side will explore cooperation with the Netherlands in the heritage tourism sector, such as Fort Amsterdam in Ambon, Maluku.

Dutch State Secretary for Culture and Media Gunay Uslu remarked that Indonesia's cooperation with the Netherlands is essential to strengthen bilateral relations.

"There are many (fields) we can cooperate in, from films to games and fashion. I hope to collaborate more extensively to strengthen our relationship," Uslu said. (Antaranews)

Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Minister Teten Masduki called on private parties to continue building partnerships to boost the capacity of MSMEs and support them to level up.

Masduki deems this necessary, as the World Bank has warned to provide quality employment since 97 percent of the jobs in Indonesia are provided by micro-enterprises whose average wages are below the regional minimum wage.

"Partnerships are also important to encourage them (MSMEs) to develop their business capacity, so that jobs can be created," he stated during the "Strategies for Indonesian MSMEs to Level Up and Be Competitive at the Global Level" webinar followed online here on Thursday.

Masduki also encouraged the private sector to support the growth of MSMEs in each region, so that they can absorb jobs and reduce the number of micro and ultra-micro businesses.

"I also hope that Sinar Mas (one of the leading conglomerates in Indonesia) can play an active role as a partner of MSMEs and create medium-scale jobs by supporting aspects of financing, training, and innovation mentoring as well as being an aggregator and off-taker of MSME products," he affirmed.

He assessed that aggregators and off-takers in Indonesia's economic structure, which is dominated by micro-enterprises, are very important. The reason is that aggregators and off-takers can maintain market supply as well as logistics costs.

"The partnerships will increase the competitiveness of MSMEs by having better quality standards and a stronger value chain," he pointed out.

On the same occasion, Managing Director of Sinar Mas, Ferry Salman, stated that assisting MSMEs as well as becoming an off-taker is a good collaboration model to encourage MSMEs to level up.

"This is a collaboration model where business actors and the private sector in their respective operational areas can collaborate with MSMEs," he stated.

Sinar Mas has over 50 MSME partners, with more than 100 products that have been established since 2019. (Antaranews)