VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Y20 Forum in Indonesia discussed the importance of a circular economy to limit excessive waste production and create a sustainable and livable planet.

The G20 youth meeting, known as Youth 20 (Y20), discussed several priority areas, including youth employment, digital transformation, diversity, and inclusion, and especially about a sustainable and livable planet that requires strategic steps, such as a circular economy, which is based on sustainable production and consumption.

"It is not always easy. Environmental damage occurs at a faster rate than solutions. We must consider how to expedite the solution. Most importantly, we must believe that by working together, we can affect change," CEO and Founder of Waste4Change Mohammad Bijaksana Junerosano noted through a press statement obtained by ANTARA here on Monday.

Junerosano remarked that currently, the world's population reaches 7.9 billion. If the global community wants change without resorting to violence, then they must be able to persuade four percent of the population. It means that 10 million people in Indonesia need to be convinced about the benefits of circular economy.

Regarding the implementation of the circular economy, Alesya Krit from the Center of Competence for Climate Change, Environment and Noise Protection at Aviation Hessen highlighted the importance of thinking locally in order to promote sustainable consumption.

"We must think locally and adapt (the solution) to the destination area's social and cultural dimensions. Thereafter, develop a normative perspective and invite coworkers, friends, and residents to become acquainted with a new mindset. For instance, the TikTok challenge," Krit noted during the Y20 Indonesia Third Pre Summit talk show.

Meanwhile, Joi Danielson, who is a partner at Systemiq, emphasized the need to focus on consumption patterns before discussing the circular economy. She noted that humans, fearful of scarcity, tend to consume more than necessary. She remarked that in a consumption-based economy, the more consumed, the higher the GDP.

"As a result, our system is based on excessive consumption. We can persuade people to consume only what they require if we can make them feel they have enough. With this, we can begin to break the consumption cycle," she elaborated.

Another speaker, Ke Wang, who is program lead at Platform for Accelerating Circular Economy, also agreed with Danielson's statement. Ke Wang stated that raising people's awareness of the circular economy could not only lead to a change in habits but also a change in policy.

"This is because politicians pay attention to the people's needs. However, public awareness of the circular economy remains low. This is where young people can make a difference. The younger generation has demonstrated that they are critical in raising public awareness of
climate change," Ke Wang explained.  (Antaranews)

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud MD reaffirmed his commitment to addressing land mafia issues by setting up a cross-institutional team, with members including from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

"We will address the land mafia issues, and we have agreed to set up a cross-institutional team, which includes (members from) the KPK, to conduct the procedure and assessment (for the cases)," Mahfud stated at the Presidential Palace here on Monday.

He also affirmed that the government and law enforcers will take legal action against anyone involved in land mafia crimes.

"We will be firm if any criminal indication is detected, as we will work from bottom to top. The Attorney General's Office will take firm measures to investigate (the cases), and we will continue seeking justice at the civil court even after the criminal court verdict has legal force," the coordinating minister stated.

The land mafias have illegally seized land plots legally owned by individuals and the government, Mahfud stated while adding that the government also understood that in some cases, land mafias somehow won the court case brought up by the rightful owners to reclaim their land.

"The landowner never sells his or her land, and somehow, the land is already in the other person's name. When they question (the issue), (the mafia) told them to settle the dispute in the court, yet when they fight (for their land plot) in the court, they lost the case. This often occurs," he remarked.

The coordinating minister also highlighted President Joko Widodo's (Jokowi's) instruction to address the residents' land issues and settle all payments of land that the government acquired from residents.

"The president has instructed that (the government) must be firm to defend the people's rights, and the state will also observe any regulations that instructs the government to pay for the land," he noted.

In recent months, the police and the Attorney General's Office have investigated illegal land seizures perpetrated by land mafias.

Earlier, Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning Sofyan Djalil explained that some 63 land mafia cases had yet to be addressed as of 2021.

He said that of the 63 cases detected by the authority, some modus operandi employed by the criminals are document falsification, illegal land occupation, and manipulation in the court.  (Antaranews)

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto met with Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Qualcomm Cristiano Amon on Sunday (May 22) to discuss about the development and potential of digitalization in Indonesia.

Indonesia had witnessed some rapid developments in digitalization ever since globalization occurred and further increased with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic that had driven the digital transformation process.

"With the transformation of several investment regulations, Qualcomm can extend its business network to Indonesia, particularly pertaining to the development of the 5G infrastructure and other digital sectors in Indonesia," Hartarto noted in a statement received here on Monday.

Post-pandemic economic recovery served as an opportunity to change the economy and various socio-economic activities into a digital economy.

In 2021, a total of over US$27 billion or equivalent to Rp400 trillion worth of commercial transactions were recorded, and there were over 2,300 start-ups in the country, thereby making Indonesia the fifth country in the world, with the highest number of start-ups.

In addition, Indonesia has 370 million cellular connection users and 204 million internet users, or 74 percent of the total population. The value of electronic money transactions also exceeded US$2.4 billion, or Rp35 trillion, as of December 2021.

The minister noted that in 2019, Indonesia's financial inclusion rate was recorded at 76.19 percent, and it was targeted to reach 90 percent by 2025. There were also some 785 million financial technology businesses in 2021.

Qualcomm is a company involved in the development of semiconductor products and software as well as provision of wireless technology services. The company had several important patents for 5G, 4G, and CDMA mobile communication standards.

Amon also commended the Indonesian Government for the developments in digital transformation that had been initiated over time.

Participants at the meeting, which was part of the 2022 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting (WEFAM) series, comprised Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita; Deputy for Coordination of International Economic Cooperation at the Coordinating Ministry for the Economic Affairs, Edi Prio Pambudi; and Director General of Resilience, Regional Affairs, and International Industrial Access at the Industry Ministry, Eko Cahyanto. (Antaranews)

Indonesia is currently creating an integrated Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) database, MSMEs and Cooperatives Development Director at the National Development Planning (PPN) Ministry/National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) Dading Gunadi stated.

"One of the MSMEs' issues is database that is still not integrated between several ministries, institutions, and regional governments," he noted during the G20 side event webinar here on Monday.

"To this end, the government designs integrated MSMEs database development since last year by involving various ministries and institutions," he added.

The G20 is an international forum comprising 19 countries that work together to handle major issues. Indonesia is holding the G20 Presidency this year.

The ministry has started gathering data related to MSMEs from all districts and cities in Indonesia until two years into the future.

In addition to data, MSMEs also encounter issues in the form of low cooperation with big businesses included within the global value chain.

This is apparent from the data indicating that 93 percent of micro and small businesses are not involved in cooperation with big businesses and new MSMEs contribute 14 percent to Indonesia's total exports.

"Moreover, 88 percent of micro and small businesses cannot apply banking credit," Gunadi stated.

"As a result, banking credit distribution to new MSMEs only reaches around 20 percent from the total credit distribution or it has stagnated since 2014," he added.

Some 94 percent of micro and small businesses have not yet used computers to run their businesses and 90 percent have not yet used the internet.

The government continues to push the digitalization of MSMEs, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic, he explained.

Moreover, the government unveils programs to reduce the operational costs of MSMEs that experienced revenue correction during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Examples of such programs include credit interest subsidy, MSMEs credit restructurisation, and tax relaxation.

"Currently, credit restructurisation had been realized for 3.9 million MSMEs in addition to credit interest subsidy for 17.8 million MSMEs," Gunadi stated. (Antaranews)