VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Discussion session at COP28 Dubai, United Arab Emirates - 

Voinews, Jakarta - Indonesia is in a strategic position to build a resilient global electric vehicle (EV) supply chain, in line with the global trend of decarbonizing the transportation industry to meet net zero commitments, said the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Kemenko Marves) at a discussion session at COP28 Dubai , United Arab Emirates on Friday, (1-12-2023).

This session explores various electric vehicle opportunities for international business players and stakeholders in Indonesia, which is the largest automotive market in Southeast Asia.

Indonesia is also recognized as the country that owns the largest nickel reserves in the world. Nickel is an important component in lithium-ion electric vehicle batteries. This session also discussed some of the most pressing challenges in increasing the global supply of critical minerals, while realizing sustainable and responsible business practices throughout the supply chain.

“With abundant nickel resources, Indonesia has the power to boost global electric vehicle supply and shape a more environmentally friendly future, but at the same time Indonesia must take advantage of this great opportunity to switch the combustion engine automotive industry to electric before the combustion engine automotive industry become obsolete," said Rachmat Kaimuddin, Deputy for Infrastructure and Transportation Coordination at the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries held at the Indonesian Pavilion in the context of COP28.

Deputy Rachmat added that along with the soaring global demand for vehicles in recent years, Indonesia has encouraged the adoption of electric vehicles in the domestic market, as well as attracting more investment to increase electric vehicle production capacity in Indonesia.

According a release received by Voice of Indonesia on Saturday (02/12/23), Indonesia targets to have two million electric passenger cars and 13 million electric bicycles on the road by 2030.

To achieve this target, the government has launched fiscal and non-fiscal incentives for consumers and producers. One form of incentive is a discount of IDR 7 million (USD 450) for all Indonesian people who want to buy a new electric bicycle that meets 40 percent of local component needs.

Deputy Rachmat also hinted at new incentives from the government to attract more international electric vehicle manufacturers to open factories in Indonesia.

Currently the government is working to make Indonesia a production base for environmentally friendly vehicles in Southeast Asia, as well as supplying the domestic market with a wider choice of EV vehicles.

“We need to create demand and good infrastructure. "We know that currently there are not enough choices (for consumers)," said Deputy Rachmat.

The COP28 discussion session was organized by the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin Indonesia) and HSBC.

This session presented top speakers including CEO of Pertamina New Renewable Energy Dannif Danusaputro, Head of Metals & Minerals BloombergNEF Dr. Kwazi Ampofo, CEO & President Director of PT Bank HSBC Indonesia Francois de Maricourt, Vice Chair Maritime, Investment & International Relations Kadin Indonesia Shinta Kamdani.

COP28 in Dubai is expected to attract more than 70,000 participants, including heads of state, government officials, international industry leaders, private sector representatives, academics, experts, youth and civil society.

As mandated by the Paris Climate Agreement, COP28 will carry out the first Global Inventory – a comprehensive evaluation of progress towards achieving climate goals.

Host country, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is leading the process for all parties to agree on a clear roadmap to accelerate progress through a pragmatic global energy transition and a “leave no one behind” approach to inclusive climate action.”//VOI

Sandiaga Uno on the Indonesia Outlook 2024 event in Jakarta - 

Voinews, Jakarta - Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy/Head of the Tourism and Creative Economy Agency (Menparekraf/Kabaparekraf) Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno said that the tourism sector in 2024 is predicted to be bright. The achievement is better than this year even though the magnitude is not yet like 2019 or before the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The achievement of foreign tourist visits to Indonesia this year is around 11 million or above the target of 8.5 million. In 2024 we are targeting 14 million foreign tourist visits or still below the 2019 achievement of 16.11 million. "We are optimistic that in 2025 the tourism sector will recover as before," said Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno in the Indonesia Tourism Outlook 2024 entitled "Investment Opportunities and Challenges for Sustainable Tourism" which was held by the Tourism and Creative Economy Journalists Forum (Forwaparekraf) at the AOne Hotel Jakarta.

Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno said that to achieve the target of 14 million foreign tourist visits by 2024, we are faced with a number of challenges, especially the uncertain global situation. A number of international institutions predict that various challenges at the global level in 2024, such as geopolitical conflicts, economic turmoil and environmental crises, could affect sectoral growth, including the travel industry.

Meanwhile, the relatively strong economy in the Southeast Asia region during 2023, driven by an increase in tourist visits which shows a positive trend, is good news which will have an impact on increasing tourist travel in the Asia-Pacific region, including to Indonesia.

This can be seen from the acceleration of revival in Indonesian tourism this year. We initially set a target of 7.6 million foreign tourist visits, then increased it to 8.5 million, in the third quarter (January-September) 2023. "This year we will get 11 million foreign tourist visits," said Sandiaga Uno.

According to a release received by Voice of Indonesia on Saturday (02/12/23), Sandiaga Uno reaveled that to achieve this target, various challenges must be faced together, including how to strengthen flight connectivity from foreign tourist source countries with the availability of sufficient airplane seats.

Apart from that, the distribution of foreign tourists to various leading destinations in Indonesia is still a challenge. Bali as a magnet in attracting foreign tourists is expected to spread to other destinations in Indonesia.

For this reason, the government is aggressively promoting 'Bali beyond', especially to the five super priority tourism destinations (DPSP), Lake Toba, Borobudur, Mandalika, Labuan Bajo and Likupang.

Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga explained that Indonesia has good economic growth so it is hoped that this will boost people's purchasing power and increase domestic travel by 2024, targeting 1.2-1.4 billion.

"Even though the global economy is projected to slow down, the national economic growth trend is predicted to continue to be strong in 2024, reaching 5 percent according to the IMF and OECD. "This figure is quite high compared to the projected economic growth of strong countries such as China and the United States, although slightly lower than India," explained Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno.

The government continues to encourage domestic tourism as a national tourism force. For this reason, various obstacles or challenges must be overcome immediately, including making plane tickets affordable for tourists so that they can travel. Moreover, during the Christmas and New Year (Nataru) holidays there will be a surge in the movement of foreign tourists.

"Eid, school holidays, Christmas and New Year, collective leave and long weekends are momentum to increase the movement of foreign tourists and increase contributions to achieving targets for foreign tourists," said Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno.

Director of Marketing and Consumer Experience of PT Aviasi Wisata Indonesia (Persero) Maya Watono said that the five DPSPs are new attractions for tourism to attract foreign tourists. The government will aggressively promote 'Bali beyond' in an effort to encourage the spread of tourist visits from Bali to the 5 DPSPs.

Maya Watono sees that apart from the distribution of foreign tourists, the challenge that must be overcome immediately to achieve the target of 14 million foreign tourists by 2024 is flight connectivity. To achieve the target of 14 million foreign tourist visits by 2024, flight connectivity is a major concern.

"We are trying to provide sufficient aircraft seats to support the target of 14 million foreign tourists," he said, stating that with an average load factor that has reached 70 percent, around 20 million seats are needed, while currently available are around 11 million aircraft seats. He hopes that by 2024 the shortage of 9 million airplane seats will gradually be filled.

The General Chair of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) who is also the Chair of GIPI, Hariyadi Sukamdani, said that people's purchasing power is still an obstacle in increasing domestic tourism. "Our challenge is to improve people's purchasing power next year. "For this we need joint efforts so that it doesn't stagnate," said Hariyadi Sukamdani.

Hariyadi Sukamdani hopes that the government together with domestic airline business players can reduce the price of domestic airline tickets, which until now are considered by the public to be expensive and unaffordable for tourists. "We positively welcome the government's efforts to encourage foreign tourists to travel by land. "For example, from Palembang (Sumatra)-Java-Bali, which is currently connected by a toll road," said Hariyadi.

Hariyadi said that the important thing is to synchronize joint promotional programs between the central government, regional governments and tourism industry business players in order to increase tourist visits.

Hariyadi gave the example of the Kharisma Event Nusantara program (KEN, including the Kasodo event on Mount Bromo, East Java, which has great potential to attract tourists, because it is not promoted enough, so it does not attract many tourists to the tourist destination of Malang Raya and its surroundings. Even though the Kasodo event is packaged and promoted well, it will bring in many tourists and increase hotel occupancy there.

Director of Strategic Studies at the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy/Baparekraf, Agustini Rahayu, said that there would be many new tourism trends in the coming year.

"Essentially, tourists will look for new experiences. Tourists will abandon conventional concepts and look for new experiences," said Agustini Rahayu.

Meanwhile, Director of Check-In Asia, Gary Bowerman, said Indonesia must start paying more attention to the Chinese and Indian markets. These two countries are predicted to be the markets with the highest growth next year.

"How to find the right marketing strategy to attract Chinese tourists from traveling only within the country, to markets in Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia," said Gary.

Chairman of Forwaparekraf, Pasha Ernowo, said that his party chose the theme "Investment Opportunities and Challenges for Sustainable Tourism" in this outlook activity considering that Indonesia, with its abundant natural wealth and supporting geography, is the time to focus more on developing sustainable tourism.

On the other hand, investments that prioritize sustainability and environmental sustainability in the tourism sector must continue to be intensively carried out

"So that we are not left behind by other countries and the most important thing is development that can have a long-term positive impact on the environment," said Pasha//VOI

VOInews, Jakarta: Kanasugi Kenji will end his term as Japanese Ambassador to Indonesia on December 5, 2023. The Japanese Embassy in Jakarta held a Farewell Reception for Ambassador Kenji on Wednesday (29/11) evening West Indonesia time at the Hotel Indonesia Kempinski, Jakarta.

On that occasion, Dino Patti Djalal, former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, stated that Ambassador Kenji is one of the best diplomats Japan has ever sent to Indonesia. In Dino's assessment, Kenji is a figure who has high diplomatic skills, and is good at solving problems.

"Ambassador Kenji, in my opinion, is one of the best ambassadors in Jakarta now and also one of the best ambassadors Japan has ever sent to Indonesia. He has extraordinary diplomatic skills, is very reliable, knows very well how to handle problems, handle the ins and outs of the Indonesian Government."

According to the former Indonesian Ambassador to the United States, Kanasugi Kenji, who has been serving as the Japanese Ambassador to Indonesia since February 2021, has succeeded in carrying out his duties in an atmosphere that continues to be turbulent, both the covid problem, the unstable geopolitical atmosphere, and energy issues.

Besides Dino Patti Djalal and ambassadors of friendly countries, the Farewell Reception was also attended by a number of national figures, including the Minister of Public Works and Public Housing, Basuki Hadi Muljono, Akbar Tanjung, Syarief Hasan, Chairul Tanjung, and AM Fachir.

In his farewell speech, Ambassador Kanasugi Kenji said that he was optimistic that the bilateral relations between Japan and Indonesia would improve in the future.

Ambassador Kenji pointed out a big task that still needs to be perfected regarding the energy transition.

"Maybe the energy transition, because Indonesia and Japan have the same problem. We rely heavily on fossil fuel energy, so we need to introduce more renewable energy."

Ambassador Kenji confirmed Japan's commitment to continue supporting Indonesia in the energy transition. This commitment is evidenced by the establishment of the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) at the 2022 Group of Twenty (G20) Summit in Bali, Indonesia, which aims to realize a fair and gradual energy transition in Indonesia's electricity sector until 2030.

VOINews.id: Chief of the Indonesian Presidential Staff Office, Moeldoko, discussed with the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway operator, PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia China (KCIC) and related institutions to construct a station in Kopo, a district within the city of Bandung, West Java. In a press statement released on Wednesday (29/11/2023), he said that the railway, branded as Whoosh, is supposed to stop in Bandung. Currently, the train departs from Halim Station in Jakarta, and only reaches Tegalluar Station in Bandung Regency, West Java, outside of Bandung city center.