VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Women can play a transformational role for more sustainable recovery, according to G20’s co-sous sherpa Hari Prabowo.

“Women play a transformational role for more sustainable recovery. The pandemic provides an opportunity to create a more sustainable future. This provides an opportunity for women to be the agents of change for transformation,” Prabowo remarked while speaking at a webinar on 'Energy Transition and Rural Women’ on Thursday.

The benefits of gender equality are pointless if women are not provided with the support they deserve, he highlighted.

“This is the emphasis of Indonesia’s G20 Presidency. We aim to bring the spirit of inclusiveness to engage those most vulnerable, including women and girls,” he said.

Indonesia’s G20 Presidency aims to see the world recover together and recover stronger to bring productivity, resilience, and stability as well as sustainable and inclusive growth post-pandemic through a stronger, collective, and doable leadership, he explained.

Prabowo expressed optimism that G20, as an economic forum, would deliver real action and be a part of the solution.

“Our Presidency aims to bring concrete, deliverable solutions through three main sector priorities: enhancing global health architecture, supporting digital transformation, and supporting energy transition,” he said.

Empowering women could be the driving force for realizing a more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable society, including devising solutions for such crucial issues as energy transition, climate action, digital transformation, and poverty eradication, he added.

“I believe women are the center of global recovery, leaving no one behind,” he remarked. (Antaranews)

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi described the opening of the Kenyan Embassy in Jakarta as the right decision and expressed the hope it will serve as an engine to enhance bilateral cooperation between the two nations.



"Kenya is the sixth sub-Saharan African country to open an embassy in Jakarta. Kenya follows the steps of South Africa, Nigeria, Somalia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique that have opened diplomatic missions in Jakarta," Marsudi said while inaugurating the Kenyan Embassy in Jakarta on Thursday.

The opening of the Kenyan Embassy in Jakarta reflects the country's wish to promote progress and prosperity, she added.



"I once again congratulate on the opening of the Kenyan Embassy in Jakarta. I warmly welcome the Kenyan government's good effort," she remarked.



Meanwhile, Kenyan Foreign Minister Raychelle Omamo said Kenya and Indonesia have a lot in common, including diverse cultures and heterogeneous populations.



"Many people are not aware that Indonesia opened its embassy in Kenya in 1982. Many of us are not aware that Indonesia is our neighbor. Kenya is located in the northern African continent and borders the Indian Ocean in the southeast. We have established relations quite a long time (ago) and we also do trade in the western Indian Ocean," Omamo added.



Both nations have natural relations and an organic friendship, she said.



“Today, we stay here to celebrate the longstanding friendship between Kenya and Indonesia," she added. (Antaranews)

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) is keen that Indonesia becomes an important player in the global electric car industry, as the country has enormous mineral resources to support the development of electric cars.

"We must become an important player in the global supply chain for the electric car industry," Jokowi remarked during his visit to the PT Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Indonesia (HMMI) in Cikarang on Wednesday.

On the same occasion, the president also witnessed the launch of the first electric car assembled in Indonesia, called Ioniq 5.

With this launch, Jokowi is optimistic that mineral resources available in Indonesia, such as nickel and cobalt, as important materials for lithium batteries, would support the development of electric cars in Indonesia.

Jokowi also noted that Indonesia's bauxite can be processed into aluminum for electric car frames. Moreover, copper could be processed for batteries and cable systems in electric cars.

"We must accelerate the downstreaming of our mineral resources to increase the added value and provide optimal added value," he affirmed.

However, to become a key player in the electric vehicle industry, Jokowi deems it necessary to build a strong ecosystem.

"Without a strong domestic ecosystem, it will be difficult for us to compete with other countries in building the electric car industry," he affirmed.

Jokowi noted that the year 2022 will become an important period for the development of lithium batteries for electric vehicles.

"Several investors will start their construction and be ready to process nickel and cobalt into lithium battery materials. By 2024, electric cars produced in Indonesia will use electric batteries and other important components produced in our country," he noted.

The government will also continue to encourage an increase in the use of local content for electric vehicles, he stated.

"Our effort to increase local content in electric vehicles could be seen in providing incentives and reducing various regulatory barriers to support the upstream industry of electric vehicles. It will also have a multiplier effect in terms of job creation and import substitution," Jokowi stated.

Earlier, the HMMI had targeted to export its production to Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

The factory also planned to export 59 thousand completely knocked down (CKD) vehicles per year to Australia and the Middle East.

The HMMI projects that its factory would bring contribution worth US$20 billion in a decade and would absorb 23 thousand workers in the vicinity. (Antaranews)

During its G20 Presidency, Indonesia is seeking to encourage improvement in the agricultural sector through technology exchange, research cooperation, and trade transactions, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, has said.

"It is important for us to exchange technology in the agricultural sector through employee exchange between G20 countries and research cooperation," Hartarto highlighted during a webinar on the food sector organized by The Iconomics on Wednesday.

He emphasized that it is necessary to optimize the role of the public and private sector in agriculture to prepare food technology support in the form of representative offices in G20 countries.

"In addition, trade transaction cooperation is also carried out by facilitating export permits for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and agricultural products as gateways and bilateral cooperation that can facilitate various fiscal reliefs," he noted.

The government is continuing to support and encourage national food security, while still paying attention to the welfare of farmers for maintaining price stability at the consumer level, he said. The agricultural sector plays an important role in food security, mainly by ensuring the availability, affordability, safety, and quality of food.

Hartarto informed that throughout 2021, the agricultural sector served as a source of economic support that was able to grow positively at the level of 1.84 percent. Entering January 2022, the Farmer's Exchange Rate (NTP) also increased at 108.67.

Through policy aspects, the government is continuing to simplify licensing, establish a National Food Agency, set up State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) holdings for food through ID FOOD, and SOEs synergy.

"Various policies and food security programs will continue to be pushed by the government. We expect the agricultural sector to grow between 3.6–4.0 percent in 2022," the minister informed.

Furthermore, Hartarto said that the food sector will continue to be supported by farmers’ and fishermen corporations, the Food Estate Program, agricultural clusters, and urban farming.

"It is also important to encourage the supply chain and food distribution system. For the consumption aspect, policies such as food diversification are also carried out to reduce food waste," he added.

As for Food SOEs, Hartarto said he hopes that they can transform their business and focus on developing their scale and value chain so that core commodities such as rice, corn, sugar, fish, salt, poultry, and beef can be easily accessed.

“Food SOEs need to continue to be active in empowering MSMEs through the Food Stall Program. The Food Stall Program is expected to facilitate the availability of food products at affordable prices," he noted. (Antaranews)