Jakarta will remain the nation's economic center despite the relocation of the national capital to Nusantara, East Kalimantan, in the near future, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan has affirmed.

 

"The National Capital Bill has been finalized into law, but it is clear that Jakarta will remain the nation's economic center (in the future)," he said after attending a public dialogue at a hotel in Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Saturday.

 

The governor further said he is convinced that Jakarta will remain the center for various sectors in Indonesia despite no longer serving as the national capital.

 

"Jakarta will remain as the center of cultural activities and a knot that unites the Indonesian nation, this is a certainty," he remarked.

 

Baswedan, who earlier served as the rector of Jakarta-based Paramadina University, affirmed that development in Jakarta would continue as the city will remain the nation's economic center.

 

"Despite the central government relocating to East Kalimantan, we will continue developing Jakarta. We are also striving to address existing issues that Jakarta has," the governor said.

 

Baswedan, whose term as Jakarta Governor ends in October this year, reiterated his commitment to serving until the end of his term.

 

"For my last eight months, the focus will be ensuring all plans and policies are completed. My current focus is 100 percent for Jakarta," he remarked.

 

The House of Representatives (DPR RI) ratified the National Capital Bill into law during a plenary session on January 18, 2022.

 

Next, President Joko Widodo is expected to issue a presidential regulation on the governing authority of the new national capital and appoint the new capital authority head and deputy head by two months of the bill's passing at the latest. (Antaranews)

Delta variant still dominates number of cases in regions: Ministry

The Delta variant continues to dominate the number of COVID-19 cases in several Indonesian regions in addition to the potential threat of Omicron, the Ministry of Health's COVID-19 Vaccination spokesperson, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, stated.

To this end, health service facilities should be readied to handle this threat, she noted at a virtual discussion here on Saturday.

"We remind once again that in addition to the Omicron variant that became our current issue, we have started to become wary of the increase in local transmission," she noted.

"However, we observe that the Delta variant still dominates the number of cases in several regions in Indonesia," she pointed out.

This means that the readiness of health service facilities also become important on account of the fact that the Delta variant is still the dominating variant in several regions in Indonesia, she remarked.

In addition, vaccination is still capable of providing substantial protection from COVID-19, including the Omicron variant, she noted.

"While there is a decline in efficacy from the currently existing vaccine, we then observed that the T cell system could still provide protection," she noted.

To this end, Tarmizi explained that one of the speculations surrounding how swiftly Omicron could infect albeit only showing mild to no symptoms is due to the protection acquired from vaccination.

As of January 22, 2022, at 12 p.m. local time, COVID-19 vaccination in Indonesia had reached 123,782,386 for people that had received the second dose of vaccination, or 59.43 percent of the targeted 208,265,720 people that the government had determined, according to data on the ministry's website.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian government began administering the third dose of vaccination or booster shot from January 12, 2022, with the elderly and vulnerable groups being prioritized. (Antaranews)

 Strengthening defense and security cooperation with ASEAN countries is imminent in building trust, capability, and diplomacy, Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto stated.

Strong cooperation also develops professionalism of the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) and the defense industry in addition to supporting foreign policies, Subianto stated at the 2022 Defense Ministry leaders' meeting here on Thursday.

At the meeting, he urged the TNI to bolster readiness, professionalism, and security for tackling terrorism, radicalism, separatism, hidden dangers, and natural disasters as well as for executing the work of humanitarian assistance and Indonesia's mission for world peacekeeping.

The minister also called on the Indonesian military to step up preparations in facing the chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive threats.

Indonesia must realize the establishment of TNI units to optimize its missions through military war operations (OMP) and military operations other than war (OMSP), he stressed.

According to Subianto, the country also needs to prepare an independent defense zone in each major island by securing the reserves of food, energy, and water as well as other logistics needs.

"We must strengthen the coastal missile defense system and the coastal surveillance system to control strategic straits based on the sea bed of the Indonesian islands I, II, and III," he remarked.

Moreover, Subianto opined that Indonesia should synergize the defense spatial design, such as the detailed plan of defense space arrangement and national strategic area at the province, district, and city level.

Hence, the minister noted that some evaluations and improvements, such bureaucratic reform, are necessary to conduct across all Ministry of Defense's units and the TNI.

Attendees at the 2022 Defense Ministry leaders' meeting comprised Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander General Andika Perkasa, Army Chief of Staff General Dudung Abdurachman, Chief of Staff of the Indonesian Air Force Marshal Fadjar Prasetyo, National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo, Defense Deputy Minister M. Herindra, and some high-ranking commissioned officers of TNI. (Antaranews)

Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) highlighted the country's focus on bolstering cooperation with various global economic actors through the 2022 G20 Presidency.

Jokowi conveyed the statement while attending the World Economic Forum virtually from the Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java Province, on Thursday.

The head of state noted that during the term of the G20 Presidency, Indonesia will intensify its relations with various international economic actors.

Furthermore, Jokowi harbors high expectations from global economic actors to come up with applicable ideas that can be suggested at the G20 Summit.

On the same occasion, the president also invited global economic leaders in the intergovernmental forum to address the public's concern over global conditions in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic by taking concrete actions.

Jokowi noted that as the chairman of the 2022 G20, Indonesia is striving to make the intergovernmental forum to serve as a catalyst for inclusive global economic recovery.

"The theme of Indonesia’s 2022 G20 Presidency is 'Recover Stronger, Recover Together'. We will uphold partnership and inclusiveness as well as provide a breakthrough platform to make various transformation attempts in various sectors," he stated.

In addition, he affirmed that the presidency will focus on three main priorities that align with national priorities and global concerns.

They comprise restructuring the global health architecture to become more inclusive and responsive to any health crisis. Thus, vaccine production must be increased and disbursed more evenly while the required health investment and funding must be mobilized quickly to prevent another crisis.

The second priority is optimizing digital technology for economic transformation whose impact must be enjoyed by the community, especially micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), by improving the people's digital literacy and capabilities, as well as by maintaining and supporting excellent data security.

Meanwhile, the other priority encompasses environment-friendly energy transition that necessitates technology application and funding provision that are able to encourage economic-based production.  (Antaranews)