VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Feb. 26 - The Indonesian president pushed for millions of micro-, small-, and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs) to embrace digital transformation as a gateway to penetrate the digital marketplace and become part of the national and global supply chain.

"The data I have indicates an increase of 10 to 15 percent in online sales transactions. This strengthens the national campaign to buy MSME products offered in e-commerce. Moreover, eight million of the 60 million MSMEs have already connected with digital markets," President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) pointed out.

Jokowi called for the need to boost the digital transformation campaign to cover more MSMEs to join e-commerce.

Hence, the head of state sought to offer more training to MSMEs to enable them to utilize digital technology.

"Currently, we have started the online training model in the pre-work card program, which mostly uses light and practical training. This can also be implemented by ministries and institutions in collaboration with the digital community by providing free online trainings," he explained.

The president expressed belief that through collaboration involving the Indonesian digital community, including Microsoft, Indonesia's strength would increase manifolds to speed up the ongoing digital transformation process.  (Antaranews)

Feb. 26 - Papua New Guinea’s first prime minister, Michael Somare, has died aged 84, his daughter said on Friday.

Known as the “father of the nation”, Somare led the Pacific archipelago to independence from Australia in 1975 and served four times as prime minister.

He had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in early February, his daughter, Betha Somare, said in a statement.

She said many Papua New Guineans had embraced her father as their own “father and grandfather”.

Prior to independence, Somare was the chief minister of the Australian-administered territory of Papua New Guinea. He most recently served as the country’s leader briefly in 2011.

PNG is a mountainous and sprawling nation rich in resources and minerals, including oil and gas and gold and copper.

Linguistically diverse, it is one of the largest island economies in the South Pacific, although it has faced economic hardship and internal conflict, most notably during the decade-long civil war in the region of Bougainville that claimed as many as 20,000 lives before ending in 1998.

PNG Prime Minister James Marape said the former leader was now rested from the “pain and toils of life”.

“Our nation honors this great leader, the founding and longest serving prime minister of our country,” Marape said in a statement, appealing for a week of silence, peace and calm as the country pays its respects.

“He is unmatched by anyone of us who comes after him,” he added.

Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison wrote in a tweet on Friday that Somare was the founding father of a democratic and independent PNG and “great friend” to Australia. (Reuters)

Feb. 26 - The Financial Services Authority (OJK) is advocating the transformation of Islamic banking, which is facing several challenges currently, including a dearth of business models or product differentiation besides a lack of sufficient and quality human resources.

"So that later every customer who is banking on sharia can choose products with better quality," chief executive of OJK banking supervision, Heru Kristiyana, explained at the virtual launch of the Islamic Banking Development Roadmap 2020-2025 in Jakarta on Thursday.

He urged Islamic banks to launch a variety of products without abandoning sharia principles.

Kristiyana, who is also a member of the OJK board of commissioners, admitted to HR challenges every time there is a change of leadership in sharia banking.

"It is difficult for OJK to find the top leadership when it carries out a fit and proper test,” he remarked.

"We, in the supervisory and licensing system, have a very hard time to find human resources who can assume the leadership of sharia banking," he said, adding that OJK needs the support of the Islamic banking association to resolve the issue of human resources.

According to OJK, low sharia literacy and inclusion index as well as inadequate digitalization are also posing a challenge to the sector.

For this reason, the OJK said, it is encouraging Islamic banks to launch unique products, optimize the Islamic economic and financial ecosystem, integrate commercial and social finance functions, and develop quality human resources and technology.

In 2020, Islamic banking showed a positive performance, including the distribution of financing, which reached Rp394.6 trillion as of December, 2020, a growth of 8.08 percent compared to the same period of 2019, the OJK noted.

In addition, third-party funds collected reached Rp475.5 trillion, up 11.8 percent, and the number of non-performing loans fell to 3.08 percent from 3.11 percent recorded in the previous year.

Meanwhile, total Islamic financial assets, excluding Islamic stocks, were valued at Rp1,802.86 trillion, registering a growth of 22.79 percent.

In addition, the Islamic banking capital ratio increased to 21.59 percent from 20.59 percent recorded in 2019, with the Islamic banking market share reaching 9.89 percent. The share of conventional banking was pegged at 90.11 percent. (Antaranews)

Feb. 26 - The Indonesian government will take serious action against two foreign tankers, Panamanian-flagged MT Freya and Iranian-flagged MT Horse, for entering Indonesian waters and conducting illegal activities, Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said.

"The government would take legal measures," Sumadi said during his visit to Batam, Riau Islands on Thursday.

The authorities are investigating the case in adherence with international laws, he added.

The deputy for legal and human rights at the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, Sugeng Purnomo, said the government has established a task force to probe the case.

"The establishment of the task force would not intervene with law enforcement, but it will support the legal measures taken regarding the illegal entry of MT Horse and MT Freya," he added.

The tankers were seized in the waters off Pontianak, West Kalimantan province on January 24, 2021 and escorted to Batam Island for further investigation.

The tankers were first detected at 5:30 a.m. local time on January 23, 2021. They reportedly tried to conceal their identity by not displaying their national flags and turning off their automatic identification systems. They also did not respond to a radio call, said officials.

Oil was allegedly being transferred from MT Horse to MT Freya when they were discovered by the authorities. An oil spill was also detected around the receiving tanker.

Director of the Indonesian Sea and Coast Guard, Ahmad, has said the two ships have violated the shipping channel and polluted the marine environment.

The two ships have been sealed and all evidence has been handed over to the Indonesian Sea and Coast Guard, he added.  (Antaranews)