VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has stated that Indonesia is still studying and weighing whether or not to join the BRICS group of developing nations, which currently comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

"We don't want to rush," he informed after attending the 15th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Thursday, according to a video statement released by the Presidential Secretariat. The summit was held from August 22–24, 2023.

Indonesia has good relations with the BRICS countries, especially in the economic sector, he noted.

Regarding the process of joining BRICS, Jokowi said that Indonesia will first need to submit a letter of interest if it wants to become a member of the bloc.

However, it has not submitted such a letter yet.

While delivering his remarks at the BRICS Summit, to which he was invited to attend, Jokowi said that the current global economic order is highly unfair, characterized by a widening development gap and an increasing number of poor and hungry people.

He urged developing countries to advocate for equal and inclusive cooperation. BRICS can be at the forefront of fighting for just development and reforming world governance to make it fairer.

He also stressed that developing countries must unite to fight for their rights. Trade discrimination must be rejected, and the downstream industry must not be hindered, he added.

BRICS had previously announced the inclusion of six new member countries: Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - Indonesia will transfer knowledge regarding the development of co-operatives and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the agricultural sector to Timor-Leste.

"Timor-Leste wants an extension to the MoU because the old MoU has expired. They want cooperation in the development of MSMEs in the agricultural, horticulture, and marine sectors," Minister of Co-operatives and SMEs Teten Masduki stated here on Thursday.

On Thursday, Masduki met with Timor-Leste's Secretary of State for Cooperatives, Arsenio Pereira da Silva.

Masduki affirmed that Indonesia, as the largest country in the ASEAN, is keen that ASEAN countries work together to drive growth of the regional economy, including for Timor-Leste that will become a full ASEAN member.

According to the minister, ASEAN has a large market, rich natural resources, huge potential for the tourism industry, and a significant population.

With the tremendous opportunities, Masduki believes that the ASEAN can equally compete with large industries in developed nations by maximizing its natural resources.

"Let us cooperate in the region, so that the ASEAN is not only used as a market for products from outside (the region), but we can also become a global production hub, especially for agriculture, downstream mining and plantation products, and aquaculture," he remarked.

He said that Indonesia will share knowledge and practices with Timor-Leste in order to help upgrade its MSMEs and open access to the ASEAN market.

The cooperation between Indonesia and Timor-Leste will also include assistance to small farmers and product standardization.

"For financing to Timor-Leste, we will expand the partnership of savings and loans' co-operatives in East Nusa Tenggara," Masduki stated.

Meanwhile, Secretary da Silva remarked that almost 80 percent of the products in Timor-Leste are imported because the quality of domestic products is not yet competitive.

He emphasized the need for Timor-Leste to gain knowledge from Indonesia which he considers to be more experienced in developing the MSMEs sector. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto has expressed optimism that ASEAN would be able to generate US$1 billion from developing the green economy.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is currently chaired by Indonesia.

"We can expect that ASEAN will gain a benefit of approximately US$1 billion by developing the green economy," he remarked during a symposium on digital economy and sustainability in Jakarta on Thursday.

By adopting the green economy in the Southeast Asian region, ASEAN countries will be able to collectively create five million new job opportunities while increasing the regional gross domestic product by 7 percent by 2030, he said.

The green economy refers to economic activities that produce low or zero carbon dioxide emissions, posing minimal threats to the environment.

Hartarto affirmed that ASEAN can develop the green economy by expanding into new growth areas and enhancing the efficiency of natural resources-based energy businesses, food systems, and the logistics sector, which are key priorities in the green economy.

"In addition to economic benefits, the adoption of the green economy in ASEAN will help the region reduce its carbon emissions by up to 80 percent," he explained.

Moreover, by adopting the green economy, ASEAN countries will help companies in the region bolster their business efficiency and competitiveness to deal with global challenges, he remarked.

Indonesia is currently making significant efforts to build photovoltaic solar panel facilities as part of its industrial downstreaming policy to promote the green economy.

"I believe that this (green economy) will facilitate the development of the region by paying more attention to the optimization of the digital space as well as renewable energy," he pointed out.

On August 16, Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan expressed his belief that by developing the quality of human resources alongside adopting the green economy, Indonesia can boost its economy.

Furthermore, he is upbeat that the country's next leaders would incorporate efforts to promote and adopt the green economy in their work plans. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - Bank Indonesia (BI) is striving to increase economic and financial inclusion through community empowerment in urban and rural areas.

"We are developing projects to increase economic and financial inclusion in rural and urban areas," Head of the Department of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Development and Consumer Protection at BI, Yunita Resmi Sari, said at the 'OJK Seminar on Economic Inclusion' held by the central bank here on Thursday.

At the seminar, which was organized as part of the Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (AFMGM) agenda, Sari observed that the gap between the level of inclusion and the level of financial literacy in urban and rural areas is very small.

"So there is almost no difference between our urban and rural areas on financial inclusion and financial literacy level as well," she pointed out.

However, when making provincial comparisons, a large gap has been detected between the province with the highest level of financial inclusion and the province with the lowest level of financial inclusion.

This has been determined from the use of QRIS payments in Indonesia: so far, the number of QRIS users has reached around 36 million. When compared by region, Java Island has been found to dominate in the use of QRIS payments.

A global survey in 2021 showed that 70 percent of adults in Indonesia do not have a bank account because they do not have enough savings.

"They don't have money, therefore they don't have a bank account," Sari noted.

Therefore, to promote financial inclusion, Bank Indonesia is taking measures to empower communities so that they become economically inclusive.

To empower communities, the central bank is collaborating with academics and NGOs so that they become facilitators to assess the economic potential of communities. In addition, BI is also supporting capacity building.

After a community succeeds in creating their own economic activities, BI helps provide the community members access to markets — conventional, retail, as well as digital markets.

BI also supports access to financial services besides conducting monitoring and evaluation, including evaluating economic activities, as reflected in the sales value and turnover generated by the community groups it empowers.

According to BI, through the community empowerment project, 100 percent of the empowered community groups have managed to establish their own business activities and sell their products using e-commerce. Their incomes have also increased significantly. (antaranews)