VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has appointed two new Cabinet members on Wednesday morning (17/1) in a minor reshuffle. Former Golkar secretary-general Idrus Marham has been appointed as Social Affairs Minister to replace Khofifah Indar Parawansa, who is running in the East Java gubernatorial election. Meanwhile, former Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. (ret.) Moeldoko has been appointed to replace former anti-corruption activist Teten Masduki as the Presidential Chief of Staff. Air Marshal Yusu Sutisna has been appointed as Air Force Chief of Staff. The former chairman of the Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI), Gen.(ret.) Agum Gumelar, has been appointed as a member of the Presidential Advisory Council (Wantimpres).  Hanura politician Oesman Sapta Odang confirmed Moeldoko’s appointment, said that  Moeldoko has good credibility. With Idrus's appointment, Golkar now has three representatives in the Cabinet, along with Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan and Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto. Moeldoko’s appointment also increases the number of military retirees in Cabinet-level positions////JP

The cooperation contract with the Japanese Government, through the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects program worth 1.7 billion rupiah signed on Tuesday (16/1). The signing of the contract was carried out by the Consulate General of Japan in Medan, North Sumatra, Takeshi Ishii with Chairman of Nurul Huda Islamic Education Foundation Batu Islands, South Nias, North Sumatra, Mukhlis Tanjung and Chairman of Al Mubarakah Islamic Educational Foundation at Kunyet Mule, North Aceh, Teungku Hanafi. Vice Consul of Japan in Medan Daiki Yokoyama, representing the Japanese Consulate General, said that although the amount of grants is different, the construction of all school buildings is expected to be completed within six months.

"The donation to the Islamic School-MTS is around 815 million rupiah. While, for the assistance of Mubarakah Junior School in North Aceh about 939 million rupiah. The aids are just signed, so we hope to start construction immediately, starting this month or February," Daiki Yokoyama.

The Chairman of Nurul Huda Islamic Foundation, Mukhlis Tanjung, said the grant will be used to build six classrooms of MTS Darul Muta'alimin. Meanwhile, Chief Executive of the Al-Mubarakah Islamic Education Foundation of Kunyet Mule, Zubir said, the grants given by the Japanese Government will be used to build 6 Junior High School classrooms// DEWI/TRS.N

Director of the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance - INDEF Enny Sri Hartati, said Indonesia's economic growth in 2018 could exceed from the government's target of 5.4 percent. In a special interview with Voice of Indonesia on Tuesday 16/1, she explained, in 2017 the growth of neighboring countries such as Vietnam, Singapore, Philippines and Malaysia have improved. The improving condition of the external economy boosted optimism and showed a recovery in the global economy. According to her, Indonesia has the potential sources of extraordinary economic growth. Enny explained, seeing from the potential of resources and markets, Indonesia is much better than other countries in ASEAN. Nevertheless, there are still many challenges such as slowing household consumption and limited realization of investment figures.

"The homework in 2018 is how the government doing recovery of public purchasing power immediately. Secondly, how to realize the commitment of investors to invest in the real sector. The investment in the real sector is the key, because if we only stay in a portfolio like in 2017, there have no significant contribution to economic growth," Enny said.

Enny Hartati further explained, the effectiveness of government spending also gives a significant impact for the economic growth. The government has a budget of more than 2,000 trillion rupiah. According to him, the procurement of goods amounting to 400 trillion, can be used to absorb domestic products that can promote the Indonesian industry. In addition, the village funds can also be used to improve rural products. Therefore, rural products can meet domestic demand even for export// (Sekar/trs.Rezha)

Indonesia as a country with population of internet users of over 100 million, becomes an opportunity for e-commerce business developers. This is proven, because in the last three years the growth of electronic commerce showed a positive trend. Head of Business Development of Ralali.com, Meiriana told reporters in Badung, Bali Province, on Tuesday (16/1) said the e-commerce business tendency has always increased since 2015. In 2017, electronic trade growth reached 700% or 7 folds over the previous year.

"Well, from the 7 fold growth, in 2018 we only estimate the increase is 2 fold. It is 200 percent, and that figure has reached trillions. This is our estimation per year, in 2018," Meiriana said.

The growth is estimated across all lines, from the sellers, active account holders, to the traffic. So far, the annual traffic reaches 5 million visits. Meiriana further said, the growth is evenly distributed throughout the territory of Indonesia. Not limited to Jabodetabek (Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi) area, the e-commerce transactions have also reached to other regions such as Bali, Sumatra, and Kalimantan// (Hikmat/trs.Rezha)