VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Peru's Congressman Alejandra Aramayo requested that Indonesia be made a strategic partner in the palm oil industry. The request was submitted to the Deputy Minister of Peru's Hydrocarbons, Eduardo Guevara, at the meeting on June 12, 2019 which was also attended by the Indonesian Ambassador Lima, Marina Estella Anwar Bey and Daily Chair of the Indonesian Biofuel Producers Association (APROBI), Paulus Tjakrawan. Peru's desire is very based because Indonesia is considered to have succeeded in developing the palm oil industry both in the upstream and downstream industries. This is evidenced by the high productivity of oil palm plantations in Indonesia, as well as the development of various products from palm oil including biodiesel.

The Chair of APROBI explained that Indonesia has been using biodiesel since 2006 and continues to increase every year. At present Indonesia uses a biodiesel content of 20% (B20) and is testing B30. It is projected that by 2020, Indonesia will start using B30. In addition, Indonesia is also developing bio-hydrocarbon fuels in the form of green gasoline, green diesel and green avtur.

This is very interesting for Aramayo to recommend the Peruvian Government to work with Indonesia. As one of the members of the Peruvian Congress who is very active in campaigning for biodiesel use in Peru, Aramayo believes that Indonesia can be a model for Peru to develop the palm oil industry, especially biodiesel for domestic needs. At present the Peruvian Government has implemented the mandate of using B5 but domestic biodiesel production is very small and cannot meet domestic needs so the Government must import biodiesel products from other countries on a large scale.

Aramayo also hopes that Peru can join the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC) which has been initiated by Indonesia and Malaysia. At present, Colombia is the first country in the Latin American region to become a member. The Peruvian government welcomed the proposal and said it would study the possibility of Peru becoming a member of CPOPC. Further cooperation with Indonesia in the energy sector such as biodiesel and petrochemicals will be followed up through the Indonesian Embassy in Lima. The Indonesian Ambassador Lima stated that Indonesia was ready to work with Peru to improve good relations between the two countries. The Chairperson of APROBI also stated that Indonesia is ready to share the results of B20's research with Peru for future cooperation in the energy sector. (Source: Indonesian Embassy in Lima)

The government made a breakthrough to gain investment and increase exports as much as possible. One of the breakthroughs that was made was to immediately undertake massive tax cuts in several business sectors. Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) had requested that the Ministry of Finance provide more facilities but not just instruments, but more importantly whether it could work in the field.

"So if there are decreases such as tax holidays and tax allowances or even our plans to make changes to the PPH (Income Tax) law so that the tariffs are lower, that is now how fast it is being exercised, and it must really be calculated. The rate drops to 20 percent, how fast and how much fiscal risk can be borne and how it is implemented, "said Sri Mulyani, answering reporters after attending the Limited Meeting to discuss the issue of Breakthrough Investment, Exports and Taxation, at the Presidential Office, Jakarta, Wednesday (6/19) ) afternoon.

Then regarding the super deduction tax, Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati hopes that the Government Regulation (PP) will come out soon. She pointed out examples such as those for motorized vehicles that are expected to have finished harmonizing, and can be released this week or early next week. "Because it's finished so we can expect it to come out soon," he said.

Minister of Finance detailed, there was also the exemption of VAT (Value Added Tax) for leasing aircraft from abroad which had been imposed to reduce the burden on airlines.

In addition there is also a decrease in PPH rates for bond interest for infrastructure, where the government will reduce from 15% to 5%.

Regarding the property sector, according to Minister of Finance, after increasing the price limit of houses / apartments by Rp30 billion which was subject to PPnBM 20 percent from the previous Rp20 billion and Rp10 billion, the government will also increase the VAT (Value Added Tax) limit for simple houses according to their respective regions -one.

Furthermore, the rate of luxury housing article 22 income tax also fell from 5% to 1%, and the validation of PPH land sales will also be simplified.

"That is all so that the property sector will stretch better," explained the Minister of Finance. (setkab) 

The Indonesian government has expressed its hopes that the ongoing evaluation of Timor Leste will result in its becoming a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

"The process (East Timorese membership) has been going on for a long time, since 2011 to the present, and is still ongoing, so we hope that there will be positive movement and activities towards determining this outcome," the Foreign Ministry's Director General of ASEAN Cooperation, Jose Tavares, said here on Wednesday

Jose took note of the process that must be undertaken by Timor Leste to become a member of ASEAN.

"At this stage there is a process to send a team to look closely at East Timor's readiness, so that when this issue is discussed at the level of ASEAN heads of state, they can make political decisions to determine whether Timor Leste is eligible to become a member of ASEAN," he said.

The readiness assessment was carried out through independent studies of the conditions of Timor Leste in three main areas: security, socio-culture and economy.

"From this study, in general, positive recommendations were given for East Timor to become a member of ASEAN," he said.

However, Jose also said that the question of membership for Timor Leste would not be discussed this year, and there is still no target time for such a discussion. (ant) 

The Government of the Republic of Indonesia (RI) hopes that countries members of the Southeast Asian Nations Association (ASEAN) have a shared views in dealing with economic problems, especially trade war between the United States (US) and the People's Republic of China (PRC), because after all war trade has an impact on the economy in the ASEAN region.

"We should show a joint attitude and position so that it does not harm ASEAN member countries," said the Deputy Foreign Minister (Indonesian Foreign Minister) A.M. Fachir answered reporters after attending the Limited Meeting, at the Presidential Office, Jakarta, Wednesday (6/19) afternoon.

Earlier in his introduction to the limited meeting, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said that in the ASEAN Summit, in Bangkok, Thailand, June 22-23, he would invite ASEAN countries to unite in anticipation of a trade war between the United States and China, so that economic stability in ASEAN is maintained.

"It is very important that we invite ASEAN countries to unite," said President Jokowi.

The Deputy Foreign Minister acknowledged, that the current ASEAN Summit was, among others, colored by rivalry, whether it was rivalry in the region or included in trade wars. Therefore, the Deputy Foreign Minister considered, the Indonesian Government's attempt to pass ASEAN Indo-Pacific Outlook was very strategic.

Meanwhile, concerning the resolution of problems in Myanmar, Vice Minister A.M. Fachir said the government would encourage ASEAN to help Myanmar prepare to receive the repatriation. Therefore, the Government of Indonesia hopes that later they will be able to adopt or agree on what has been done, including receiving an assessment that has been carried out by ASEAN.

Plastic waste

Regarding the problem of plastic waste, Foreign Minister A.M. Fachir believes that later there will be a document that contains an agreement so that ASEAN countries have the same attitude, cooperation to mitigate plastic waste.

Indonesia itself, explained the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, assessing the urgency of plastic waste to be appointed to the ASEAN Summit because it saw that Indonesia was a country with large seas, and had also felt its impact. (setkab)