VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

FILE PHOTO: Chinese President Xi Jinping applauds at the opening session of the National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China March 5, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins//File Photo - 

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called on Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday (Oct 29) to do more to reduce his country's reliance on coal and to bring forward its target date for peak CO2 emissions to try to better tackle climate change.

China, the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, is crucial to the success of COP26, but many scientists and climate experts fear that its current climate plans are too weak and Johnson is keen to persuade Beijing to go further.

On Thursday, Beijing submitted updated 'nationally determined contributions' (NDCs) to fight climate change, formally boosting headline emission-cutting pledges but offering nothing new ahead of the United Nations COP26 climate talks hosted by Johnson.

The submission documents, published on the website of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), showed that China aims to see its carbon dioxide emissions peak before 2030 and to become carbon neutral before 2060.

Referring to a conversation earlier on Friday, Johnson told reporters that he raised "a couple of points. First of all about the moment for peaking ... they have said before 2030 and so I pushed a bit on that, that 2025 would be better than 2030, and I wouldn't say he committed on that."

"On the other point where I was evangelical again was the potential to move away from coal," he said, adding he had described how quickly Britain had moved away from coal.

Johnson is keen to make COP26 a success, but with the UN Environment Programme saying the world is on course to warm around 2.7C with hugely destructive consequences, some critics doubt whether the British leader can win over China and other big emitters and "keep 1.5 alive".

The landmark 2015 Paris agreement committed signatories to keeping global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Using football as a metaphor, Johnson said: "If this was half time I would say we're about 5-1 down ... and we've got a long way to go."

"But we can do it. We have the ability to equalise, to save the position and to come back."//CNA

FILE PHOTO: A view of deserted roads during a lockdown due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia June 1, 2021. REUTERS/Lim Huey Teng - 

Malaysia announced an expanded budget on Friday (Oct 29) aimed at jump-starting its pandemic-battered economy in 2022, according to the government's fiscal and economic outlook reports laying out the budgetary details.

Fresh COVID-19 lockdowns have dampened recovery, with the Southeast Asian country slashing its 2021 growth outlook twice to 3 per cent to 4 per cent this year, but a ramped-up vaccination drive and gradual reopening have boosted hopes of a quick turnaround.

The budget is also expected to set the stage for a general election that could be called by the middle of next year. Malaysia's next polls are due by 2023.

The government plans to spend RM332.1 billion (US$80.06 billion) in 2022, up from RM320.6 billion this year, despite lower-than-expected revenue and a widening deficit in 2021, one of the reports said.

"In the past 19 months or so, the government has repeatedly proven that despite our tight fiscal space, we delivered as best as we could," Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said in his foreword to the government's 2022 fiscal outlook report released ahead of the budget.

"However, when it comes to strengthening our fiscal position, ultimately it depends on a sustained economic recovery."

Malaysia has rolled out RM530 billion worth of stimulus packages to soften the pandemic's blow, as coronavirus curbs weighed on revenue - targeted to come in at RM221 billion this year, 6.7 per cent short of initial estimates.

But it expects economic growth to accelerate to between 5.5 per cent to 6.5 per cent next year, driven by further reopening of the economy and improved external demand, the report showed.

Its fiscal deficit is also expected to moderate to 6 per cent in 2022, after climbing to 6.5 per cent this year.

Next year's spending increase includes a hefty 21.9 per cent jump in development expenditure, to RM75.6 billion, while operating expenses will rise 6.3 per cent to RM233.5 billion.

Revenue is seen expanding 5.9 per cent to RM234 billion ringgit in 2022, including RM25 billion in dividends from state energy firm Petronas, unchanged from the 2021 dividends.

In his budget speech in the parliament, Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said the 2022 budget is the largest ever. 

The economic growth of between 5.5 and 6.5 per cent is based on strong economic fundamentals and diversified economic structure, he said. 

“However, this performance also depends on other factors, such as the success of pandemic control, the effectiveness of the implementation of vaccination programmes as well as the strength of the world’s economic and trade prospects,” he said.  

As the country prepares to enter COVID-19 endemic phase, the Health Ministry has been allocated RM32.4 billion for its expenses, the minister added. 

An additional RM4 billion has been set aside to combat COVID-19, with RM2 billion to fund the vaccination programmes and the remaining RM2 billion to enhance the capacity of public health service facilities.

Cabinet ministers welcomed many of the initiatives proposed in the 2022 budget. 

Senior Minister for International Trade and Industry Mohamed Azmin Ali said several initiatives in the budget could facilitate more foreign investments into Malaysia, especially high-tech multinational corporations. 

He said his ministry expects to attract RM200 billion worth of investments and create an estimated 114,000 jobs. 

"Most of the foreign direct investments (FDI) are expected to come from the manufacturing sector, which is about RM140 billion," said Mr Mohamed Azmin as quoted by the Star.

Senior Minister for Education Radzi Jidin said the RM52.6 billion allocation for the Ministry of Education, which is the largest component in the budget, will be fully utilised to ensure a vibrant educational ecosystem in the country. 

Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the RM16 billion allocation for his ministry will be fully utilised for the benefit of the country's defence sector, and to fulfil the aspirations of the "Malaysian Family", especially for the armed forces personnel, veterans and its civilian staff.

He described the budget as "inclusive, all-encompassing" and one that is from the people, by the people and for the people//CNA

FILE PHOTO: People wait outside a night club, which was turned into a mass vaccination center, to get a vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Stockholm, Sweden, April 16, 2021. Carl-Olof Zimmerman/TT News Agency/via REUTERS/File Photo - 

Sweden's response to the spread of coronavirus was too slow and preparations to handle a pandemic were insufficient, a commission investigating the country's response to COVID-19 said on Friday (Oct 29).

Sweden's early strategy, shunning lockdowns and measures such as face masks and only gradually tightening curbs, made the country an outlier in the first year of the pandemic when many countries across Europe chose to implement tougher restrictions.

The commission said it would address Sweden's no-lockdown strategy in its final report, but that its preliminary findings showed that measures were introduced late both in relation to the country's Nordic neighbours and the spread of the virus in Sweden during the spring of 2020.

"Sweden's handling of the pandemic has been marked by a slowness of response," the commission said.

"The initial disease prevention and control measures were insufficient to stop or even substantially limit the spread of the virus in the country."

The commission, appointed by the government amid pressure from parliament, also noted that it had taken "far too long" to build sufficient testing capacity with initially only targeted groups, such as healthcare staff, being tested.

Authorities relied heavily on voluntary recommendations for people to socially distance and wash their hands, and public places such as schools, restaurants and businesses remained largely open, with the government leaving much of the responsibility for fighting the virus with the health agency and its chief epidemiologist, Anders Tegnell.

Sweden has recorded more than 15,000 deaths from coronavirus, many times the per capita level of its Nordic neighbours that implemented tougher restrictions, but still lower than many countries that locked down tightly, such as Britain.

Its pandemic strategy has been controversial at home and abroad. Critics have called it reckless and cruel but the approach has also earned praise for being more sustainable and business-friendly and as a model for living with the virus as it becomes endemic.

Restrictions were gradually tightened in later waves of the pandemic before Sweden, along with other Western countries, began abandoning curbs following the rollout of vaccines. Nearly all restrictions have now been lifted.

The commission investigating the coronavirus response has no legal power beyond making public its findings with the aim of improving Sweden's ability to handle pandemics and similar situations//CNA

Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi made a statement from Rome, Italy, on Friday (October 29, 2021) at 8.00 p.m local time. ANTARA/HO-Biro Pers Sekretariat Presiden-Muchlis Jr - 

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) is scheduled to attend the global economy and health sessions at the G20 Summit in addition to some other bilateral meetings in Rome, Italy.

“The president of the Republic of Indonesia will partake in a series of activities under a tight schedule, including attending the sessions on global economy and global health,” Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi noted in a press statement here on Saturday.

The head of state will also be part of an additional activity pertaining to the support for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) owned by women, as he was specially invited to be a speaker at the occasion, the minister remarked.

Referring to the president’s statement, Marsudi stated that the invitation reflected global recognition to the Indonesian government that has supported MSMEs and women’s role in doing business.

“The President will thereafter also attend the cultural event and a dinner hosted by the Italian prime minister,” she confirmed.

Marsudi stated that apart from attending the G20 Summit, Jokowi will partake in several bilateral meetings with at least six leaders from Australia, France, India, Turkey, Italy, and World Bank.

The bilateral meeting agendas are still dynamic and can be changed to adjust to the schedules of those leaders, the minister remarked.

“There will likely be some changes in the bilateral meetings due to some requests, and we are now striving to match the schedules either for the president or other leaders,” Marsudi noted.

Meanwhile, at the ministerial level, Marsudi, on Friday, October 29, 2021, attended three bilateral meetings with her counterparts from Mexico and India as well as with the Chinese state councilor and foreign affairs minister.

Jokowi will be accompanied by Marsudi and Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Luhut Pandjaitan and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani during such meetings.

The head of state arrived at the Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy, on Friday (October 29, 2021) at 17:25 local time.

The president and his entourage undertook a 13-hour flight aboard the Garuda Indonesia aircraft code GIA-1 from Jakarta to Italy//ANT