VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

An imam receives an AstraZeneca vaccine shot at the Dompak mosque hall, Tanjungpinang City, on Friday (March 26, 2021). (Ogen)

As many as three thousand mosque staff, including imams and mosque keepers (marbot) in Bintan Island, Riau Islands, will receive AstraZeneca vaccine shots ahead of Ramadhan 1442.

The vaccine program will also cover preachers, prayer callers (bilal) as well as officers of the Council of the National Forum for Islamic Study Grous (BKMT),

The vaccinations will be conducted at two venues — at the Dompak Island’s mosque hall in Tanjungpinang City and in Bintan district — and encompass 10 vaccination points.

“The vaccination program starts today, we have set the target to complete it in two days. A total of three thousand people — 1,300 people in Tanjungpinang and 1,700 people in Bintan — will receive the vaccine,” said Riau Islands’ COVID-19 Task Force chairman, TS Arif Fadillah, while reviewing the vaccination process for imams and mosque caretakers at Dompak Island’s mosque hall in Tanjungpinang on Friday.

Imams and keepers will receive two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. The second dose will be administered 28 days after the first inoculation.“This vaccine is different from Sinovac, which only requires a 14-day interval between the first and second dose,” Fadillah said.

The vaccination is aimed at providing security and comfort to imams and keepers in performing tarawih prayers at the mosque during Ramadhan, he added.

They are expected to feel more confident about interacting with people at mosques after getting vaccinated, he explained. The situation this year will not be like last Ramadhan, when mosques were closed due to rising concerns over COVID-19 spread, he added.

“We will try to keep the mosques open after the imams and keepers are vaccinated, and under strict health protocols,” he said.

Fadillah then urged other regions in Riau Islands to prepare vaccinations for imams and keepers to create a secure and conducive environment ahead of Ramadhan.He also asked them to accelerate the distribution of AstraZeneca vaccines from the city center to the regions, from where they have to be distributed to districts or towns.

The Riau Islands has received 50 thousand doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, of which 35 thousand doses have been sent to Batam City, while the rest have been reserved for Bintan Island, including Tanjungpinang City and Bintan district.

“Starting next week, the vaccines will arrive in the Riau Islands. A total of 260 thousand doses of the AstraZenecca vaccine will be sent here,” Fadillah informed//ANT

Director of MSME Development and Consumer Protection of the Bank of Indonesia, Bandoe Widiarto, during a training event for national economic journalists in Jakarta, Friday (26/3/2021). ANTARA/Astrid Faidlatul Habibah.

Applying digitalization measures can boost the resilience of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) amid the crisis arising due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Bank Indonesia (BI).

"The lessons that we learnt from this pandemic, based on several surveys that we conducted showed that MSMEs that conducted digital transformation can relatively be resilient," Director of MSME Development and Consumer Protection of BI, Bandoe Widiarto, noted during a training event for national economic journalists in Jakarta, Friday.

According to Widiarto, the survey indicated that 12.5 percent or 370 MSMEs were not impacted by the pandemic, while 87.5 percent or 2,600 MSMEs were affected since they failed to transform digitally.Meanwhile, out of 370 MSMEs, 27.6 percent experienced a growth in sales amid the pandemic, whilst 72.4 percent were in a considerably stable state.

"Some 27.6 percent of the MSMEs recorded an increase in their sales, as they were able to conduct online marketing strategies," he expounded.

Speaking in the context of the survey result, Widiarto noted that the central bank and regional governments had relentlessly pushed digitalization programs for MSMEs in order to maintain resilience in their roles to sustain economic recovery.

"The MSME digitalization program is being pushed forward since based on the data, those that managed to transform were able to survive," he pointed out//ANT

Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan - birkom kemenkomarves

Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, said the United Arab Emirates’ investment in the Indonesian Investment Authority (INA) reflects the confidence of the international community in the Indonesian government.

"On Tuesday (March 23, 2021), the government of Abu Dhabi announced that it will make an investment of US$10 million in the Indonesian Sovereign Wealth Fund (INA). I believe this conveys a positive message on how the confidence of the international (community) towards the Indonesian government is so high," he said at the 2021 Bali Investment Forum, which was streamed online on Friday.

He explained that such trust was also reflected in the decision made by ratings agency Fitch, which has maintained Indonesia's Sovereign Credit Rating at the BBB level with a stable outlook.

The agency has noted that the key factor that supports Indonesia's affirmation level is the positive prospect of mid-term economic growth and low level of government debt, despite increases. "This is very good for Indonesia," he remarked.

The United Arab Emirates had earlier announced plans to invest US$10 billion in the Indonesian sovereign wealth fund.

According to a statement issued by the Indonesian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, the investment will further strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries in various sectors, and, at the same time, reflect the close personal ties between their leaders.

With this investment, the UAE has become the anchor investor for INA. A number of countries, including Japan, the United States, and Canada, have announced investment commitments to INA//ANT

Protesters participate in a mock drowning as a signal to the world that they, as their country, need to be saved, in Nyaung-U, Myanmar March 19, 2021. Picture taken March 19, 2021. Handout/via REUTERS

Opponents of Myanmar's military rule, many in small towns across the country, staged candle-lit protests on Saturday night (Mar 20) and into Sunday in defiance of crackdowns by the security forces and the killing of nearly 250 people since the Feb 1 coup.

The violent suppression has drawn the condemnation of Western governments and increasingly the unprecedented criticism of some of Myanmar's Asian neighbours.

The violence has also forced people determined to resist a return to military rule after a decade of tentative steps towards democracy to think up new ways to make their point.

Nearly 20 protests were held overnight across the country, from the main city of Yangon to small communities in Kachin State in the north and the southernmost town of Kawthaung, according to a tally of social media posts.

Hundreds of protesters in the second city of Mandalay, including many medical staff in white coats, marched before sunrise in a "Dawn protest".

Protesters in some places were joined by Buddhist monks holding candles. Some people used candles to make the shape of the three-fingered protest salute.In Yangon, which has seen the worst of the violence since the coup, security forces moved quickly to break up a gathering.

"Now they're cracking down on our night protest. Stun grenades being fired constantly," one Facebook user wrote. Eight people were detained, a resident of the neighbourhood said.

At least four people were killed in separate incidents earlier on Saturday, taking the death toll since the coup to 247, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners activist group.Western countries have repeatedly condemned the coup and the violence. Asian neighbours, who have for years avoided criticising each other, have also begun speaking out//CNA