VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

President Joe Biden speaks during a virtual meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, from the State Dining Room of the White House on Mar 12, 2021, in Washington. (Photo: AP/Alex Brandon)

The United States, India, Japan and Australia on Friday (Mar 12) announced a joint drive to ramp up the COVID-19 vaccine supply in Asia, mounting a challenge to China in the first-ever summit of the four like-minded powers.

US President Joe Biden, who has vowed to reinvigorate alliances in the face of growing worries about China, met virtually with the three nations' prime ministers and told them that the so-called Quad format would become a "vital arena" for cooperation.

"We're renewing our commitment to ensure that our region is governed by international law, committed to upholding universal values and free from coercion," said Biden, who like the others made no explicit, but plenty of implicit, mentions of China."A free and open Indo-Pacific is essential," he said, a message reinforced by the other leaders as concerns mount about China's assertion of power around the region.

Pledging that the Quad should bring "practical solutions and concrete results," Biden said, "We're launching an ambitious new joint partnership that is going to boost vaccine manufacturing for the global benefit and strengthen vaccinations to benefit the entire Indo-Pacific."

US officials said the initiative would produce up to one billion vaccine doses by 2022 as the world seeks to turn the page on the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The plan would see pharmaceutical hub India manufacturing the single-dose vaccine from US-based Johnson & Johnson, backed by financial support from Japan, with Australia taking charge of shipments.

US officials said the focus would be Southeast Asia at a time when China, where the deadly virus was first detected in late 2019, works to transform its image into that of a global healer.China has shipped vaccines as far afield as the Dominican Republic and provided doses to international partners such as Pakistan and Zimbabwe//CNA

President Joko Widodo speaking at an online event held to mark the 45th anniversary of the UNS on Friday (March 12, 2021). (ANTARA/Aris Wasita)

President Joko Widodo has appealed to the State University of Sebelas Maret (UNS) in Surakarta, Central Java to make changes in order to keep pace with the developments brought on by the ongoing pandemic.

“In a rapidly changing world, speed, creativity, and innovation are key to beating the competition,” he said at an online event held to mark the 45th anniversary of UNS on Friday.

“All sides should not be trapped in common ways and held hostage by routine activities. Hence, new ways must be invented to follow the development of times,” he remarked."The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us to abandon old ways. What was considered taboo in the past has now become the new lifestyle. Digitalization, which was difficult to introduce in the past, must now be adopted by all institutions," he observed.

In addition, performance measurement, including budgeting methods, must be changed, while at the same time, new working programs must be introduced, he advised.

"For startups, the new methods have become their foundations from the beginning. But an institution which is 45 years old now, as I know, would often find it challenging to introduce new ways," he remarked."On the commemoration of its 45th anniversary, I believe UNS has committed itself to make major changes to develop science and technology, which is relevant to the demand, to produce graduates needed in the future," he said.

The labor market has also seen drastic changes, he pointed out. Many old types of jobs have disappeared and are no longer needed, he said.

"This requires (institutes of higher learning) to change study programs, curricula, and lecturers' characters. The fourth industrial revolution, or Industry 4.0, has done a lot. Old science and technology has become irrelevant. The theory of management, organization, and business models have also changed very much, and so have communication patterns and public behavior. Of course, the agenda of research must also make many changes," the President remarked//ANT

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati speaks on the appointment of Askolani as the director general of customs and excise at the ministry in Jakarta on Friday (March 12, 2021).

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has said she expects the directorate general of customs and excise (DJBC) to continue achieving the state revenue target under its newly installed director general, Askolani.

“Throughout 2020, the DJBC has achieved the state revenue target. It has been recorded as an achievement. Therefore, I ask to keep up the success this year even though it will not be easy,” she remarked here on Friday.

To optimize state revenues and achieve the target, the DJBC will have to focus on the “extensification and intensification” of revenue as well as building analytical data, she pointed out.

The DJBC has set a Rp215-trillion revenue target for this year. By the end of January, its realization had reached Rp12.5 trillion, or 5.8 percent of the target.  The figure reflected a increase of 175.3 percent year-on-year  compared to Rp4.5 trillion in revenue recorded during the same period last year. The directorate also added as much as Rp212.8 trillion in state revenue, an increase of 103.5 percent compared to its target of Rp205.7 trillion.

“This directorate, along with the directorate general of taxation and the directorate general of budget, which Mr. Askolani formerly led, will become a more significant key player,” Minister Indrawati stated.

She then urged the DJBC to improve provision of trade and industry facilities, boost exports as all regional offices also have such tasks, and protect the economy and public from smuggling.

Supporting the economy and public by adopting technology is compulsory and so is building an efficient ecosystem of national logistics, she remarked.

Overall, the minister said she expects Askolani to continue with the reforms introduced by former director general Heru Pambudi at the DJBC.“Keeping up the reformation in the DJBC is a must, not a choice. Thus, we need to pay attention to strengthening integrity, and organizational and institutional culture,” she remarked.

The minister in charge of official appointments at the Ministry of Finance, including those of Askolani and Pambudi.

Prior to his appointment as director general of customs and excise, Askolani served as the director general of budget. He has replaced Pambudi, who has been made a secretary general//ANT

A worker demonstrates a swallow's nest product meant for export to China. (ANTARA Jatim/Hanif Nashrullah)

Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo has said the government will support the expansion of the export market for swallow's nests to the US and Europe.

"So far, we have dominated the Chinese market for swallow's nests and we need to encourage (the expansion of the market) to the American and European continents," he said while visiting swallow's nest producer PT Surya Aviesta on Kertajaya Indah Timur Street in Surabaya on Friday evening.

Swallow's nest is a much sought-after commodity in the world, he noted.

Therefore, he said he took the chance to visit PT Surya Aviesta, known as one of the largest swallow's nest producers in Indonesia, on the sidelines of his working visit to East Java.The minister assured that the government is ready to fully support PT Surya Aviesta and other swallow's nest producers in the country to expand their businesses on a larger scale to cater to demand from countries other than China.

"For example, PT Surya Aviesta accommodates swallow's nests from Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Papua. We will fully support it to (allow it to) continue to grow. They have dominated the Chinese market. The American and European markets are also open to this product," he said.

PT Surya Aviesta is a labor-intensive company, he pointed out.

"Therefore, by expanding the export market, more and more people could be employed at the company," he said//ANT