VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian coffee seeds - 

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto has urged Indonesian coffee entrepreneurs to expand their branding and export their products overseas.

"We hope Indonesian entrepreneurs will push their products in overseas markets because I believe all hotels in the world surely have coffee shops. We hope Indonesia's coffee can top the global coffee industry," Hartarto remarked at the 2022 Indonesia Premium Coffee Expo & Forum opening ceremony, which was broadcast online on Friday.

Coffee is the third-largest agricultural commodity in Indonesia after palm and rubber, he noted.

Coffee contributes around 16.15 percent to the national GDP, and around seven million households are dependent on the coffee industry, he added.

Indonesia's coffee production has also increased by 250 percent in the last ten years, bolstering Indonesia's status as the fourth largest coffee producer after Brazil, Vietnam, and Colombia, the coordinating minister said.

"This is our time to close the gap in coffee production. Indonesia has a diverse geographical identity and condition to grow various types of coffee, and every coffee producer, no matter what their brand is, must inform their coffee identity in Indonesia," Hartarto added.

The development of various types of coffee has been bolstered by high demand and interest among Indonesian youth, particularly for premium coffee, he said.

Consumers are also interested in trying more types of coffees besides Toraja coffee, such as the Luwak (civet) coffee and other premium-priced coffees, the minister added.

Hartarto expressed the hope that the 2022 Indonesia Premium Coffee Expo & Forum, scheduled to take place in a hybrid format from March to June, will bolster the national coffee industry.

It is hoped that Indonesia's coffee entrepreneurs will follow the path of Kopi Kenangan, which has become a publicly-traded company, and Kopiko coffee candy brand that has gained a significant market share in the Philippines, he added//ANT

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto. ANTARA/HO-Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs/am - 

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto called to improve access to finance for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), so that the players could develop their businesses.

"The credit share for MSMEs is currently still low, at only 18 percent. Limited access to financing for MSMEs can likely hinder the development and creation of new businesses in the MSME sector, thereby resulting in limited job creation," Minister Hartarto noted in an official statement here on Friday.

The government also targets bank lending to reach 20 percent of its total credit for MSMEs in 2022 and gradually increase to 30 percent by 2024.

The government has also provided a People's Business Credit (KUR) interest subsidy of three percent for MSMEs, increased the KUR ceiling of Rp373.17 trillion, added the Super Micro KUR scheme for laid-off workers and housewives, integrated the Pre-Employment Card Program with KUR, and made changes to the Special KUR policy for the corporatization of farmers and fishermen.

Hartarto remarked that in a bid to support MSMEs reeling from the impacts of the pandemic, the government had also provided a credit restructuring policy to reduce the burden on MSME debtors.

Minister Hartarto also stated that social assistance programs, such as Productive Assistance from the president and the continued distribution of Pre-Employment Cards, will help increase the number of productive micro and small businesses.

According to the minister, development efforts, through the Partnership and Community Development Program (PKBL) as well as other CSR programs, will also help unbankable MSMEs to improve their class and secure better financing.

"The government continues to strive to increase the added value of the economy through strengthening entrepreneurship, MSMEs, and cooperatives. I am optimistic that the MSME Financing Book would increase the knowledge of academics and policy makers in monitoring and evaluating various policies being pursued by the government to build a better MSME ecosystem," the minister remarked//ANT

A screenshot of President Joko Widodo speaking at an academic event at Sebelas Maret University, Surakarta city, Central Java province, on Friday (March 11, 2022). (ANTARA/Gilang Galiartha/uyu) - 

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has said that Indonesia only has two years to expedite human resources (HR) development to capitalize on the demographic bonus in the period from 2030 to 2035.

"Do we dare to change during these two years? Otherwise, we will not be able to optimize the demographic bonus in 2030–2035. We will retard if we do not immediately change," he remarked at an academic event at Sebelas Maret University, Surakarta city, Central Java province, on Friday.

During the next two years, all educational institutions in Indonesia will be challenged to transform to provide better education services since rapid developments in science must be followed up with dynamic education programs and research, he noted.

Thus, digital human resources development is one of the aspects which must be prioritized and expedited, he said.

In addition, the development of artificial intelligence, cloud computing, digital design, digital marketing, and digital blockchain is also required to be accelerated, he added.

The President then expressed his support for Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Minister Nadiem Makarim’s attempt to implement the Free of Learning in Campus (Kampus Merdeka) program.

He said he expected the program to be one of the factors to accelerate human resource development to optimize the utilization of the demographic bonus.

He lauded the program, which has provided a lot of opportunities to college students to take up internships and certified independent study directly with industrial and business actors for one semester.

“Hence, currently, the industry has become a part of the university,” he remarked.

The Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Ministry is also providing matching funds, he noted.

The government is targeting to get 10 thousand industrial practitioners to collaborate with universities across Indonesia to expedite the educational transformation, he said.

In addition to attending the academic event, he inaugurated the university’s Ki Hadjar Dewantara Building on Friday//ANT

In this image taken from video provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to the nation in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, March 3, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP) - 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that he spoke by phone with his US counterpart Joe Biden on Sunday to discuss financial support and sanctions against Russia as his country faces an intensifying onslaught.

"As part of the constant dialogue, I had another conversation with @POTUS," Zelenskyy tweeted. "The agenda included the issues of security, financial support for Ukraine and the continuation of sanctions against Russia."

Biden welcomed the decisions by Visa and Mastercard to suspend their operations in Russia, the White House said on Saturday.

"President Biden noted his administration is surging security, humanitarian, and economic assistance to Ukraine and is working closely with Congress to secure additional funding," a White House readout of the call added.

Hours earlier, the Ukrainian leader had addressed US lawmakers by video call, pleading for further assistance to his besieged country and a blacklisting of Russian oil imports.

The American legislators promised an additional US$10 billion aid package, but the White House has so far ruled out an oil ban, fearing it would ratchet up prices and hurt US consumers already stung by record inflation.

Weapons, ammunition and funds have poured into Ukraine from Western allies, which have also imposed sweeping sanctions as they seek to bolster Kyiv against Moscow's invasion, which began Feb 24.

Washington last week authorised US$350 million of military equipment -- the largest such package in US history.

While visiting Ukrainian refugees on the Polish border over the weekend, US Secretary of State Antony said that Washington was seeking US$2.75 billion to help address the humanitarian crisis unfurling as nearly 1.4 million civilians flee//CNA