VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy will focus on building a digital economy in the entertainment industry, one of which is in the music sector.

Amin Abdullah, Director of the Music, Performing Arts and Publishing at the ministry said that amid the increasingly rapid development of digital technology, the digital economy will become a necessity, including in the music industry.

"Eventually, the slower we are, the more we experience losses from changing analog-to-digital," Amin Abdullah said in Jakarta, on Thursday.

Amin Abdullah said that the ministry focuses on three main things in building digital economic growth through the creative industry sector, including one in the music sector.

"I think there are three things to build this. First creative products that excel in music, then secondly digital transformation, third entrepreneurship of musicians," Amin said.

He added that the COVID-19 pandemic is also a good step in introducing the potential of the digital economy to players in the Indonesian music industry.

"On one hand, what happened in the era of COVID-19 is a blessing, it encourages us to enter the era of the digital economy as quickly as possible," he explained.

Amin said the ministry has visited various regions to see the potential of music industry players there in utilizing the digital era to market their work.

"We have been to areas where it becomes a super-priority area for tourism and the possibility of digitization. In that area, their production is good. We just need a touch on how to do entrepreneurship and digitization," he said.

 Amin said that music industry players must see that the digital economy becomes a new opportunity to monetize their work.

"So it is not just a great masterpiece, but how can this be prosperous. There is no other purpose for the creative economy other than for the welfare," he added. (Antaranews)

An additional 400 ventilators from the United States arrived in Indonesia, completing the total donation of 1,000 ventilators as promised by President Trump to President Joko Widodo, on Wednesday.

"This donation complements the Indonesian government's ongoing efforts to combat COVID-19 and demonstrates the United States' continued commitment to leading a global response to this unprecedented crisis - at home and around the world, together with our friends and allies," the Chancellor of Ad Interim of the United States Embassy, Heather Variava said in an official statement on Thursday.

To date, over 400 ventilators have been distributed to various hospitals in various regions in Indonesia.

Variava said through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the US Government will continue to work with the Indonesian Ministry of Health to facilitate the distribution of ventilators to 34 provinces and provide training to health workers. 

"The United States is the largest contributor to global health and continues to assist our friends and allies through All-of-America efforts that include assistance from governments, businesses, NGOs, and religious organizations," she said.

"Over the past 20 years, USAID has invested $1 billion or 14 trillion Rupiah in Indonesia's health sector, building a solid foundation for a more effective COVID-19 response," she said.

Meanwhile, ventilators are only one form of emergency assistance from the US Embassy to Indonesia in the fight against COVID-19 and are in addition to the total $11 million (Rp 187 billion) that the US Government has invested in the fight against COVID-19 in Indonesia. (RRI)

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati emphasized that tax reform cannot be done alone, and requires collaboration with other countries.

"Our low tax ratio and the reforms we carried out shows that we cannot do it alone," Sri Mulyani said at the Asian Development Bank's 53rd Annual Meeting in Jakarta, on Thursday.

Sri Mulyani said that cooperation with other countries for tax reform could open up opportunities to exchange ideas and experiences regarding violations of taxation practices.

She said that Indonesia has done tax reforms to improve the tax ratio through cooperation with various international institutions such as the IMF, World Bank, and the OECD.

Indonesia is also involved in combating the erosion of the tax base and the diversion of profits or Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) and has a Double Tax Avoidance Agreement (P3B) because it is an open economy country.

“Indonesia is an open economy and we are also a country rich in natural resources. Many company operations actually cross borders and that opens up many opportunities for tax evasion," Sri Mulyani said.

He assessed that cooperation on tax reform would be easier if it was carried out with nearby countries because many countries in the Asia-Pacific are also working to combat tax avoidance. 

"Personally, we have received and welcomed a lot of support from the World Bank, IMF, and OECD in designing reforms, and we hope for the ADB [to support]," the minister said. (Antaranews)

Political Communication Observer from Pelita Harapan University (UPH), Emrus Sihombing, assessed that in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic in Indonesia, health and the economy could run simultaneously.

"Simultaneous health management with economic activity is the right choice for Indonesia's current socio-economic conditions. Do not confuse it with a country that has a small area and extraordinary foreign exchange reserves. But the hot point of health promotion is communication in handling the Covid-19 case," Emrus said on Thursday.

The choice to solve health and economic problems could not be carried out substantially, in fact, it had the potential to create new social problems, he said.

The main point of communication, he said, was to promote health promotion communication in handling the Covid-19 case in a massive, structured, systematic, creative, innovative, and sustainable national level down to the family level, so that people already have awareness, attitudes, and behaviors that are strictly adhering to all health protocols.

In addition, he explained, the public fully understands the fatal risks to themselves and their family members, when they are negligent or careless for a moment it is not in line with health protocols.

Emrus said health communication for handling COVID-19 must be in hotspot orbit, only then will health and economy be carried out simultaneously. The COVID-19 cases in the country, he added, Indonesia does not have to choose whether to solve health or economic problems.

"As a phenomenon faced by the community regarding the Covid-19 case, there are still other options, which in my opinion are better, namely health handling is carried out simultaneously with the economic activity in the community, of course in a health promotion communication room handling the Covid-19 case," he concluded. (RRI)