VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly, Bambang Soesatyo. (ANTARA/HO-People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR)/pri/ac)

Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly, Bambang Soesatyo, has urged the government to provide capital support as well as extra coaching and training to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to improve their condition.

Such measures can involve providing them wider access to the market, including through applications or digital platforms, he said.

"(I) urge the government to give support and help to the MSMEs through individuals or cooperatives to increase the competitiveness of the products gradually, until they are ready to compete in the market," he said in a statement in Jakarta on Wednesday.

He also asked the government to help enhance the human resources capabilities of MSME players to equip them to make better quality products with greater competitiveness, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aside from that, such measures can also help MSME players to gain knowledge about the type and specification of goods or services that are sought after in the market, he said.

He also urged the government to optimize ministry and institution budgets for the purchase of MSME products. (ANTARA)

Jakarta (VOI News) - The Embassy of Vietnam in Jakarta and the Indonesian Embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam held a virtual awarding ceremony for the logo design contest to commemorate the 65 years of diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Vietnam, Wednesday (18/08). The competition was won by Tran Hoai Duc from Vietnam. The Tran’s logo features Indonesia's national bird, Garuda, and Vietnam's national bird, Chim Lac, which forms the number 65 with the flags of the two countries on the right. The new logo was chosen from the results of a month-long competition involving more than 200 participants and a total of 772 works of designers from Indonesia and Vietnam.

In his remarks, the Vietnamese Ambassador to Indonesia, Pham Vinh Quang in Jakarta said that the strategic partnership between Indonesia and Vietnam had developed in almost all fields, including in the fields of politics, security and defense, economic cooperation, tourism, cultural exchanges, as well as relations between communities or people-to people contact. He added that the logo contest for 65 years of diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Vietnam was a way to strengthen cooperation between the Vietnamese and Indonesian people.

“That’s why today’s event is not a common celebration. This is an opportunity for us to promote and strengthen our tradition relationship, for the interest of two peoples, to foster peace stability, and progress in the world,” said Pham Vinh Quang.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Ambassador to Vietnam, Ibnu Hadi, in his remarks via a video conference from Hanoi said that the logo to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the Indonesia-Vietnam relations was used during the celebration of Indonesia's 75th anniversary of independence in Vietnam on Monday (17/8/2020).

“The Indonesian Embassy for the first time used this logo in the Indonesian Independence Day commemoration on August 17, which we carried out solemnly, and was attended by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nguyen Quoc Dung. So the logo was displayed with other logos from Indonesia," said Ibnu Hadi.

Apart from Tran who won the contest, the Vietnam Embassy in Jakarta and the Indonesian Embassy in Hanoi also gave four consolation prizes to the four finalists, two of whom are Indonesian citizens, namely Fajar Soekarno Aji from Sidoarjo and Wahyu Purnomo from Banyumas. (VOI / AHM)

Indonesia recorded a surplus of US$9.2 billion in its balance of payments in the second quarter of 2020 after registering a deficit of US$8.5 billion in the previous quarter, raising expectations it would reinforce external resiliency.

“The improving balance of payments was the result of declining current account deficit and high surplus in capital and financial transactions,” executive director of the communication department at Bank Indonesia (BI), Onny Widjanarko, said in a written statement released on Tuesday.

The surplus raised the country's foreign exchange reserves to US$131.7 billion at the end of June, 2020, which equals 8.1 months of imports and government's foreign debt repayments, and is well above the international adequacy standard, he pointed out.

Meanwhile, the current account deficit continued to fall, driven by a surplus in the balance of goods and a declining deficit in the balance of primary income. The current account deficit stood at US$2.9 billion, accounting for 1.2 percent of the national gross domestic product (GDP). It was also lower than the current account deficit in the previous quarter, which was pegged at US$3.7 billion, or 1.4 percent of the GDP.

The declining current account deficit resulted from a surplus in the balance of goods due to declining imports and low domestic demand.

In addition, the deficit in the balance of income narrowed due to declining payment of yields to foreign investors after domestic economic growth contracted in the second quarter of 2020, as reflected by the decline in performance of companies and investment.

He further said the deficit in the balance of services rose slightly, fueled by a deficit in travel services caused by a significant drop in the number of tourist arrivals in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the other hand, remittances from Indonesian migrant workers declined. This coupled with the contracting global economic growth held back a further current account deficit.

Capital and financial transactions in the second quarter of 2020 recorded a significant surplus compared to the previous quarter, along with declining uncertainty about the global financial market.

The surplus in capital and investment transactions was recorded at US$10.5 billion, primarily as a result of net portfolio investment and direct investment inflows after suffering a deficit of US$3 billion in the previous quarter. (ANTARA)

Director General of Small, Medium Scale Enterprises and Various Industry (IKMA) at the Industry Ministry, Gati Wibawaningsih. (ANTARA/HO-Industry Ministry)

The Industry Ministry is encouraging small and medium-scale enterprises to design more attractive packaging for their products to improve competitiveness.

“Products sold in the market must be attractive and creative to attract consumers in domestic as well as global markets. This strategic move will also boost national SMEs’ competitiveness," the ministry's director general of Small, Medium Scale Enterprises and Various Industry (IKMA), Gati Wibawaningsih, said in Jakarta on Tuesday.

The COVID-19 pandemic, she said, has caused a shift in lifestyle and forced the public to adapt to new habits. This has, in turn, affected the trend in global product design.

“Product design, till date, has focused on the sustainable aspect in (terms of the) economy, social, and environment (concerns). It has (now) also put forward a health aspect by applying health protocols amid the COVID-19 pandemic,” she pointed out.

It has become a great challenge for industrial product designers to not only produce high-value products, but to also make them attractive and in accordance with the health standards, Wibawaningsih noted.

The ministry is also organizing the Indonesia Good Design Selection (IGDS) 2020, a competition in product design.

“The IGDS is being organized to show our appreciation to companies, industry operators, and designers that have contributed to the development of the national industrial products’ quality, and improved product competitiveness,” she said.

The 17th IGDS will select winners in two categories — design product and design concept.

Registrations for the competition will be accepted until September 30, 2020 through the website:
www.igds.kemenperin.go.id. (ANTARA)