VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto positively welcomes the revocation of Indonesia’s developing economy status that is imposed by the United States. After attending Limited Work Meeting on the impacts of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) at the Presidential Office in Jakarta on Tuesday (Feb 25), Minister Airlangga said that Indonesia has become member of the G20 for a long time, which is a group of countries having the largest economies in the world. According to Airlangga, the revocation of Indonesia’s developing economy status will only have slight impact on the export incentive facility, namely the General System of Preferences (GSP) implemented by the US Government, considering most of Indonesian exports to the US have complied with the tariff regulation applied in the country.

"The revocation of Indonesia’s developing economy status is in accordance with several criteria. Indonesia is no longer part of emerging markets. Indonesia’s economy has been more advanced and it has been acknowledged by the US Government. The GSP (General System of Preferences) is still being processed. Being a less developed country means that Indonesia has higher requirements. Our export GSP to the US is only 20 percent and the other 80 percent has complied with the applicable tariff," said Airlangga.

The United States Trade Representative has revoked Indonesia’s developing economy status and Indonesia is now recognized as a developed country in the international trade. In addition to Indonesia, the revocation of developing economy status also applies to other countries namely China, Brazil, India, and South Africa. The revocation of Indonesia’s developing economy status makes Indonesia no longer eligible to receive Special Differential Treatment for export and import activities or known as Generalized System of Preferences (GSP)// (VOI/Andy/AHM)

Tsunami is the disaster which occurred repeatedly in Indonesia. During the Dutch colonial era, all kinds of disaster succeeded to be documented. This was stated by Head of National Disaster Management Authority, Doni Monardo at soft launching  event of  Asia Disaster Management and Civil Protection Expo and Conference in Jakarta on Monday (Febr 24).  Doni Monardo added that the Authority will cooperate with a number of agencies in the Netherlands to register disaster which heppened in the Dutch colonial era.

"We have a cooperation with a number of agencies in the Netherlands. They will give information about disaster in the past in our country. Even, hundreds years ago, the Dutch officials who existed in Indonesia noted the disasters every day. All documents are existed at the Dutch museum. The agreement has been made at the first meeting" Doni Monardo said. 

Head of BNPB, Doni Monardo further said that although the MoU has not been signed yet, the Dutch museum welcomed the cooperation. This is intended as of Indonesia can learn symptoms of disaster.   Asia Disaster Management and Civil Protection Expo and Conference is the biggest exhibition in the world related to the handling of disaster. The exhibition is conducted as an effort to put Indonesia as a solution center of disaster in the Asian region. The exhibition which will hold on October 20 – 22, 2020 at JIExpo, Kemayoran, Jakarta, will be participated in by around 300 participants and display disaster response equipments and early warning system// NK/ Trs-yati 

Indonesia's rupiah opened lower by 26 points (0.19 percent) to Rp13,898 against the US dollar, on Tuesday morning (25/2), in the Jakarta interbank market amid fears of coronavirus outbreak that infected over 30 countries outside mainland China. According to an analyst, Riset Monex Investindo Futures' head of research, Ariston, investors and traders remain concerned over the spread of the virus despite the market witnessing a decline in the selling of high-risk assets. Ariston said the number of people confirmed to have tested positive to the coronavirus infection appears to have increased, and it contributes to the weakening of Indonesia's rupiah. He further projected the rupiah to move within the range of Rp13,830 to Rp13,920 against the dollar. In the meantime, Bank Indonesia's mid-rate on Tuesday showed the rupiah had dropped Rp13,893 against the dollar, while the day before, it was recorded at Rp13,863 against the greenback.//antara