VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The plan to dissolve the Financial Service Authority (OJK) will only reduce the confidence investors have in Indonesia, Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) senior economist, Aviliani, said.

"This is dangerous for the confidence of investors since it gives the impression that we have no long-term confidence in the state institution," he said here on Wednesday

If OJK has not worked optimally to supervise financial institutions, both banks and non-bank financial institutions, then its supervision system must be strengthened and improved, she said.

"If a problem arises, we must think of how to improve the system based on inputs from the public. For instance, if most of the problems are found from non-bank (financial institutions), then the OJK's supervision system must be improved," she added.

"In my view, OJK has started to think of how to tighten non-bank financial institutions as it has done to the banking sector," she said.

Looking ahead, OJK needs to make better and clearer systems and regulations, including a regulation on whether or not an insurance company is allowed to manage investments, she said.

"This means that there are double the number of institutions allowed to issue products. So we must think of allowing insurance companies to focus on insurance businesses, including health and life insurance," she said.

Indef Executive Director, Eko Listiyanto, shared Aviliani's views, saying the plan to dissolve the OJK is not right. "It is not very relevant. What OJK needs to do is improve its supervision system," he said. (ANTARA)

Indonesian Vice President Ma'ruf Amin urged all partaking in this year's simultaneous regional election to promote a peaceful fiesta of democracy and avoid inflammatory statements and spread of hoaxes that may impinge upon national unity.

"We are optimistic of no issues of ethnicity, religion, race or societal group (SARA) and hoaxes arising that may become a source for triggering conflicts," Amin informed journalists at his office here on Wednesday.

Amin stressed on the need to enforce stringent legal sanctions on violators to prevent the surfacing of conflicts, triggered by factors linked to ethnicity, religion, race, or societal group.

He emphasized that political elites, especially those involved in the regional election, to be held simultaneously in nine provinces, 224 districts, and 37 cities on Sept 23, 2020, should not provoke their supporters.

"I think the political elites have been aware of the fact that we all belong to the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI). Hence, please avoid the issues of SARA. To this end, legal sanctions should be enforced," he stated.

Vice President Amin also highlighted the significance of imparting political education to the public at large as part of the combined efforts to build harmonious communities in Indonesia.

Political education can be disseminated at schools and discussion forums that can be accessed by community members to prevent them from being easily provoked by hoaxes and issues of SARA, Amin stated.

The proliferation of hoaxes, hate speeches, and slander has indubitably become a grave problem in Indonesian politics.

To address this problem, Head of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) Advisory Council Din Syamsuddin has also reminded all societal elements of the importance of respecting diverse opinions held by citizens.

Syamsuddin opined that holding different perspectives and political preferences is acceptable, though he requested that none should spread blasphemy. (ANTARA)

APEC’s 21 member economies will finalize in 2020 a new vision for the forum’s next phase, APEC Secretariat’s Executive Director Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria stated. This was noted in a written statement issued by the APEC Secretariat and received here, Thursday.

"We will observe the completion of our long-term goal of free and open trade known as the Bogor Goals at the end of this year. The question for us now is where do we go next?" Maria noted while addressing senior diplomats and business leaders at a panel discussion on the future of global trade hosted by the Asia Business Trade Association.

Since 1994, the Bogor Goals have inspired APEC's member economies to pursue individual and collective action to reduce barriers to trade and investment.

Those efforts have led to a region-wide reduction in average tariffs, at 17 percent in the 1980s to some five percent today.

"We will take stock of what we have done for the past 30 years and work closely together to draw the next phase of the vision that will guide the forum for the next decades," she stated.

APEC has been making preparations for this transition. Three bodies -- the APEC Vision Group, the APEC Business Advisory Council, and the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council -- have respectively issued recommendation reports for the forum’s next direction.

"There are common threads throughout the reports, including trade and investment liberalization, regional economic integration, sustainability, the digital economy, and skills," Maria remarked.

During the discussion, Maria highlighted APEC’s substantial achievements in 2019 -- Chile’s host year -- that include roadmaps for women and inclusive growth; marine debris; and combatting illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.


During 2020, APEC economies will be deliberating on action plans to operationalize the roadmaps, led by Malaysia, as the host of APEC this year.

The first senior officials meeting, to kick off APEC 2020 in earnest, will be held on Feb 3-22 in Putrajaya, Malaysia. (ANTARA)

The Australian Embassy in Jakarta received this year’s New Colombo Plan (NCP) recipients at a welcome ceremony last night (23/01/2020) to congratulate students on their participation in the program. The Australian Government grants the New Colombo Plan as a financial aid for students who embark on study and internship programs across the Indo-Pacific region.

Speakers at the event, including Oka Simanjuntak, chairman of Australian Mining Infrastructure Resources Energy Chamber for Indonesia and the CEO of IBM, acknowledged the economic and cultural value of the grant to both countries. Mr Simanjuntak told the reception how strongly he has enjoyed being a host to international interns since 2015, but nodded to the need for more flexibility in the program.

“So the NCP is actually extremely important for Indonesia because by having Australian students come out here and placed in numerous hosts all over Jakarta and other cities as well, you are actually bringing a bit of Australia to Indonesia, and allow Indonesians to learn a lot from you as much as you learn a lot from Indonesia.”

“I have children and I wish that one day they could go to Australia to study. If they can't do that, I wish that more Australian students could come to Indonesia and my children can learn from them right here in Indonesia. So I do hope more students will come out here not just to do short internship programmes but longer programmes as well. This is my hope for the future.”

Mr Simanjuntak passed on his thanks to the Australian Consortium for In-Country Indonesian Studies (ACICIS) and its partner organisations, Atma Jaya Catholic University and the NCP program for facilitating the internship and study opportunities in Indonesia. (VOI/LAURA GREEN)