VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesia needs to build support in the global market to tackle the negative sentiment in the European Union for its palm oil, an official from the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs has said.

“For me, it is about how we build the spirit from the inside, or build sympathy from the global market, on the fact that Indonesian palm oil has been managed in a sustainable manner,” deputy for food coordination and agribusiness coordination at the ministry, Musdhalifah Mahmud, said.

She made the remarks at a webinar on 'Indonesian Palm Oil's Future in the European Union Market Post COVID-19’ in Jakarta on Thursday.

The livelihoods of 18 million Indonesian workers depend on the country's palm oil production, she pointed out. The industry can also pave the way for economic development in the rural areas of Indonesia, where the economy is still lagging the rest of the country, she added.

Many regions in Indonesia, she noted, need their economies to be elevated, and they have yet to gain access to economic development, education, and health. One of the measures to empower them is developing palm oil products, she said.

"Perhaps it can be done by initiating a tagline that describes our palm oil, it is not something glamorous or exclusive, rather, it is something that captures the need of our country for the people," she suggested.

The EU remains an important and stable market for Indonesian palm oil exports till date, despite a downward trend in demand, she noted.

Up until October, 2020, the European Union market absorbed 24 percent, worth US$1.40 billion, of the total exports of Indonesian crude palm oil (CPO).

The total exports of Indonesian crude palm oil reached US$5.85 billion in October, 2020, despite the various obstacles imposed by the EU, Mahmud said.

However, the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) II, allegations of subsidies, and dumping have had an impact on the export of palm biofuels, even though this has been compensated for by exports for food and industrial purposes, she observed.

Aside from crude palm oil products, the European Union is also a market for Indonesia's palm oil core products and other palm products.

Before 2020, exports of palm kernel crude oil to countries in the European Union accounted for 33.9 percent of the total exports of such products, or amounting to US$72 million. (antaranews)

Head of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) Economic Research Center Agus Eko Nugroho said that Indonesia's economic growth in 2021 will greatly depend on the success of the Covid-19 vaccination, which is currently being echoed by the government.

In a webinar with the theme Reflections on Indonesia's Economy in the 2020 Pandemic Period and 2021 Economic Recovery Efforts which were held virtually, Thursday (17/12/2020), Agus Eko Nugroho said that the success of Covid-19 vaccination would be able to boost Indonesia's economic growth, including increasing people's purchasing power again. 

"Economic growth will experience a movement which depends on how the vaccine is available. And this is what I think the government needs to pay attention to where the presence of vaccines will boost consumption expectations," he said.

"This is what I think from there. If we observe the growth, say 50 percent vaccine, there will be quite significant economic growth, which is around 3-37 percent," he added.

"And if for example, we can boost up to the existence of 3-5 vaccines it could reach 4 percent as an achievement. And this assumes that human movement and expectations of consumption will be significant," Agus said.

Furthermore, Agus Eko Nugroho also conveyed that efforts to maintain economic stability during a pandemic require public compliance with health protocols.

Apart from that, an economic stimulus is also needed to boost household consumption and prevent an increase in the unemployment rate. (voi/ndy)

The Indonesian government will reallocate the 2021 ministerial and institutional budget for the procurement of free COVID-19 vaccine for the public.

"I also instruct the finance minister to prioritize budget reallocation for the procurement of free vaccination," President Joko Widodo stated at the Merdeka Palace here on Wednesday.

"There is no reason for the public to not get vaccinated," he emphasized.

The head of state noted that the government had decided to provide free COVID-19 vaccine to the public after receiving several inputs from the community.

"After re-calculating the state’s financial standing, I can confirm that the COVID-19 vaccine would be offered free of charge to the public," he stated.

The head of state has instructed ministries and state institutions as well as local governments to accord priority to the vaccination program in the 2021 budget.

The government received 1.2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac on Sunday (Dec 6) and will receive another 1.8 million doses in early January of 2021.

According to the health minister's decree, dated December 3, 2020, the government will use six types of COVID-19 vaccine including those produced by PT Bio Farma, AstraZeneca, China National Pharmaceutical Group Corporation (Sinopharm), Moderna, Pfizer Inc and BioNTech, and Sinovac Biotech Ltd.

Vaccination will be conducted after the Drug and Food Control Agency (BPOM) issues an emergency-use authorization.

The BPOM awaits the clinical test result for the COVID-19 vaccine and data from China's Sinovac Biotech before issuing vaccine authorization, COVID-19 Handling and National Economic Recovery Working Committee Chairperson Airlangga Hartarto stated.

Hartarto, concurrently the coordinating minister for economic affairs, emphasized the need for the country to prepare 320 million vaccine doses to inoculate some 160 million people. (antaranews)