VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

World leaders will come together, virtually, on Monday to mark the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, as the deadly coronavirus pandemic challenges the effectiveness and solidarity of the 193-member world body.

As COVID-19, which emerged in China late last year, began to spread around the world, forcing millions of people to shelter at home and dealing a devastating economic blow, countries turned inward and diplomats say the United Nations struggled to assert itself.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told Reuters that the pandemic has exposed the world’s fragilities. He plans to tell world leaders on Monday that they need to work together at a time when there is a surplus of multilateral challenges and a deficit of solutions.

The 15-member Security Council took months to back a call by Guterres for a global ceasefire - to allow countries to focus on fighting COVID-19 - due to bickering between the world’s biggest powers: China and the United States.

The 193-member General Assembly only adopted an omnibus resolution on a “comprehensive and coordinated response” to the pandemic earlier this month and it was not by consensus. The United States and Israel voted no.

A $10.3 billion U.N. appeal to fund fighting the pandemic in vulnerable and low-income countries is only a quarter funded. Guterres now has taken a lead in pushing to make sure any vaccine for the coronavirus is made available to everyone globally.

A senior European diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the General Assembly should have acted months ago, but “we were all hampered by, and hit, by the COVID-19.”

‘MOMENTS OF DISAPPOINTMENT’

The United Nations headquarters is in New York, which was hit hard by the coronavirus. U.N. member states had to decide how to work virtually, which they did for several months before resuming some in-person meetings recently.

“We all suffered from the fact that we couldn’t meet ... A lot of attention was paid to process more than substance, unfortunately,” said the European diplomat. “I wouldn’t put the blame on the U.N. as an organization, it’s the member states that have to be more assertive and positive.”

A U.N. report released on Monday found that six out of ten people believe the United Nations has made the world a better place, but looking ahead three-quarters see the world body as essential in tackling global challenges.

“However, at the same time, over half still see the U.N. as remote from their lives and say they don’t know much about it,” the report said.

The one-day special event on Monday comes ahead of the annual meeting of world leaders at the United Nations, which starts on Tuesday with no presidents or prime ministers physically present in New York. All statements have been pre-recorded and will be broadcast in the General Assembly hall.

The United Nations was created when countries came together after World War Two to prevent another such conflict. While there has not been World War Three, leaders will adopt a statement on Monday acknowledging “moments of disappointment.”

“Our world is not yet the world that our founders envisaged 75 years ago. It is plagued by growing inequality, poverty, hunger, armed conflicts, terrorism, insecurity, climate change, and pandemics,” the statement says.

“All this calls for greater action, not less,” it says. (Reuters)

Jakarta. Over 200 Indonesian Muslim pilgrims are still stuck in India because of the lockdown in the country.

"Our team, especially at the Indonesian Embassy in New Delhi and the Indonesian Consulate General in Mumbai, will continue to work hard to get 237 other pilgrims," Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said in a press statement on Thursday.

Retno explained that the pilgrims are spread across several states in India, including Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, New Delhi, Maharashtra, Kamataka, Bihar, and Jharkhand.

The ministry has repatriated 122 pilgrims on Wednesday.

"Thank God, they arrived safely in Jakarta this morning. With their return, we have successfully repatriated 515 pilgrims or 2/3 of the total pilgrims in India," Retno said.

She said this issue was the focus of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia-India Meeting, at the ASEAN meeting last Saturday. All delegations, especially the Indian Foreign Minister, responded well.

"Because this is the context that ASEAN and pilgrims are not only come from Indonesia but also from other ASEAN countries, so I called out to help the pilgrims to return to their respective countries. the Indian Foreign Minister responded well," she said.

Previously, more from 700 Indonesian Muslim pilgrims went to India to attend the annual meeting of the Islamic organization on March 3, 2020. Before they had time to return to their homeland, the government of India locked down the country.

The event was followed in over 80 countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia, to the United States. (RRI)

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)

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)