VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta. Director of the Policy Support Unit at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Dr. Denis Hew views that the digitization of global value chains (GVCs) can improve risk management and reduce logistical bottlenecks.

"Although the trend toward digitalization predates the pandemic, digital solutions have now become a necessity rather than an option for many firms," Dr Denis Hew stated during the webinar, Global Value Chains in the Post-Pandemic “New Normal", Wednesday.

However, Hew affirmed that boosting the resilience of these value chains necessitates reconsidering policies, including those on data security and human capital management.

The pandemic has expedited digitalization for both businesses and customers, with technology-driven production and distribution activities as well as digital services now in place, according to Hew.

With users better acclimatizing themselves to new-fangled technologies, the “flight to digital” has presented a viable opportunity to the ASEAN+3 region to upgrade and bolster its role in GVCs.

The region is in an inimitable position to not only support greater openness but also increase its competitiveness in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The comprehensive inculcation of novel technologies will mandate steady flow of investment in both hard and soft infrastructures to derive optimal benefits. (Antaranews)

Jakarta. AMRO Chief Economist Dr. Hoe Ee Khor opined that the ASEAN+3 region will remain a highly attractive location for global value chains (GVC) investment during the post-pandemic era.

"Although we have seen some cross-border relocation of GVCs globally, the ASEAN+3 region will remain a highly attractive location for GVC investment in the post-pandemic world," Dr Khor stated during the webinar, Global Value Chains in the Post-Pandemic “New Normal", Wednesday.

Khor drew attention to swift expansion of the region’s middle class that is becoming increasingly affluent.

The large pool of labor is upskilling to the digital economy, according to Khor.

Businesses are espousing novel technologies and creating more commercial opportunities, he remarked.

GVCs are an integral part of the ASEAN+3 economies, constituting 50 percent of their regional and global trade volumes, and fostering regional growth.

Disruptions caused by natural disasters, trade tensions, and the pandemic, have refueled a debate over future trade regimes and possible GVC reconfiguration, presenting both challenges and opportunities to the region.

As long-term globalization benefits still overshadow short-term protectionism gains, the region should remain open to trade and investment in addition to showcasing its collective commitment to multilateralization.

Executive Director of the Asian Trade Centre Deborah Elms remarked that global value chains have helped boost economic growth and development in Asia.

"In a post-pandemic world, they remain critically important,” Elms stated. (Antaranews)

Jakarta. The Indonesian Police's anti-terror squad Densus 88 searched for  three suspected terrorists in close heels to the arrests of four other suspects in Jakarta, Bekasi, and Tangerang.

Indonesian Police’s spokesman, Senior Commissioner Pol. Ahmad Ramadhan, confirmed that the three terror suspects were placed on the wanted list by Densus 88.

"The three are on the list of wanted persons of the police’s anti-terror squad Densus 88," Ramadhan noted here on Wednesday.

The three suspects, all from South Jakarta, are identified by their initials as ARH (48) from Pesanggrahan, NF (35) from Jagakarsa, and YI alias Jr (53) from Pasar Minggu

The pursuit of the three terror suspects was linked to the arrests of four suspects -- BS, AJ, ZA, and WJ -- in Jakarta, Bekasi, and Tangerang in late March.

The four suspects claimed to be supporters of a banned organization. They had created a video on the terror plan to blow up a gas station.

The police had yet to confirm the suspects' link to the militant group of JAD and Jamaah Islamiyah.

However, the police found attributes of an organization banned by the government during the arrest of a suspect in Condet, East Jakarta, on March 29. (Antaranews)

Jakarta. Officers and members of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) were administered the British-manufactured COVID-19 vaccine, AstraZeneca, here, Wednesday, in the presence of Vice President Ma'ruf Amin and Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin.

The AstraZeneca vaccine administered to the MUI ulemas demonstrated that the vaccine was safe to use, the vice president remarked at the Central MUI Office here on Wednesday.

Amid a health emergency, administration of the COVID-19 vaccine to the public must be based on the principles of feasibility and safety, so that this country can put an immediate stop to the pandemic.

Furthermore, Amin also highlighted that vaccination amid a pandemic is an obligation, or fardhu kifayah, according to the Islamic law. Hence, people declining to get inoculated against COVID-19 to develop herd immunity in Indonesia are categorized as sinners.

"The council argued that vaccination has become an obligation, fardhu kifayah. This is since herd immunity can only be achieved if 70 percent, or 182 million people, have been vaccinated. Hence, the law for vaccination (COVID-19) is mandatory until (herd immunity) is achieved," he stated.

Indonesia received 1.1 million doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine in early March and has received emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (BPOM). (Antaranews)