VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Mar. 12 - Indonesia is seeking to host the ASEAN creative economy business forum, which will focus on improving the digital economy through digital transformation, especially in the creative economy sector, said Communication and Informatics Minister Johnny G Plate.

"We have conveyed Indonesia's initiative to organize the ASEAN Creative Economy Business Forum, which is planned to be held in November, 2021 and is entitled Enhancing Digital Creative Economy: A Step Towards Regional Economic Recovery," said Plate at the 15th virtual meeting of ASEAN Ministers Responsible for Information (AMRI), as quoted in a statement issued here on Friday.

Digital transformation is one solution to address the current situation through the use of digital technology, he remarked.

"Indonesia hopes that the forum would enhance the implementation of the ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework, which, in the end, will contribute to economic recovery amid the COVID-19 pandemic. We have applauded the support for this initiative, and under the AMRI platform, we hope that the forum can contribute more towards digital economy improvement," he said.

The minister underlined AMRI's simultaneous efforts to promote digital readiness and inclusive digital accessibility, that cover digital broadcasting, media literacy and cyber health, media personnel capacity building, and new broadcasting technology.

"Under the AMRI platform, ASEAN has promised to use information and communication technology to enhance regional cooperation. More importantly, the meeting has emphasized on the appropriate use of public communication to promote a wider sense of regional identity," he commented.

By protecting and ensuring individual basic rights, freedom of expression and speech, democracy will improve, he said.

"Indonesia has taken the necessary measures to improve the quality of information flow, and renewed the related regulations. This will ensure a balance between the protection of (freedom of) expression and other public interests, while keeping up with the dynamics in this disruptive era," Plate added. (Antaranews)

Mar. 12 - President Joko Widodo has pressed for support for vaccine development in Indonesia in a bid to speed up the availability of vaccines as the COVID-19 pandemic ploughs on.

"Currently, the vaccines being developed in the country, include the Red and White vaccine and the Nusantara (Archipelago) Vaccine, which we need to continuously support," the head of state emphasized in Jakarta, Friday.

Widodo highlighted the significance of research and development in the areas of medications and vaccines to attain pharmaceutical independence in the wake of the ongoing pandemic.  

"We must also accelerate the availability of vaccines amid the COVID-19 pandemic," he stressed.

The president underscored the importance of innovation as the key to the development of countries, including Indonesia, which necessitated promoting and supporting all innovations.

The Ministry of Research and Technology and Ministry of Health had earlier inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for cooperation on developing Indonesia's indigenous Red and White vaccine on March 4.

Research and Technology Minister and head of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) Bambang P. S. Brodjonegoro remarked that the MoUs were a form of collaboration for supporting the acceleration of the Red and White vaccine's development to help the nation achieve vaccine self-sufficiency.

Indonesia has commenced its vaccination campaign with the administration of China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine. The country also recently received over 1.1 million doses of AstraZeneca shots under the multilateral COVAX initiative. (Antaranews)

Mar. 12 - Senior officials from 21 APEC member economies are convening virtually to speed up regional response to the protracted impacts of COVID-19 in order to drive the recovery process.

The two-day Senior Officials’ Meeting comes in close heels to a comprehensive discussion on how APEC will carry forward the commitments made by leaders in 2020 and the development of a 20-year implementation plan by taking into account the challenges and risks posed by the pandemic, according to a written statement issued by the APEC Secretariat and received here on Friday.

"We are facing quite a serious challenge this year, driven in part by the health catastrophe that we all face across our region. However, serious economic challenges now also confront our economies as we look to find a way through this crisis," Vangelis Vitalis, chair of the APEC 2021 Senior Officials, affirmed.

In the wake of wider risk of inequality and rising protectionism against a backdrop of looming uncertainty, Vitalis highlighted the significance of capturing and featuring all the challenges, as senior officials deliberate on policy measures and make concerted regional efforts to drive recovery.

"There is rising protectionism across the world, which challenges us all to re-think the fundamentals of regional economic integration. On top of that, the social licence for trade policy and for economic integration is increasingly under strain, as we witness the unequal impact of COVID-19 on women, small businesses, and indigenous people," Vitalis stressed.

"As a region, we need to work together to ensure APEC effectively responds, not just to the immediate crisis but also to the longer-term need to build a sustainable and resilient regional economy that benefits everyone," he added.

During the dialog, APEC senior officials will seek to realize the need for APEC to become more sustainable and inclusive for all people, including for women and indigenous people. The focus will be to support their full participation in the region’s economy, so it can help to drive new thinking and unlock novel ways to address the global pandemic.

Officials will also hold discussions on measures to respond to the pandemic through economic and trade policies that strengthen the recovery year. This comprises policies that encourage openness and connectivity as well as lessen friction at the border, with the objective of reducing barriers and making it easier for companies to trade throughout the APEC region, especially on COVID-19 essential goods.

Advancing digital inclusion, infrastructure, and green technology will also be a key focus for APEC this year. This encompasses promoting digitally-enabled business and trade, striving for regulatory coherence, and resolving issues pertaining to data and digital trade tools.

"APEC, as a regional forum, needs to seize the moment and rise to the occasion by putting together a concrete response that will benefit all," APEC Secretariat’s Executive Director, Rebecca Sta Maria, noted.

"We want to see the policy that continues to make trade and investment across markets easier, cheaper, faster, and more sustainable to avoid undermining the significant progress that has been achieved in the region in these areas," Sta Maria remarked.

Vitalis concurred by highlighting the importance of APEC economies working in unison to end subsidies on fossil fuels and reducing tariffs on environmental goods and exploring similar work in services.

"APEC needs to show leadership in this area, as is expected from the world’s most dynamic regional economy," he remarked.

"The trade policy should be inclusive, beneficial for all, and be an enabler of solutions to some of the most pressing sustainability issues we all face. Identifying environmental goods and services and addressing barriers to their uptake, for instance, can contribute to our collective climate change mitigation efforts," he explained.

This year will hold significance for APEC and New Zealand. With the APEC Putrajaya Vision 2040 agreed upon by leaders last year, member economies are mandated to formulate a detailed plan of action to realize the new vision that will expand on the three economic drivers of growth: trade and investment; innovation and digitalization; and strong, balanced, secure, sustainable and inclusive growth.

"The key is for APEC to not only be responsive to the immediate crisis but also relevant to the challenges we are all going to confront over the next 20 years," Vitalis expounded.

"We are looking to work together with all APEC member economies to develop this implementation plan in the spirit of what the Putrajaya Vision talks about in terms of equal partnership. Large or small, we were all equal in this important process," he stated. (Reuters)

Mar. 12 - The World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Union (EU) today launched a new partnership to support the COVID-19 response in Indonesia and strengthen the country’s health system to prepare for future health emergencies, as part of the WHO-EU ‘South East Asia Health Pandemic Response and Preparedness’ programme.

The partnership was officially launched in a virtual event today by the Minister of Health of the Republic of Indonesia Budi Gunadi Sadikin, the EU Ambassador for Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam Vincent Piket, and WHO Representative for Indonesia Dr N. Paranietharan.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is an urgent reminder that a robust and resilient health system is a sound investment for a thriving economy and a key pillar to national and global health security. We thank the EU for their critical support to the COVID-19 response and we look forward to joining forces with the Ministry of Health to build back a more resilient health system to prepare for future health emergencies,” said Dr N. Paranietharan, WHO Representative for Indonesia, in his opening remarks.

"For the European Union, global cooperation and solidarity will be the only chance to defeat the virus everywhere and to start a sustainable global recovery. Today we are launching a new action on health pandemic preparedness to further support Indonesia in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and its consequences," noted EU Ambassador Vincent Piket. "In addition, Team Europe has already pledged EUR 2.2 billion to the COVAX Facility to ensure that everyone has access to safe and equitable vaccines," he said.

In Indonesia, ‘Team Europe’ provides support of over EUR 200 million, financing new COVID‑19 response and public health programmes, amplifying civil society’s assistance to vulnerable communities, as well as strengthening the health sector and pandemic preparedness in the longer term. The EU is providing EUR 2.66 million for the WHO in Indonesia, in particular, as part of its EUR 20 million funding for the WHO COVID-19 response in Southeast Asia. In line with the Government of Indonesia’s national COVID-19 response plan, the WHO will use the funds to support the Ministry of Health to suppress community transmission and maintain essential health services to reduce preventable diseases and deaths.

In his remarks, Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin welcomed the WHO-EU Partnership and appreciated the initiative to contribute in implementing the COVID-19 control approach in Indonesia, including, most importantly, the strengthening of Indonesia’s health system ecosystem to be more resilient.

In this occasion, Minister Sadikin also underlined the COVID-19 as a global health threat. He reiterated that “In the borderless world as it is today, it is imperative for the world to work together in solidarity to end the pandemic and build a better world afterwards. This Partnership embodies the synergy of Multilateral Cooperation, regional and country level,” said Minister Sadikin.

Beyond the COVID-19 response, the WHO will use the funds to continue building on the work of improving primary health care and national surveillance, training of medical personnel and community health workers, and supporting the development of evidence-based policies that are grounded in science. (VOI)