VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Mar. 10 - Indonesian Ambassador to Turkey, Lalu Muhamad Iqbal, advocated digital economy as a solution to the global economic crisis at the Bosphorus Summit, which was held in Istanbul from March 8 to 9 this year.

Digital economy can serve as one of the solutions to the global economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, he said in a written statement released on Tuesday.

"Digital economy can serve as a solution because it constitutes cross-border economy, without distance and sector constraints. If it develops within a good ecosystem, it can create a digital spillover to the non-digital economic sector," he observed.

Quoting Oxford Economic data, Iqbal said the global digital economy was valued at US$11 trillion (Rp158,640 trillion) in 2016 and its value is projected to more than double to US$23 trillion (Rp331,703 trillion) in 2025.

Indonesia's digital economy is projected to reach US$40 billion (Rp676,9 trillion) this year, he said.

Meanwhile, Turkey's digital economy is expected to touch US$15 billion this year and grow to US$30 billion in 2023, he noted.

"To that end, Indonesia and Turkey have recently started to push for digital economic cooperation," he said.

The Bosphorus Summit is a strategic forum for the Balkan region that is held every year in Istanbul, Turkey. The forum brings together CEOs, policymakers, politicians, academics, senior journalists, and social and non-governmental organization activists from Balkan countries.

The 11th Bosphorus Summit was the first international-scale forum to be held in Turkey since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out last year.

The Indonesian Embassy in Ankara served as a strategic partner in organizing the summit this year. (Antaranews)

Mar. 9 - Deputy Health Minister Dante Saksono Harbuwono highlighted the government’s continued efforts to strengthen the process of contact tracing for COVID-19 cases in order to reduce the fatality rate.

"By expanding contact tracing, we are optimistic that the fatality rate would decrease. Why is it going down? This is because the patient's stage can be known early and he can be treated on time, and no death will occur," Harbuwono remarked at the 2021 National Disaster Mitigation Coordination Meeting held here on Tuesday.

Intensifying contact tracing can aid in increasing the finding of confirmed cases, as the government is actively looking for cases of people not exhibiting symptoms.

"However, by expanding contact tracing, we are optimistic that the fatality rate would decrease," he affirmed.

Nonetheless, the minister admitted to it being a challenge since Indonesia had yet to achieve the WHO-recommended contact tracing ratio at around 1-30.

Indonesia has some 637 laboratories spread nationwide that use PCR testing to confirm cases.

"However, we have to expand this (tracing) with (the cooperation of) several laboratories, so that the coverage increases," he emphasized.

Harbuwono drew attention to the government’s unwavering efforts to boost the testing, tracing and treatment (3T) processes to better address the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The community must implement 3M (wearing masks, washing hands, and physical distancing) as an active strategy in the efforts to reduce the number of COVID-19 positive cases, while the government has the responsibility of implementing 3T," he stated. (Antaranews)

Mar. 9 - Coordinating Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartanto highlighted the government's target to complete the national vaccination program by the end of 2021.

"The target is that 182 million people can be vaccinated by the end of this year," Hartanto noted at the 2021 National Disaster Management Coordination Meeting here on Tuesday.

Citing President Joko Widodo's directive, the minister remarked that 182 million people over 19 years of age will be accorded priority for vaccination.

Hartanto stressed on the importance of vaccination, particularly for healthy people, in order to build herd immunity.

"Meanwhile, people, who are sick, can be given proper treatment. We encourage the adoption of a better standard for treatment nationally," he stated.

The coordinating minister affirmed that the government will progressively increase the number of people being inoculated in order to achieve herd immunity.

"Today, about 160 thousand people are vaccinated per day. The next target will be increased to around 500 thousand people per day and then raised to one million people per day. This vaccination must also be balanced with the readiness of vaccinators and the availability of vaccines," Hartanto, concurrently chairman of the Committee for Handling COVID-19 and National Economic Recovery (KPC PEN), affirmed.

This year, the health cluster budget in the KPC PEN budget ceiling in 2021 has been raised by nearly 300 percent, from the previous year.

"The budgetary increase translates to the fact that the implementation of 3T (testing, tracing, and treatment) as well as vaccinations, will be included in the budget," Hartanto pointed out.

The minister further pointed out that the KPC PEN budget for 2021 had reached Rp699.43 trillion, or a 21-percent rise, from the realization of Rp579 trillion during the last year.

The KPC PEN budget comprises Rp176.40 trillion for the health budget and Rp157.41 trillion for social protection.

Furthermore, Rp184.83 trillion is budgeted to support micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and corporations; Rp122.42 trillion for priority programs; and Rp58.47 trillion for business incentives.

"This year, we raise the budget to close to Rp700 trillion," the minister emphasized. (Antaranews)

Mar. 9 - The United Arab Emirates, a magnet for the globe’s ultra-rich, has also emerged as one of the fastest-growing corporate tax havens, according to a study released on Tuesday that highlighted $200 billion-plus flowing into the country.

The index by the Tax Justice Network, which documents countries that attract companies to shrink their tax bills, added the United Arab Emirates to its top-10 ranking, which includes Switzerland and Bermuda.

Britain’s offshore territories the British Virgin Islands (BVI), the Cayman Islands and Bermuda were named as the most significant jurisdictions used by companies to minimise their tax, followed by the Netherlands.

The United Arab Emirates joined the top ranking at number 10 after multi-nationals rerouted over $218 billion of foreign direct investment via the Netherlands to the UAE to save taxes, the study said, bolstering financial activity by almost 180%.

A Dutch finance ministry spokeswoman said it had introduced a withholding tax to target flows of money to low-tax countries, including the United Arab Emirates and Bermuda, and to prevent the Netherlands being used as a conduit. It estimates, however, that the money flows are lower.

The UAE did not respond to a request for comment.

The Tax Justice Network, a group funded by donations and campaigning for transparency, said its study measured multinational activity, as well as tax rates and loopholes. While companies are not forbidden from using loopholes, the practice is viewed critically.

“You don’t need to be a tax expert to see why a global tax system programmed by a club of rich tax havens is haemorrhaging over $245 billion in lost corporate tax a year,” said Alex Cobham, Tax Justice Network’s chief executive.

Dubai, a party capital in the United Arab Emirates and a magnet for social media influencers, was hit hard by the pandemic as lockdowns hurt tourism and shopping while lower oil prices weighed on the Gulf state’s revenues.

To counter the decline in local population and revive a struggling property market, after job cuts prompted many expatriates, who make up the majority of the population, to leave, it redoubled efforts to boost the economy.

The government loosened rules to encourage international companies to establish a local foothold and bolstered schemes offering visas to rich foreigners.

The country has been criticised by the Financial Action Task Force, the global dirty-money watchdog. UAE recently approved the creation of a new government office to tackle money laundering and terrorist financing.

The Cayman Islands government said it “supports a fair tax system” and was committed to “international tax standards”. Britain’s finance ministry said overseas territories set their own policy. Other countries either did not respond or declined to comment. (Reuters)