VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Some of the rooms in Korea Superfreeze Inc’s coldest warehouse are so frigid that a cup of warm water thrown into one will immediately turn into snow.

Located 65 km (40 miles) below Seoul and boasting temperatures frostier than an Antarctic winter, the facility would be the best, perhaps only, place in South Korea suitable for bulk storage of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, says company CEO Kim Jin-ha.

“As soon as we heard about the Pfizer vaccine, we started getting ready... other options wouldn’t work,” Kim told Reuters, adding that the warehouse’s use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to keep temperatures cool trumped electricity.

Warehouses which use electricity would have difficulty maintaining the -70 degrees Celsius (-94 F) required by the vaccine for storage and carry the risk of the temperature rising during a power blackout, he said.

The company, which is backed by Goldman Sachs and SK Holdings Co Ltd, has been in talks with the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency since early November and while nothing is yet decided, expectations are high it will land a contract.

The agency has asked Korea Superfreeze to provide plans and cost estimates for storing and distributing vaccines, including how it would handle a scenario where vaccines would be shipped to 260 different locations, Kim said.

South Korea has arranged to buy 20 million doses of the vaccine developed by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.

The country also has deals for 20 million doses each for the vaccines developed by Moderna Inc and AstraZeneca Plc/Oxford University and for another 4 million doses from Johnson & Johnson.

In total, that would be enough to inoculate 34 million people in a country of 51.8 million and shipments are expected to begin no later than March.

Kim said, however, it was not clear to him if the agency would tap the company for vaccines other than Pfizer’s which have less onerous cold storage requirements. Moderna’s vaccine can be stored for up to six months at -20 C while AstraZeneca’s vaccine needs only normal fridge temperatures.

To accommodate Pfizer’s vaccine, Korea Superfreeze is planning a dedicated passageway and elevator so there is no interference from outside temperatures. Once it confirms it has a contract, it will begin construction which may take 2-3 months.

The warehouse also has 220 closed-circuit cameras that monitor resting cargo round the clock, Kim said.

He added that South Korea and Japan were the only countries with LNG-powered facilities which can offer storage at these temperatures and that the warehouses in Japan were much smaller and more remotely located due to earthquake risks.

All in all, the Korea Superfreeze rooms capable of storing goods at -70 C add up to 1,600 square metres (17,222 square feet). But just how much of that will be needed remains unclear as the company has not yet ascertained how big the containers carrying the vaccines will be and how much will be shipped to South Korea at a time.

Kim said, however, that some regular customers of the storage facilities might have to be inconvenienced.

“For the tuna and other goods that are being kept here at -60 degrees, we’re going to have to ask their permission, compensate them for it and clear them out of here.” (Reuters)

Corruption has become a major threat and challenge to the government's efforts towards handling and overcoming the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic through utilization of state funds, Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, said.

"Amid the emergency and having to work hastily, corruption has become a threat," she said at an event held to mark Anti-Corruption Day in Jakarta on Thursday.

The potential for corruption amid the pandemic, she said, is rather vast as the government needs to make decisions quickly, and at the same time, be flexible and agile in dealing with the sudden impact of the pandemic on the society and the economy.

There are also weaknesses and imperfections in data availability when it comes to distribution of stimulus and incentives, which adds to the potential for corruption, she added.

The budget allocated to provide stimulus and incentives to the public has reached Rp695.2 trillion, or 4.2 percent of the GDP, leading to the expansion of state expenditure by Rp2.739 trillion, with a deficit of 6.34 percent, she noted.

The budget for the national economic recovery program covers support of Rp97.26 trillion for the health sector, Rp234.33 trillion for social protection, Rp65.97 trillion for ministries and institution sectors and local governments, Rp114.81 trillion for MSMEs, Rp62.22 trillion for corporations, and Rp120.6 trillion for the business sector.

"The Rp695.2 trillion figure is a substantial one, and we hope it will enable Indonesia to handle COVID-19, protect the public and the business world, in order to ensure that they can recover strongly, quickly, and healthily," Minister Indrawati remarked.

Thus, there is a moral hazard involved, especially in maintaining integrity in policy implementation and using the budget to handle the impact of the pandemic, she pointed out.

"This is where the integrity is tested. The test against our intentions to build internal control to become more robust is more important," she said.

Mulyani said that her office will continue to coordinate with law enforcement officers, including the anti-graft body, the Attorney General's Office, the Indonesian Police, and the BPKP to prevent corruption.

"This is not only the responsibility of the leadership, but all of us because the virus of corruption is one that compromises integrity. Just like a pandemic, it can be contagious and could endanger institutions," she remarked. (Antaranews)

Three Chinese companies have signed a letter of intent (LoI) for the purchase of products worth US$505 million, or about Rp7.1 trillion, from Indonesia.

Beijing Huiyu Import-Export Co Ltd, Hebei Jinyezi Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, and Prestige International Trading Company Ltd signed the LoI on the sidelines of a business forum organized by the Indonesian Embassy in Beijing on Wednesday.

This is a special achievement considering this was the first time the embassy organized a hybrid offline-online event amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Indonesian Ambassador to China, Djauhari Oratmangun, said on Thursday.

Chinese investment in Indonesia rose 6 percent in the January-September period this year compared to the same period last year, he said, without elaborating on the value of investment.

"China continues to make Indonesia one of the priority investment destinations for its companies wishing to go global and expand their investment in Indonesia," he remarked.

The forum featured chief of the Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), Bahlil Lahadalia, chief representative of Bank Indonesia in Beijing, Arief Hartawan, and Secretary General of China Top 500, Huang Jun.

On Wednesday night, the embassy hosted a diplomatic reception to mark the 75th anniversary of Indonesian independence, which was attended by Assistant to Chinese Foreign Minister, Wu Jianghua, and representatives from friendly countries. (Antaranews)

Indonesia's farm exports rose to Rp359.5 trillion in the year ending October 31, 2020, reflecting an increase of 11.6 percent year-on-year, Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo said.  

"The plantation sub-sector contributed most to exports in the agricultural sector at Rp326.86 trillion, or 90.92 percent," he said during the commemoration of the 63rd Plantation Day here on Thursday.

According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), farm commodities were exported to China, India, the United States, and several European countries.

The agri exports mainly comprised palm oil, rubber, cacao, coconut, and coffee.

The minister said the plantation sub-sector made a real contribution to state revenue because the development of plantation commodities drew attention from all stakeholders.

"The commemoration of Plantation Day must encourage our spirit and innovation to play a role in national economic recovery," he remarked.

In addition, it will hopefully create a collective momentum to formulate strategies for optimizing plantation exports in the fourth industrial revolution, or Industry 4.0, the minister said.

Demand for plantation commodities, one of the country's foreign exchange-earners, has continued to increase despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Limpo noted.

He said the plantation sub-sector should be accorded serious attention by all stakeholders, including state-owned companies and private companies, to aid the eventual creation of farm corporations. (Antaranews)