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Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, has said the job creation law would help create quality employment for 29.12 million unemployed people in Indonesia.

"This is a game-changer for medium to long term that will create quality jobs. The law will reduce the negative impact on the occurrence of people losing their jobs," he remarked at an online discussion in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Not only that, Hartarto said, the job creation law would also improve the business climate and encourage the recovery of MSMEs and corporations so they can serve as a safety net after the pandemic is over.

The clusters in the job creation law are also expected to encourage increased investment and competitiveness as well as provide protection to workers, he added.

He said the job creation law has been welcomed by various international institutions which are considering the law a major reform that has made Indonesia more competitive in the international market.

"The job creation law is expected to simplify the licensing process, reduce costs, provide legal certainty in export and import activities, and increase investment," Hartarto observed.

He said that even though the government has completed the derivative regulations of the job creation law, it is still providing the widest possible space for the public to provide inputs and suggestions on its implementation.

"The government will form an aspiration team that will work in the next two months,” the minister informed.

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) recently signed the Job Creation Bill, officially making it Law Number 11 of 2020 on Job Creation.

Law No. 11 of 2020 was signed on Monday, November 2, 2020, with State Gazette number (LN) 245 and State Gazette Supplement number (TLN) 6673, the State Secretariat noted on its official website setneg.go.id.

The Job Creation Law spans 1,187 pages, according to Minister of State Secretariat, Pratikno.

The country's first omnibus law covers policies on improvement of the investment ecosystem and business activities; employment; protection and empowerment of cooperatives and MSMEs; ease of doing business; national fiscal policy; and, research and innovation support, among other things.

Jokowi proposed the Job Creation Bill after being re-elected as Indonesia's president for the 2019-2024 term. At his swearing-in ceremony on October 20, 2019, Jokowi had urged the Parliament to complete deliberations on the omnibus law within 100 days.

The government completed the draft omnibus bill on February 12, 2020, and the Parliament began discussing it on April 2, 2020. On October 5, 2020, the House of Representatives (DPR) endorsed the proposed legislation. (Antaranews)

The Jakarta Composite Index (IHSG) ended higher on Tuesday amid continued euphoria over the arrival of Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccine to Indonesia and an uptick in commodity prices.

The index of the Indonesian Stock Exchange (BEI) closed 13.65 points higher, or up 0.23 percent, at 5,944.41, while the index of the 45 most liquid stocks (LQ45) fell 3.04 points, or 1.32 percent, to touch 933.28.

"The positive sentiment today still came from the arrival of the Sinovac vaccine to Indonesia and the increase in the prices of commodities, particularly coal. On the other hand, profit-taking caused the index to enter the red zone," Indo Premier Sekuritas analyst Mino said on Tuesday.

After opening higher, the IHSG weakened for a while before it strengthened again and remained in the positive territory until the close of trade.

Stocks in six sectors rose, led by the consumer sector, which rose 1.64 percent, followed by the mining sector and the infrastructure sector, which rose 1.11 percent and 0.62 percent, respectively.

However, stocks in four sectors recorded a correction, with the miscellaneous industry deepening its fall by minus 1.48 percent, followed by the agricultural sector and the property sector, at minus 0.8 percent and minus 0.51 percent, respectively.

Tuesday’s trade posted net foreign sales of Rp730.74 billion.

A total of 1,555,164 transactions were recorded on Tuesday, with 32.08 billion shares, worth Rp19.11 trillion, changing hands. Meanwhile, 224 shares rose, 259 shares fell, and 147 shares remained unchanged.

In the Asian regional markets, the Nikkei Index fell 80.36 points, or 0.3 percent, to 26,467.08, the Hang Seng index tumbled 202.29 points, or 0.76 percent, to 26,304.56, and the Straits Times index shed 2.61 points, or 0.09 percent, to reach 2,822.9. (Antaranews)

Coordinating Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD urged people to elect good regional head candidates during the ongoing simultaneous regional head elections held, Wednesday, in 270 districts and cities in Indonesia's nine provinces.

"Cast your votes to elect your leaders, to elect your regional heads, then choose good leaders," Mahfud remarked during a working visit to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as quoted in his statement, on Wednesday.

The minister pointed out that the people's choices made on this Wednesday (Dec 9) will ultimately determine whether a region is good in the next five years.

"Hence, exercise your right to vote optimally," Mahfud noted.

The minister also reminded people casting their ballot to always comply with the COVID-19 health protocols of wearing masks, maintaining distance, and washing hands.

"Things that must be borne in mind are to apply the health protocols. Wear a mask, maintain your distance, wash your hands with soap, and exercise your right to vote optimally by applying health protocols as regulated by the KPU," he stated.

The election results are expected to be known on Wednesday afternoon or Thursday, Dec 10, morning, though the official announcement will be made a few days later, Mahfud MD confirmed.

Indonesia, the world's third-largest democracy after the US and India, will hold regional head elections in 270 regions comprising nine provinces, 37 cities, and 224 districts. The campaign period lasted from September 26 to December 5, 2020.

A total of 734 nominee pairs have registered as candidate pairs for the polls. Based on KPU's data, a total of 100,359,152 Indonesians are eligible to vote in the local elections. (Antaranews)

Turkey urged the European Union on Tuesday to use “common sense” to end a row over natural gas exploration that has fanned territorial disputes in the eastern Mediterranean and drawn a threat of sanctions from EU leaders.

Speaking at a news conference with his Hungarian counterpart in Ankara, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu reiterated that Ankara wanted to join the EU as a full member, and said EU statements accusing Ankara of stoking tensions were wrong.

EU member state Greece had continued “provocative” steps despite Turkey’s diplomatic efforts, he said.

On Monday, EU foreign ministers said Turkey had failed to help end the row with member states Greece and Cyprus over potential gas resources, but they left any decision on retaliatory sanctions for an EU summit on Thursday.

“They need to be fair and honest here. If they also think strategically and with common sense, not just at the summit but always, and we achieve a positive atmosphere, we can improve our ties,” Cavusoglu said. “We can only solve our problems with dialogue and diplomacy.

“We want to improve our ties with the EU. We are not saying this because there is a summit or because there are sanctions and other things on the agenda,” he added. “We always wanted to improve our ties on the basis of full membership.”

NATO member and EU candidate Turkey has been at odds with Greece and Cyprus over the extent of their continental shelves in the east Mediterranean. Tensions flared in August when Turkey sent its Oruc Reis survey vessel to waters claimed by Greece.

After withdrawing the Oruc Reis for what it said was maintenance ahead of a previous EU summit in October, Ankara sent it back shortly after, citing unsatisfactory results from the summit. It withdrew the vessel again last week.

European Council President Charles Michel warned Turkey not to play “cat and mouse” by withdrawing ships before EU summits, only to redeploy them afterwards.

France is leading the push in the bloc to sanction Turkey, but President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that Turkey would not “bow down to threats and blackmail”, while repeating a call for dialogue.

Cavusoglu and French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian spoke by telephone on Tuesday, the two countries’ foreign ministries said in statements after the call.

Le Drien told his Turkish counterpart that a renewed constructive relationship with the EU could only happen if Ankara clarified its position on several subjects, a spokeswoman said, adding that the call was at Turkey’s request.

Turkey’s foreign ministry said the two had discussed regional and bilateral issues, without giving further details.

Earlier, a spokesman for Erdogan’s AK Party said that using the “language of sanctions” against Turkey will amount to “racists and fascists” winning in Europe.

“Using (such) language...is an eclipse of the mind,” Omer Celik told a news conference. “The EU must act with reason.” (Reuters)