VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

President Xi Jinping hailed China as the pivot point for global free trade Thursday, vowing to keep its "super-sized" economy open for business and warning against protectionism as the world battles the COVID-19 pandemic.

Buoyed by the signing of the world’s largest trade pact over the weekend, Xi said the Asia-Pacific is the "forerunner driving global growth" in a world hit by "multiple challenges."

He vowed "openness" to trade and rejected any possibility of the "decoupling" of China's economy, in his only nod to the hostile trade policy of US President Donald Trump's administration, which has battered China with tariffs and tech restrictions.

Xi was speaking at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, held online this year because of the pandemic, which brings together 21 Pacific Rim countries, accounting for about 60 percent of global GDP.

In a speech that veered into triumphalism over China's economic "resilience and vitality" in bouncing back from the virus, which first emerged in the central city of Wuhan, Xi warned countries who insist on trade barriers would suffer self-inflicted wounds. (AFP_

Indonesia will have an important role to play in the economic integration of the Asia Pacific region and support regional economic recovery through openness to investment and advanced industries, according to APEC business advisors.

"Indonesia, as the largest economy in ASEAN, with high growth potential in the long term, will become the foundation of global economic growth. Indonesia's strategic position and its openness to foreign investment can bridge the trade war between the United States and China," said chairman of the Business Advisory Board (ABAC) of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), Anindya Bakrie, at an online press conference in Jakarta on Thursday.

The year 2020, he said, has been crucial for the global economy, with the business world and governments facing the challenge of overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic appropriately, quickly and adaptively, in a bid to build economic and social recovery.

At the APEC Summit currently chaired by Dato Rohana, ABAC has named three main pillars that can support economic recovery in the Asia-Pacific — economic integration, innovation, and inclusion. ABAC listed the pillars during the ABAC IV 2020 virtual meeting.

In line with ABAC's long-term priorities, Anindya Bakrie stressed the importance of Indonesia's role in economic integration in the Asia-Pacific region.

“Currently, Indonesia's supply chain and manufacturing activities are still relatively small. However, as the largest archipelago country in the world, Indonesia has the potential ability to contribute more to the global supply chain, so that the stability of world output can be maintained," he said.

Bakrie explained that Indonesia is optimistic of its capability to achieve solid economic growth along with the improvements of its fundamentals. However, the implementation of regional economic integration policies through the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) within APEC will accelerate the economic recovery of Indonesia and the Asia-Pacific as a whole.

Indonesia has been listed as one of the countries with the fastest e-commerce adoption amid slowing economic growth, he pointed out. As the leader in Southeast Asia in terms of Internet economy, Indonesia is also the fourth largest market for smartphones in the world today, with a mobile phone user base of 142 million.

Speaking about ABAC’s focus on innovation, Bakrie said the pandemic has opened eyes and made the public aware that digital connectivity is important and must be a priority for the world in the post-pandemic era.

"The potential for digital economic growth in Indonesia is immense and there are many sectors that have the potential to develop, such as education, health, and renewable energy," he remarked.

Meanwhile, member of the Indonesian ABAC, Shinta Kamdani, said aspects of sustainable development goals (SDGs) must be prioritized in digital economic development along with investment as Indonesia works towards economic recovery.

"COVID-19 proves that it is not only the economy that must be recovered, but also environmental and social aspects. Thus, the business world sees that the investment mindset must be changed, not only prioritizing economic benefits, but also being able to provide sustainable long-term value and resilience in terms of social and environmental aspects," Kamdani remarked. (Antaranews)

President Joko Widodo said he is optimistic that the economic policies rolled out by the government amid the pandemic will have a positive impact on and incentivize businesspersons in the country.

Jokowi made the remarks at the virtual APEC CEO Dialogues 2020, which was uploaded on Youtube by the Presidential Secretariat here on Thursday.

“I am sure that entrepreneurs, as well as domestic and international businessmen, will feel the positive effects of the various potentials and incentives from the economic policies issued by Indonesia during the pandemic,” the President said.

Indonesia has been using the COVID-19 pandemic to build momentum for structural reforms, he remarked.

"In an extraordinary way, we have been fixing existing regulations, fixing existing bureaucracy in order to move quickly to pass the difficult times so that we are ready to open the widest possible door for businessmen and investors in new ways," Jokowi said.

The President also said that Indonesia passed the omnibus law on Job Creation to massively simplify regulations under 79 laws by bringing them under a single law.

He then invited CEOs and businessmen in the Asia and Pacific region to take advantage of the opportunities created by the new law, which comprises more than one thousand pages. (Antaranews)

Positive confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported through the Task Force for Handling COVID-19 as of Thursday at 12.00 WIB increased by 4,798 cases, bringing the total COVID-19 cases in Indonesia to 483,518 cases.

Based on data from the COVID-19 Handling Task Force received in Jakarta, the number of recovered patients per day has increased by 4,265 people, so that the total number of COVID-19 patients who have recovered is 406,612 people.

Meanwhile, for cases of confirmed positive COVID-19 patients who have died so far, it has increased by 97 people, in total 15,600 deaths.

This number was obtained from the specimens examined per day as many as 47,630 samples. With this increase, the cumulative number of specimens examined in Indonesia reached 5,219,471 specimens. The total number of suspects per day are 63,546 people.

Then, COVID-19 has infected 34 provinces in the country, covering 505 districts and cities.

More specifically, the addition of new positive cases today was mostly reported in DKI Jakarta with 1,185 cases, Riau, Central Java 444 cases, East Java 425, West Java 394 cases, West Sumatra 195 cases, Banten 159 cases, East Kalimantan 131 cases, Lampung 125 cases and North Sulawesi 121 cases.

In addition, there are five provinces that reported the addition of new cases under 10 people with four of them without cases at all. The four provinces are East Nusa Tenggara, North Kalimantan, Gorontalo, and Papua.

East Java Province is the region with the most deaths per day, namely 16 people. Then DKI Jakarta followed with 14 people and Central Java eight people.

Meanwhile, the provinces that reported the most number of recovered patients today were Riau with 1,002 recovered, followed by DKI Jakarta with 886 recovered cases, West Java with 440 recovered cases, West Sumatra with 400 recovered cases, and Central Java with 333 recovered cases.

To date, the cumulative data on positive COVID-19 cases in Indonesia occurred in DKI Jakarta with 123,003 cases followed by East Java with 57,662 cases, West Java with 46,456 cases, Central Java with 45,739 cases, and South Sulawesi with 19,606 cases.

Most recovered patients were reported in DKI Jakarta 112,741, East Java 51,120, West Java 36,662, Central Java 34,182, and South Sulawesi 17,470.

Meanwhile, the highest number of deaths occurred in East Java, namely 4,084 people, followed by Jakarta 2,478 people, Central Java 2,088 people, West Java 863 people, and North Sumatra 587 people. (Antaranews)