VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Russian Ambassador to Indonesia Lyudmila Vorobyova again emphasized Russia's readiness to cooperate with Indonesia in the development of the Covid-19 vaccine.

She said in a press statement delivered virtually, Wednesday, in Jakarta, that a number of companies from Indonesia had expressed interest in working with Russia to develop a vaccine.

She also reiterated Russia's stance in supporting Indonesia in pushing for equal rights for all countries in the world to get access to the Covid-19 vaccine.

"I would like to reiterate that Russia is ready to cooperate with Indonesia in producing and distributing the vaccine," the ambassador said.

"We support the stand of Indonesia that all small or large countries should have equal access to the anti-corona virus vaccine and we are ready to cooperate with Indonesia in this area," she said.

"Our proposal is already tabled to the relevant authorities of Indonesia. Some of the companies in Indonesia have shown interest and there are talks and consultations going on," Vorobyva added.

Lyudmila Vorobyva said that the Russian Sputnik V vaccine had been registered with the World Health Organization (WHO).

Russia claims that they are the first country to register their vaccine with WHO.

Lyudmila said that currently, Sputnik V has entered the final clinical trial stage involving more than 40 thousand people and Russia is ready to carry out mass vaccinations.

Apart from Sputnik V, currently, Russian vaccine manufacturers are also developing 2 other types of vaccines, namely Vector Vaccine and EpiVac. (VOI)

The Ministerial Conference on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (RCEP) has completed RCEP negotiations.

As many as ministers RCEP attended the meeting including five participating ASEAN countries.

"The RCEP negotiations that have been going on for eight years are a difficult journey. All RPCs have completed negotiations on this agreement and will sign this RCEP agreement on Sunday," said Senior Minister of International Trade and Industry Malaysia, Dato 'Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali in his statement in Putrajaya, Wednesday.

He said the RCEP agreement was a very important agreement for ASEAN which would prove to the world that ASEAN's joint efforts in strengthening the world trade system in various directions and efforts to uphold the development agenda under the WTO.

"The success of this agreement will be evidence to the world that ASEAN rejects trade measures of protection and instead supports world free trade," he said.

If this agreement is signed this Sunday, he said, this will give a positive signal to the world that Malaysia together with other RPCs chooses to open the market and not instead use protective measures in the current challenging times.

"This agreement is in line with the government's announcement during the announcement of the 2021 Budget Plan to help revive the economic sector in Malaysia," he said.

He stressed that the agreement would enhance regional economic integration with a double impact on the economy.

"This includes opening up market opportunities to nearly a third of the world's population that will benefit businessmen and traders. In addition, the agreement will standardize trade-related rules and standards, including non-tariff measures, which can assist in cross-border trade," he said.

Malaysia is also confident that this agreement could be a catalyst for economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This is in line with the aspirations of the ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework (ACRF), under the Strategy for Maximizing the Potential of Intra-ASEAN Market and Broader Integration," he said. (Antaranews)

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said that the growth of the Indonesian financial technology (fintech) industry is predicted by Google and Temasek to experience the fastest growth in ASEAN.

"In 2019, Google and Temasek predict Indonesia is the fastest growth in ASEAN," he said at the opening of the 2020 Indonesia Fintech Summit in Jakarta, Wednesday.

Airlangga said they currently estimate the role of fintech at $40 billion with an annual growth of around 50 percent and in 2025 the projected value is more than $100 billion.

We can realize this because fintech is the most competitive sector with the development of four unicorns and one decacorn in Indonesia, whose value is over 10 billion US dollars.

"Fintech together with the industrial revolution 4.0 e-commerce on-demand service has become an icon or showcase for Indonesia's digital economy," he said.

He explained that fintech in Indonesia is growing, which can be seen from the initial development in 2016 which not only focuses on payments and lending but also various business models including capital rising, digital insurance, and market provisioning.

"We also appreciate the success of fintech development with the OJK introducing regulatory sandbox regulations that allow innovation to continue," he said.

Airlangga said that fintech plays an important role in achieving the financial inclusion index of 76 percent in 2019 and will support realizing the target of 90 percent by 2024.

"The potential of this fintech with a number of challenges, of course, is primarily financial literacy. Digital is supported by an ecosystem and cross-sectoral collaboration to maximize government programs and initiatives," he said.

Meanwhile, according to Airlangga, the challenge facing fintech today is answering the potential challenge of open unemployment in order to encourage MSME or entrepreneurial activities.

"I hope that efforts to accelerate national economic recovery, especially financial inclusion and digital technology with cross-sectoral collaboration, can build and reform as well as regenerate our national economy," he said. (Antaranews)

President Joko Widodo reminded his staff that there is still a big homework for the Indonesian nation to increase the level of inclusion and financial literacy, so it's superior to countries in Southeast Asia.

President Jokowi, when opening the National Fintech Week virtually in Jakarta, Wednesday, highlighted the new financial inclusion index in Indonesia at 76 percent.

This achievement is lower than Singapore with 98 percent, Malaysia 85 percent, and Thailand 82 percent.

"We still have great homework in developing financial technology. Our financial inclusion index is still behind compared to several ASEAN countries," said President Jokowi.

Indonesia's digital financial literacy is still low at 35.5 percent. Then, only 31.26 percent of people have ever used digital services.

"There are still many people who use informal services," said President Jokowi.

Innovators in the technology-based financial industry (fintech) do not only act as lenders and in the online payment industry but can play a major role in digital financial inclusion and literacy for the community.

Apart from that, there is also fintech can be a companion in financial planning and play a role in expanding the penetration of MSMEs to the online commerce market (e-commerce).

President Jokowi said the current fintech service has developed rapidly.

The contribution of fintech to national loan distribution in 2020 has reached IDR 128.7 trillion, an increase of 113 percent (year-on-year / YoY) compared to the same period last year.

As of September 2020, continued President Jokowi, there were 89 fintech organizers who contributed up to IDR 9.87 trillion in financial service transactions in Indonesia. Then Rp. 15.5 trillion was disbursed by fintech equity crowdfunding (ECF). (Antaranews)