VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) inaugurated the Manado Bitung toll road for the Manado-Danowudu section of 26 kilometers.

"Alhamdulillah, the 26-kilometer Manado-Bitung toll road for the Manado-Danowudu section has been completed, has been completed, and can now support business activities and facilitate public transportation," President Jokowi said at the Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java, Tuesday.

President Jokowi inaugurated the toll road through a "video conference" accompanied by State Secretariat Minister Pratikno and Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, while Minister of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Basuki Hadimuljono, Governor of North Sulawesi Olly Dondokambey was present at the Manado Toll Gate, Manado City."

Later, when these sections are completed, the length will reach 40 kilometers, the gate is only 9 kilometers or 12 minutes from Sam Ratulangi Airport, so it is very close," President Jokowi said

According to President Jokowi, for people who will travel from Manado to Bitung or vice versa, the transit time will be much faster.

"What used to be taken for 1.5 hours is now only half an hour, this is speed, a change in pace that has changed," said President Jokowi. President Jokowi also acknowledged that the Province of North Sulawesi (Sulut) has a lot of economic potentials that must continue to be developed.

"There is a fishing industry, especially in Bitung, there is the agricultural sector, the plantation sector, and many tourism destinations. The development of these sectors really requires infrastructure support, including toll roads," President Jokowi said.

The Manado-Bitung Toll Road is also designed to be integrated with industry and tourism areas in North Sulawesi so it will speed up access, become easier to reach, more quickly recognized, and easier to develop.

"With this toll road, logistics costs from the international port of Bitung can also be reduced, so it is more efficient, competitiveness will automatically increase, the Special Economic Zone of Bitung can also be developed to be more advanced," President Jokowi said.

The Manado-Bitung Toll Road is operated by PT Jasamarga Manado Bitung (JMB), a business group of PT Jasa Marga (Persero) Tbk and was built with the concept of Public-Private Partnership (PPP).

The longest toll road on the island of Sulawesi comprises two sections, section I Manado-Airmadidi along (14.9 kilometers) built by the government and section II Airmadidi-Bitung (25.1 kilometers) built by PT JMB.

Various other tourist objects in Sulawesi will also experience easy access with this toll road, such as the Rumah Alam Manado Adventure Park, Kima Atas waterfall, Lembeh Mangrove forest, Tangkoko National Park, Gunung Dua Saudara, and other beaches. (Antaranews)

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) asked micro and small business actors not to close their businesses or go out of business and remain enthusiastic about entrepreneurship amid the pandemic.

"I have experienced the same as Ladies and Gentlemen, once again the spirit of work should not be slack, maintain your business, do not close, do not lose," President Jokowi said during the Provision of Working Capital Assistance (BMK), at the Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java, on Tuesday.

On that occasion, dozens of micro and small business actors including mobile traders who usually operate in Bogor, West Java, were invited to the courtyard of the Bogor Presidential Palace.

President Jokowi directly provided working capital assistance of IDR 2.4 million to micro and small entrepreneurs.

The Head of State also took the time to have a dialogue with several micro-entrepreneurs and asked about their difficulties. A hodgepodge trader complained that his turnover had fallen by half during the pandemic, as did the hawkers who used to sell tissue and candy, who now only got around Rp 60,000 in profit a day.

President Jokowi said that similar conditions occurred not only in Indonesia but also occurred in 215 countries.

"The conditions are exactly the same, not only the small ones, the micro, the medium ones, the big ones are all in the same position, all have difficulties, therefore in this condition we must work even harder, have to endure, and work even harder,” President Jokowi said.

President Jokowi emphasized that in these conditions morale must not decrease.

"We hope that in December, vaccines will enter, and next year it will be normal, don't lose momentum when it is normal, there is no working capital, this must really be calculated," President Jokowi said.

President Jokowi also advised that the working capital assistance provided to micro and small entrepreneurs be used for business capital and not for consumptive purposes. (Antaranews)

Deputy Minister of Finance Suahasil Nazara emphasized that government spending in the state budget and regional budget has become the backbone of Indonesia's economic growth in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.

"The state budget and regional budget are the backbones, therefore we ensure that the expenditure is sufficient and useful to handle the economy," he said in an online discussion in Jakarta, on Tuesday.

Suahasil said that amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused state revenues to fall, the government could not reduce spending to maintain good budget conditions.

According to him, the government should increase spending, especially those aimed at helping people affected by the pandemic even though the deficit has become very high.

He said that Indonesia is actually known as a very disciplined country in managing the state budget deficit, which has always been below 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) since 2013.

He said the pandemic forces the government to increase the deficit to more than 3 percent by 2022 through issuing Law Number 2 of 2020.

"It is not unlimited but limited to 2022 to deal with this COVID-19 pandemic," he said.

He ensured that deficit increase would be reflected in the optimization of spending, one of which was through the PEN program with a total budget of Rp.695.2 trillion for the six focus sectors.

The six sectors include health, social protection, MSME support, business incentives, sectoral support from ministries and institutions and local governments, and corporate financing.

"We carry out the six areas of the national economic recovery program through the state budget and regional budget," he said.

Suahasil also asked APIP (Government Internal Supervisory Apparatus), SPI (Internal Supervisory Unit), APH (Law Enforcement Officials), and other supervisors to contribute to ensuring the proper use and implementation of the budget.

"Ensuring all activities carried out in a short time remain accountable. Our entire society is waiting for the realization of the national economic recovery budget," he said. (Antaranews)

The World Bank in its latest economic report states that the COVID-19 pandemic has hit economies in East Asia and the Pacific, calling for urgent action to prevent stunted growth and increase poverty in the coming years.

"COVID-19 is not only hitting the poor the hardest, it is creating ‘new poor.’ The region is confronted with an unprecedented set of challenges, and governments are facing tough choices," World Bank Vice President for East Asia and Pacific Victoria Kwakwa said in a statement in Jakarta on Tuesday.

The October 2020 edition of the report entitled From Containment to Recovery stated that the COVID-19 pandemic had caused three shocks to the region, namely the pandemic itself, restrictions on the economy, and the echo of a global recession caused by the crisis.

This situation could lead to an increase in the poverty rate in East Asia and the Pacific region for the first time in 20 years with an estimated 38 million people remaining or being pushed back into poverty. based on the poverty line for upper-middle-income countries of US $ 5.5 per day.

"But there are smart policy options available that can soften these tradeoffs - such as investing in testing and tracing capacity and durably expanding social protection to cover the poor and the informal sector," she said.

The report warns that if action is not taken on multiple fronts, the pandemic could reduce regional growth over the next decade by one percentage point per year, with poor families having the greatest impact, as they have less access to health, education, and healthcare facilities. work, and finance. 

The World Bank Chief Economist for the East Asia and Pacific region Aaditya Mattoo added that many countries in the East Asia and Pacific region have succeeded in preventing the spread of disease and providing stimulus, although they still have to struggle to recover and achieve growth. 

"The priorities now should be safe schooling to preserve human capital; widening narrow tax bases to avoid cuts in public investment; and reform of protected service sectors to take advantage of emerging digital opportunities," he said. (Antaranews)