VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati (ANTARA)

Jakarta - One of the incentives provided to the tourism sector to overcome the impact of the coronavirus, was discounts on airline tickets of up to 50 percent, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati affirmed.

"We estimate that plane ticket discounts can reach 50 percent. Thirty percent from the government and 20 percent from airline companies," she said at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, Jakarta, Wednesday.

The government had allocated Rp444.9 billion for discounted ticket prices of 30 percent for 25 percent of the total number of airline seats, Sri Mulyani said.

She also reminded airline companies to provide separate discounts for tourists, not to use incentives provided by the government as a replacement.

"If the airline company offers a discount, it cannot be subverted with the 30 percent we give, so it must be above that," she said.

The former managing director of the World Bank reminded airline companies to follow this provision, as they would also get relief from state-owned enterprises such as Angkasa Pura with service facilities and Pertamina through aviation fuel discounts.

The government and Pertamina provided incentives in the form of aviation fuel discounts to airports in nine tourist destinations with a total discount of 265.5 billion rupiahs, which is valid for three months, she further said.

"Aviation fuel and Angkasa Pura will provide discounts on various service facilities including aircraft parking and others," she said.

Sri Mulyani stated that giving incentives was an attempt by the government to reduce the impact of the coronavirus or COVID-19 spread, which had suppressed state revenue through the tourism sector. (ANTARA)

Jakarta (VOI News) - Bilateral cooperation between Indonesia and Germany from year to year is getting stronger and growing.There are many fields of cooperation between the two countries that are still continuing now. It was said by the German Ambassador to Indonesia Peter Schoof to the Voice of Indonesia after the Diplomatic Forum talk show held by Voice of Indonesia in collaboration with Dompet Dhuafa and the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI) in Jakarta, Wednesday (26/02). According to Peter Schoof in 2020 Germany will hold the largest manufacturing exhibition, Hannover Messe, which will be attended by Heads of State throughout the world, including Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

"The big highlight of this year is the participation of Indonesia as a partner country in Germany at Hannover which is the Hannover Messe. Hannover Manufacturing Fair is the biggest manufacturing fair in the world. Indonesia is a partner country, again the partner country. President Jokowi will travel to Germany in April. So we are very proud to have him, our cooperation extends to many fields. They are going to be many memoranda of understandings and hopefully also new business contracts are going to be signed this year. We are the country that is advising very closely Indonesia in the field of technical and vocational education and also so renewable energy because I think in Germany we have worldwide the best technology in this field," said Peter Schoof.

In addition, Ambassador Peter Schoof said the focus of cooperation between Indonesia and Germany so far has been in the field of land management and renewable energy. Even Germany will also develop investment in Indonesia. // (VOI / Ahmad Faisal / AHM)

Jakarta (VOI News) - The Indonesian National Library supports the policy of Indonesian President Joko Widodo to improve the literacy rate of the Indonesian people in a bid to establish oustanding human resources. It was remarked by Head of the Indonesian National Library Muhammad Syarif Bando when opening the National Coordinating Meeting on Library 2020 in Jakarta on Tuesday (Feb 25).

"The Indonesian National Library has taken into account the policy of President Joko Widodo in advancing the quality of Indonesian human resources by improving the literacy rate of the Indonesian People which is currently still below all countries in Asia. Literacy is also concerned with how a country implements its policy, explores and exploits its natural resources in a bid to enhance the prosperity of its society, said Syarif Bando.

Furthermore, Syarif Bando called on the Indonesian society not to think about the low literacy rate opinion imposed by the international community because in fact Indonesia still encounters problem in providing appropriate facilities for reading. Therefore, he called on Indonesian people to support the government's effort by cooperating in developing reading access in all regions across Indonesia. The National Coordinating Meeting was officially inaugurated by Indonesian Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian and it is held from February 25-27, 2020// (VOI/NK/R/AL/AHM)

Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto positively welcomes the revocation of Indonesia’s developing economy status that is imposed by the United States. After attending Limited Work Meeting on the impacts of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) at the Presidential Office in Jakarta on Tuesday (Feb 25), Minister Airlangga said that Indonesia has become member of the G20 for a long time, which is a group of countries having the largest economies in the world. According to Airlangga, the revocation of Indonesia’s developing economy status will only have slight impact on the export incentive facility, namely the General System of Preferences (GSP) implemented by the US Government, considering most of Indonesian exports to the US have complied with the tariff regulation applied in the country.

"The revocation of Indonesia’s developing economy status is in accordance with several criteria. Indonesia is no longer part of emerging markets. Indonesia’s economy has been more advanced and it has been acknowledged by the US Government. The GSP (General System of Preferences) is still being processed. Being a less developed country means that Indonesia has higher requirements. Our export GSP to the US is only 20 percent and the other 80 percent has complied with the applicable tariff," said Airlangga.

The United States Trade Representative has revoked Indonesia’s developing economy status and Indonesia is now recognized as a developed country in the international trade. In addition to Indonesia, the revocation of developing economy status also applies to other countries namely China, Brazil, India, and South Africa. The revocation of Indonesia’s developing economy status makes Indonesia no longer eligible to receive Special Differential Treatment for export and import activities or known as Generalized System of Preferences (GSP)// (VOI/Andy/AHM)