VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Discussion session at COP28 Dubai, United Arab Emirates - 

Voinews, Jakarta - Indonesia is in a strategic position to build a resilient global electric vehicle (EV) supply chain, in line with the global trend of decarbonizing the transportation industry to meet net zero commitments, said the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Kemenko Marves) at a discussion session at COP28 Dubai , United Arab Emirates on Friday, (1-12-2023).

This session explores various electric vehicle opportunities for international business players and stakeholders in Indonesia, which is the largest automotive market in Southeast Asia.

Indonesia is also recognized as the country that owns the largest nickel reserves in the world. Nickel is an important component in lithium-ion electric vehicle batteries. This session also discussed some of the most pressing challenges in increasing the global supply of critical minerals, while realizing sustainable and responsible business practices throughout the supply chain.

“With abundant nickel resources, Indonesia has the power to boost global electric vehicle supply and shape a more environmentally friendly future, but at the same time Indonesia must take advantage of this great opportunity to switch the combustion engine automotive industry to electric before the combustion engine automotive industry become obsolete," said Rachmat Kaimuddin, Deputy for Infrastructure and Transportation Coordination at the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries held at the Indonesian Pavilion in the context of COP28.

Deputy Rachmat added that along with the soaring global demand for vehicles in recent years, Indonesia has encouraged the adoption of electric vehicles in the domestic market, as well as attracting more investment to increase electric vehicle production capacity in Indonesia.

According a release received by Voice of Indonesia on Saturday (02/12/23), Indonesia targets to have two million electric passenger cars and 13 million electric bicycles on the road by 2030.

To achieve this target, the government has launched fiscal and non-fiscal incentives for consumers and producers. One form of incentive is a discount of IDR 7 million (USD 450) for all Indonesian people who want to buy a new electric bicycle that meets 40 percent of local component needs.

Deputy Rachmat also hinted at new incentives from the government to attract more international electric vehicle manufacturers to open factories in Indonesia.

Currently the government is working to make Indonesia a production base for environmentally friendly vehicles in Southeast Asia, as well as supplying the domestic market with a wider choice of EV vehicles.

“We need to create demand and good infrastructure. "We know that currently there are not enough choices (for consumers)," said Deputy Rachmat.

The COP28 discussion session was organized by the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin Indonesia) and HSBC.

This session presented top speakers including CEO of Pertamina New Renewable Energy Dannif Danusaputro, Head of Metals & Minerals BloombergNEF Dr. Kwazi Ampofo, CEO & President Director of PT Bank HSBC Indonesia Francois de Maricourt, Vice Chair Maritime, Investment & International Relations Kadin Indonesia Shinta Kamdani.

COP28 in Dubai is expected to attract more than 70,000 participants, including heads of state, government officials, international industry leaders, private sector representatives, academics, experts, youth and civil society.

As mandated by the Paris Climate Agreement, COP28 will carry out the first Global Inventory – a comprehensive evaluation of progress towards achieving climate goals.

Host country, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is leading the process for all parties to agree on a clear roadmap to accelerate progress through a pragmatic global energy transition and a “leave no one behind” approach to inclusive climate action.”//VOI

Sandiaga Uno on the Indonesia Outlook 2024 event in Jakarta - 

Voinews, Jakarta - Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy/Head of the Tourism and Creative Economy Agency (Menparekraf/Kabaparekraf) Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno said that the tourism sector in 2024 is predicted to be bright. The achievement is better than this year even though the magnitude is not yet like 2019 or before the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The achievement of foreign tourist visits to Indonesia this year is around 11 million or above the target of 8.5 million. In 2024 we are targeting 14 million foreign tourist visits or still below the 2019 achievement of 16.11 million. "We are optimistic that in 2025 the tourism sector will recover as before," said Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno in the Indonesia Tourism Outlook 2024 entitled "Investment Opportunities and Challenges for Sustainable Tourism" which was held by the Tourism and Creative Economy Journalists Forum (Forwaparekraf) at the AOne Hotel Jakarta.

Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno said that to achieve the target of 14 million foreign tourist visits by 2024, we are faced with a number of challenges, especially the uncertain global situation. A number of international institutions predict that various challenges at the global level in 2024, such as geopolitical conflicts, economic turmoil and environmental crises, could affect sectoral growth, including the travel industry.

Meanwhile, the relatively strong economy in the Southeast Asia region during 2023, driven by an increase in tourist visits which shows a positive trend, is good news which will have an impact on increasing tourist travel in the Asia-Pacific region, including to Indonesia.

This can be seen from the acceleration of revival in Indonesian tourism this year. We initially set a target of 7.6 million foreign tourist visits, then increased it to 8.5 million, in the third quarter (January-September) 2023. "This year we will get 11 million foreign tourist visits," said Sandiaga Uno.

According to a release received by Voice of Indonesia on Saturday (02/12/23), Sandiaga Uno reaveled that to achieve this target, various challenges must be faced together, including how to strengthen flight connectivity from foreign tourist source countries with the availability of sufficient airplane seats.

Apart from that, the distribution of foreign tourists to various leading destinations in Indonesia is still a challenge. Bali as a magnet in attracting foreign tourists is expected to spread to other destinations in Indonesia.

For this reason, the government is aggressively promoting 'Bali beyond', especially to the five super priority tourism destinations (DPSP), Lake Toba, Borobudur, Mandalika, Labuan Bajo and Likupang.

Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga explained that Indonesia has good economic growth so it is hoped that this will boost people's purchasing power and increase domestic travel by 2024, targeting 1.2-1.4 billion.

"Even though the global economy is projected to slow down, the national economic growth trend is predicted to continue to be strong in 2024, reaching 5 percent according to the IMF and OECD. "This figure is quite high compared to the projected economic growth of strong countries such as China and the United States, although slightly lower than India," explained Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno.

The government continues to encourage domestic tourism as a national tourism force. For this reason, various obstacles or challenges must be overcome immediately, including making plane tickets affordable for tourists so that they can travel. Moreover, during the Christmas and New Year (Nataru) holidays there will be a surge in the movement of foreign tourists.

"Eid, school holidays, Christmas and New Year, collective leave and long weekends are momentum to increase the movement of foreign tourists and increase contributions to achieving targets for foreign tourists," said Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno.

Director of Marketing and Consumer Experience of PT Aviasi Wisata Indonesia (Persero) Maya Watono said that the five DPSPs are new attractions for tourism to attract foreign tourists. The government will aggressively promote 'Bali beyond' in an effort to encourage the spread of tourist visits from Bali to the 5 DPSPs.

Maya Watono sees that apart from the distribution of foreign tourists, the challenge that must be overcome immediately to achieve the target of 14 million foreign tourists by 2024 is flight connectivity. To achieve the target of 14 million foreign tourist visits by 2024, flight connectivity is a major concern.

"We are trying to provide sufficient aircraft seats to support the target of 14 million foreign tourists," he said, stating that with an average load factor that has reached 70 percent, around 20 million seats are needed, while currently available are around 11 million aircraft seats. He hopes that by 2024 the shortage of 9 million airplane seats will gradually be filled.

The General Chair of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) who is also the Chair of GIPI, Hariyadi Sukamdani, said that people's purchasing power is still an obstacle in increasing domestic tourism. "Our challenge is to improve people's purchasing power next year. "For this we need joint efforts so that it doesn't stagnate," said Hariyadi Sukamdani.

Hariyadi Sukamdani hopes that the government together with domestic airline business players can reduce the price of domestic airline tickets, which until now are considered by the public to be expensive and unaffordable for tourists. "We positively welcome the government's efforts to encourage foreign tourists to travel by land. "For example, from Palembang (Sumatra)-Java-Bali, which is currently connected by a toll road," said Hariyadi.

Hariyadi said that the important thing is to synchronize joint promotional programs between the central government, regional governments and tourism industry business players in order to increase tourist visits.

Hariyadi gave the example of the Kharisma Event Nusantara program (KEN, including the Kasodo event on Mount Bromo, East Java, which has great potential to attract tourists, because it is not promoted enough, so it does not attract many tourists to the tourist destination of Malang Raya and its surroundings. Even though the Kasodo event is packaged and promoted well, it will bring in many tourists and increase hotel occupancy there.

Director of Strategic Studies at the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy/Baparekraf, Agustini Rahayu, said that there would be many new tourism trends in the coming year.

"Essentially, tourists will look for new experiences. Tourists will abandon conventional concepts and look for new experiences," said Agustini Rahayu.

Meanwhile, Director of Check-In Asia, Gary Bowerman, said Indonesia must start paying more attention to the Chinese and Indian markets. These two countries are predicted to be the markets with the highest growth next year.

"How to find the right marketing strategy to attract Chinese tourists from traveling only within the country, to markets in Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia," said Gary.

Chairman of Forwaparekraf, Pasha Ernowo, said that his party chose the theme "Investment Opportunities and Challenges for Sustainable Tourism" in this outlook activity considering that Indonesia, with its abundant natural wealth and supporting geography, is the time to focus more on developing sustainable tourism.

On the other hand, investments that prioritize sustainability and environmental sustainability in the tourism sector must continue to be intensively carried out

"So that we are not left behind by other countries and the most important thing is development that can have a long-term positive impact on the environment," said Pasha//VOI

Australia’s Minister for Industry and Science the Hon Ed Husic MP and Indonesian alumni of the Australia-Indonesia Muslim Exchange Program (AIMEP) - 

Voinews, Jakarta - Australia’s Minister for Industry and Science the Hon Ed Husic MP met Indonesian alumni of the Australia-Indonesia Muslim Exchange Program (AIMEP) in Jakarta. 

AIMEP is an interfaith program funded by the Australian Government through the Australia Indonesia Institute that fosters people-to-people links through exchange and dialogue. It aims to deepen understanding of how Islam is practised in our respective communities. 

There are now more than 300 AIMEP alumni, who include prominent Australian and Indonesia Muslims with expertise in a wide range of fields.

“AIMEP is instrumental in building mutual understanding and creating lasting connections between Muslim communities in Australia and Indonesia,” said Minister Husic. 

The meeting was an opportunity for a two-way discussion on Islam in Australia and Indonesia, and opportunities for deepening interfaith relations between our two countries. 

According to a release received by Voice of Indonesia on Thursday, Minister Husic also discussed Australia and Indonesia’s shared concerns about the conflict in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, which has claimed a harrowing number of civilian lives.

Australia was particularly concerned by the impact on medical facilities and called for the protection of hospitals and medical transport in accordance with international humanitarian law.

Minister Husic said Australia welcomed the agreement on hostage release and pause in hostilities as an important and necessary step.

Minister Husic is Australia’s first Cabinet Minister of Islamic faith. He was in Jakarta to sign a Memorandum of Understanding between Australia and Indonesia on electric vehicle cooperation, taking forward the commitment made by President Widodo and Prime Minister Albanese at the Australia--Indonesia Annual Leaders’ Meeting on 4 July 2023//VOI

Socialization of Land Transportation Legislation in 2023 - 

Along with advances in technology and the trend of motor vehicle customization among the Indonesian automotive community, the Ministry of Transportation strives to continue to support safe customized vehicles.

Therefore, the Ministry of Transportation, through the Directorate General of Land Transportation, is holding a socialization of the 2023 Land Transportation Legislation Regulations, namely Minister of Transportation Regulation Number PM 45 of 2023 concerning Motor Vehicle Customization with the aim of strengthening the regulations for customized vehicles in Indonesia. The socialization event was held on Thursday (23/11) in Semarang.

The rapidly growing customization of motorized vehicles is one of the factors increasing the creative economy. However, the development of vehicle customization trends needs to be balanced with clear and firm regulations so that it can be done safely and securely.

“When customizing motorized vehicles, we must pay attention to the applicable regulations. "This is to ensure that the customization of motorized vehicles that is carried out does not reduce the safety and security value of the vehicle, and does not conflict with applicable laws and regulations," said Head of the Legal & Public Relations Section of the Secretariat General of Land Transportation, Aznal when reading the remarks of the Secretary of the Directorate General of Land Transportation.

This socialization aims to equalize views and understanding of the implementation of the Ministerial Regulation at the central government, regional government, business actors and related stakeholder levels.

"This regulation regulates the types and technical specifications of motorized vehicles to be customized, requirements for a customization workshop, procedures for vehicle testing, as well as guidance and supervision of the implementation of motorized vehicle customization," explained Aznal.

On the same occasion, Head of Sub-Directorate for Motor Vehicle Type Testing, Yusuf Nugroho, explained material related to Motor Vehicle Customization in accordance with Minister of Transportation Regulation Number PM 45 of 2023.

According to a release received by Voice of Indonesia on Thursday, vehicle customization is a change in the axle distance, construction, engine brand and engine type, and/or material of a motor vehicle to a motor vehicle type. Motorized vehicle customization can be done on individual vehicles and goods and passenger cars by having fairly detailed criteria and meeting technical requirements and being roadworthy.

"Vehicle customization can also be done for motorbikes to become special vehicles designed in other designs according to special needs, such as mobility for people with disabilities," said Yusuf.

In each modification activity, it must be ensured that the vehicle meets the aspects of meeting technical requirements and is roadworthy so that customized motorized vehicles can be safely operated on public roads and make it easier for users to operate properly, safely and securely and do not have the potential to cause accidents.

Every workshop that carries out customization must have technical understanding and be certified. Workshops that meet the requirements for customization will be submitted to the Director General of Land Transportation to obtain customization workshop certification.

The customization workshop carries out vehicle customization activities by carrying out type testing and those who pass the test results will be issued proof of passing the type test in the form of a type test certificate (SUT) and type test registration certificate.

The Coordinator of the Modification Division of the Indonesian Motorcycle Association (IMI), Diggi Rachim, was also present at the socialization event and read remarks from the General Chair of IMI.

"This is good news for modification activists. We really appreciate the issuance of the Indonesian Minister of Transportation's Regulation on Motor Vehicle Customization. For approximately three and a half years, discussions between IMI and the Ministry of Transportation, Korlantas Polri and others. "Indonesia finally has Ministerial Regulation No PM 45 of 2023 concerning Motor Vehicle Customization which is the legal basis for automotive enthusiasts as well as automotive business actors in customizing vehicles," he said.

Furthermore, he said the custom vehicle industry could be one of the sectors that saved the economy from the downturn caused by the Covid-19 pandemic as well as advancing micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and the creative economy.

"The MSME sector is the biggest contributor to the various needs of custom vehicle business actors, from helmets, exhausts, jackets, to shoes and various other needs," he concluded.

With the presence of this Ministerial Regulation, it is hoped that it can further develop the Indonesian customization industry which can help make Indonesia proud on the international stage.

This socialization event was attended by 45 on site participants and 283 online participants. Also attended by the Head of Central Java BPTD, Ardono; Head of BPTD DI Yogyakarta, Yanti Marliana; Head of Sub-Directorate of BPTJ Traffic Directorate, Jabonor; National Police Traffic Corps Representative; Representative of the Ministry of Transportation's Legal Bureau; Representative of Bali Land Transportation Polytechnic (POLTRADA); and Representative of the Provincial Transportation Service on Java Island//VOI