Rapimnas Kadin Indonesia 2021: Coordinating Minister Airlangga Encourages Entrepreneurs To Take Advantage Of The Momentum Of The G20 Presidency To Pioneer Increased Investment

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs. W

JAKARTA - Indonesia is one of the countries recognized by the world for its success in overcoming challenges after challenges during the pandemic in efforts to control COVID-19 and recover the national economy. The emergence of a new variant of COVID-19 is a new challenge in handling the global pandemic, Indonesia remains vigilant about this by continuing to monitor existing developments.

President Joko Widodo said that Indonesia is one of five countries included in level 1 of the COVID-19 pandemic according to WHO. The President also emphasized that the key to Indonesia's economic growth is how Indonesia can control the pandemic, and investment is the driving force of the Indonesian economy, both investment for MSMEs and for big business players.

This was conveyed by President Joko Widodo at the National Leadership Meeting of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Rapimnas KADIN Indonesia) in Bali, Friday, December 3. On this occasion, the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto as the Chair of the COVID-19 Handling Committee and National Economic Recovery was also present.

Airlangga said that in terms of health, to anticipate the emergence of a new variant of COVID-19, Omicron, the government had taken steps, namely by limiting travel to 11 countries in Africa. In addition, the domestic policy regarding the number of quarantines has also been improved and the government is pushing for targeted vaccinations in the first quarter of 2022 for 208 million targets who have completed receiving complete vaccinations.

"As of December 2, 2021, the 1st dose of vaccination has reached 67.65 percent or 140.9 million doses, and the second dose of vaccination has reached 46.73 percent or 97.3 million doses. Starting in January 2022, the Government will also continue to encourage the third dose of vaccination," said Coordinating Minister Airlangga.

From an economic perspective, Coordinating Minister Airlangga said that the Government prioritizes flexible, adaptive, and responsive fiscal policies. This has been implemented through the adjustment and reallocation of the PEN program in 2020, 2021, and continues in 2022. As of November 26, the realization of PEN has reached 67.4 percent of the total allocation of Rp744.77 trillion.

The government has also provided facilities for investment in the form of a tax holiday to provide ease of doing business for pioneer industries. The realization of investment by recipients of the tax holiday facility until the middle of this year has reached Rp385.8 trillion from the total investment plan of Rp716.6 trillion.

Investment locations are spread across 22 provinces with 6 industry groups ranging from economic infrastructure, basic metal industry to the digital economy.

Currently, various main indicators of the national economy have shown a positive trend. The Consumer Confidence Index in October was recorded at 113.4, indicating a recovery in confidence on the demand side, and the Manufacturing PMI, which was in the expansion zone, indicating improvement on the supply side.

Investment until the third quarter of 2021 has also increased, where the realization has reached Rp659 trillion, an increase of 7.8 percent compared to the same period in 2020.

Meanwhile, investment in Indonesia is currently able to create more than 900 thousand jobs. For this reason, the amount of investment that has been achieved this year will be further increased to a target of Rp1,200 trillion.

Furthermore, Coordinating Minister Airlangga also revealed that until October 2021, Indonesia's foreign exchange reserves and trade balance have been relatively steadily increasing since 2019.

“From an economic perspective, Indonesia also has a strong external and internal balance. Our foreign exchange reserves and the value of Indonesia's exports are the highest in history. This is supported by the cumulative trade balance surplus which recorded the highest increase in the last 10 years. This is inseparable from the increase in global commodity prices, which in turn increases state budget revenues," said Coordinating Minister Airlangga.

On that occasion, Coordinating Minister Airlangga said that the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has a big role in the national economy. For this reason, the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry is expected to continue and strengthen its role, including in the success of Indonesia's G20 Presidency in 2022.

With the theme “Recover together, Recover Stronger”, Indonesia encourages an inclusive, strong, and sustainable global economic recovery. In accordance with President Joko Widodo's direction, in the G-20 Presidency, there will be 3 things that will be Indonesia's main focus, namely inclusive health management, digital-based economic transformation, and the transition to sustainable energy.

“Kadin Indonesia as the host organization for Business20 (B20) is expected to support cross-border cooperation and seek innovative steps. We hope that this activity can encourage economic transformation, and the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry will be the pioneer so that the target of increasing investment and economic growth can be achieved," concluded Airlangga.