Remarks of President of the Republic of Indonesia at a Limited Meeting on Report of COVID-19 Handling and National Economic Recovery Working Committee, Monday, 23 November 2020, at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

Distinguished Vice President,

Honorable Ministers.

Again, we will conduct an evaluation at this Limited Meeting, which is related, once again, to the handling of COVID-19 and economic recovery.

First, I would like to remind the Committee, Task Force, and all Governors to really manage matters related to COVID-19 and matters related to the economy, in a good balance. Why?  I see that the results of the strategy to regulate the “brake and gas” balance are starting to show, especially in controlling both COVID-19 and the economy.

As of November 22, the average active case of COVID-19 throughout the country was 12.78%, the average active case was 12.78%. This figure is lower than the world average of active cases, which is at 28.41%. This is good. Also, the average recovery trend has improved, now, it has reached 84.03%. This is also better than the world recovery rate which reached 69.20%. We seek continuous improvement.

Then in the economic sector, as I told you last week, the trend in the Q2, from minus 5.32%, has improved in the Q3 to minus 3.49%. We must also continue to fix this so that in the Q4 it will be better than that in the Q3.

Secondly, with such an achievement, I instruct the Committee, Task Force, (and) the Governors, once again, to remain vigilant. So the strategy we have been saying from the start, the “brake and gas”, should really be well-implemented. Do not slack off and also run the risk of creating a second wave. This is the thing that can create setbacks again. Therefore, preventive measures and interventions against potential activities that violate (health) protocols must be carried out with rigor. Take precautions as early as possible.

Third, I also instruct Minister of Home Affairs, the Indonesian Chief of Police, and the regional task forces to pay special attention to the regional election process. Because this is only about two weeks away, this should not interfere with our big work, which is handling COVID-19 and (recovering) the economy. Enforce the rules, then continue to strictly implementing the (health) protocol, especially later on election day and of course, during the last campaigns. Then, in particular, we will discuss the long holiday which will also be in December, which we will discuss later in today’s meeting specifically.

Fourth, on preparation for vaccination. Yesterday, I watched the vaccination simulation, I saw that in the field, it was good already and I instruct that this simulation be continued. I will check maybe one or two more times, so that later it can be very well-implemented. And most importantly, in my opinion, we continue to observe, evaluate the mechanism and distribution process of the vaccine, which in my opinion is the most important (part), so that the vaccine distribution to the regions can run safely and smoothly.

Then lastly, on economic recovery, I instruct that you must pay attention to those related to employment. Pay special attention to matters relating to job creation. And what is most needed now is to increase household consumption by encouraging small businesses, micro, medium, and large enterprises, to encourage them to be active. I see that budget realization in several programs is going well. For example, salary subsidies have reached 82%, the Productive Presidential Assistance which provides working capital assistance to micro-enterprises has reached 79%. I think we must continue to encourage them in order to increase people’s purchasing power.

I think that’s all I want to deliver.

I’ll ask for the first report, on vaccines. When will we receive them? Because the whole the process, the administration process, the payment process should have been done. Then, on the vaccination readiness, how many percentage of the work is done? This includes the distribution process, and the preparation for the cold chain. What does the chiller look like? And how is the administrative process in BPOM (the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency), particularly related to Emergency Use Authorization (EUA)? I want to see the report.

That concludes my remarks.

Thank you.

Translated by Fairuzzamani Inayatillah
Reviewed by Lulu Wuliarti