President Jokowi Orders OJK to Closely Monitor Financial Services Products

President Jokowi Monday (02/06) delivers his remarks during the 2023 Financial Services Industry Annual Meeting (PTIJK) at the Shangri-La Hotel, Jakarta. (Photo by: PR of Cabinet Secretariat/Rahmat)

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo Monday (02/06) ordered the Financial Services Authority (OJK) to closely monitor various financial services products and transactions.

“I see that the people need definite protection for financial services products, be it in insurance, online loan, investment, or Hajj and Umrah tour, the monitoring must be detailed,” the President said during the 2023 Financial Services Industry Annual Meeting (PTIJK) at the Shangri-La Hotel, Jakarta.

The President stated that macro and micro works must go hand in hand.

He also ordered the OJK to fully support the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector. “I want more support on the MSME sector because there lies our strength,” he added.

In addition, the President also ordered the OJK to support the Government’s program on the downstream industry. He underscored that the support must be properly calculated as the downstream sector will become the key for the country to advance into a developed country.

The President also stated that Indonesia rejoined the upper-middle-income country in 2022 after falling back into a lower-middle-income country due to the pandemic.

“We have to consistently boost our GDP, so we can truly leap forward,” he said.

Downstreaming in various commodities is the key for Indonesia to become a developed country, he added. These commodities include crude palm oil (CPO), minerals and coal, and marine wealth.

“I have often said that on mineral and coal as well as gas, on nickel alone, we used to obtain US$1.1 billion on its ore to US$30 billion after the downstreaming process. Later, we will do that on bauxite, tin, copper, gold, natural gas, and oil. If we do that consistently, we will become a developed country,” he said.

On the occasion, the President reminded all ranks of the OJK to eradicate corruption involving institutions providing financial services products. “Be vigilant, all monitoring must be intensified,” he underscored.

President Jokowi also ordered that any public reports regarding this matter should be quickly followed up by the OJK. “Frequently on these reports, the report has been made since 2020, currently in 2023, it is still in progress. Please be careful, we want to build trust. Once we have lost it, it is hard to rebuild. I am sure the current OJK management can do it,” he remarked. (TGH/AIT/SND) (FI/MUR)