Remarks of President of the Republic of Indonesia at The 2021 Annual Meeting of the Financial Services Industry, Friday, 15 January 2021, From Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java Province

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,

Good evening,

Peace and prosperity be upon us,

Om Swastiastu,

Namo Buddhaya,

Greetings of virtue.

Distinguished Heads of State Institutions in attendance; Speaker of the Regional Representative Council (DPD), Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (MA), Chief of the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court (MK);

Honorable Ambassadors of Friendly Countries;

Distinguished Ministers of the Indonesia Onward Cabinet, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Minister of Finance;

Distinguished Governor of central bank Bank Indonesia and the entire Board of Governors;

Distinguished Governors, Regents and Mayors across Indonesia;

Distinguished Chairperson of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and all leaders of the FSA Board of Commissioners and the entire family of the FSA;

Distinguished Heads of non-ministerial government institutions, President Directors, President Commissioners of state-owned banks (Himbara), university rectors, representatives of business associations and community organizations, capital market participants, representatives of Islamic boarding schools;

Ladies and Gentlemen, Esteemed guests.

We have to be optimistic that the beginning of 2021 will become a turning point for the pandemic crisis in 2020 we have experienced. Public health will recover immediately though we have to stick to health protocols. We also want the economy to revive and to control the pandemic, especially through vaccination, which is a game changer, a very crucial key so that the people can get back to work, our children can study from school again, we can perform prayer in peace, and our national economy can rebound immediately.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Two days ago, a free vaccination program for all Indonesians officially kicked off. All procedures and stages of vaccine development have gone well and run smoothly. Basic scientific research to clinical trials has been carried out since August. The Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) has also issued an emergency use authorization (UEA) and the results of the tested vaccine applications have been above the standards set by World Health Organization, also the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has announced that the vaccine is halal (permissible under Islamic law).

We have also prepared a vaccination support system that has been in place for several months. This is an important step, our collective step to take our nation get through the pandemic, provide health and safety protection to the people, and will speed up our national economic recovery.

In 13 January, representatives from various groups and I were vaccinated against the first dose. Yesterday, 14 January 2021, the initial vaccination was carried out in 26 provinces and today, 15 January 2021 in eight provinces. The vaccination will continue to be carried out in all regencies and cities. And I have also ordered that the vaccination process for approximately 181.5 million Indonesians be completed before the end of 2021. The Government has also secured 426 million doses of vaccine for the people from four different companies and countries. So, approximately, this could change more or less, 3 million doses in January, 4.7 million doses in February, 8.5 million doses in March, 16.6 million doses in April, 24.9 million doses in May, 34.9 million doses in June. Those are the number in our planning although we hope we can have more.

And with this mass vaccination, we hope that herd immunity (communal immunity) will be achieved so that the risk of the spread of COVID-19 will stop and economic activity will fully recover. This is our big work and we call for awareness. I always say this, even though we have got vaccinated in the future, discipline in health protocols must be carried out strictly until the whole world returns to normal without a pandemic.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Government continues to strive to speed up the recovery and revival of the national economy. I am pleased that during 2020, collaboration between the Government, Ministry of Finance, the FSA, and Bank Indonesia, and the Deposit Insurance Corporation (LPS) worked well. Every problem was always responded quickly. And for this year, the Government wants this cooperation to be continued and the Government has set aside a budget of Rp372.3 trillion to boost people’s purchasing power and speed up the national economic recovery in 2021.

We have also prepared a host of policies to support our economy. We are also grateful that the Job Creation Law has been enacted and the derivative regulations of the PP (Government Regulation) and Perpres (Presidential Regulation) will be published as soon as possible, so that we are more competitive in the market, especially in the global market. The PP has already been completed, namely the Investment Management Institution. We have established the Sovereign Wealth Fund called the INA (Indonesia Investment Authority). This aims to seize investment opportunities and serves as alternative solutions for financing our development. We have already submitted the names of the Board of Supervisors to the House of Representatives (DPR) and we hope it will be completed later this week. The formation of the SWF (Sovereign Wealth Fund) is very much needed to meet the growing financing in the future and also to increase the level of Indonesia’s foreign direct investment and to reduce debt ratio to Indonesia’s gross domestic product (GDP).

I have asked Minister of Finance, “In the beginning, maybe in a month or two, how much is the target for our SWF?” She answered, “yes, roughly US$20 billion,” It’s a huge amount of money. And the Government will deposit an initial cash capital worth Rp15 trillion and SOEs shares worth Rp50 trillion. As for INA (Indonesia Investment Authority), it is trillions of rupiah. I hope INA will become a strong investment strategic partner both legally and institutionally and become a reliable and trusted strategic partner for a long-term and sustainable economic development.

As of the third quarter of 2020, investment realization was recorded at Rp611.6 trillion, comprising Rp301.7 trillion for foreign direct investment (PMA) and Rp309.9 trillion for domestic direct investment (PMDN). The figure rose by 8.9 percent from the first quarter of 2020, which stood at Rp191.9 trillion and rose by 1.6 percent compared to that of the same period in 2019 at Rp205.7 trillion. The increase in investment realization in 2020 showed a positive outlook and should be maintained, given that we are in the midst of global uncertainty due to the pandemic.

This morning, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) also released our total exports in 2020 amounting to US$163.3 billion and total imports in 2020 amounting to US$141.6 billion. As for our trade balance in 2020, the surplus is US$21.7 billion. Compared to that of 2019, we actually had a deficit of US$3.6 billion. This brings optimism and we hope that in 2021, it will continue to increase and we will remain at a surplus in our trade balance. However, let us not be complacent. We must continue to work hard to improve this good realization and we must maintain this momentum, and see it as an opportunity.

We must continue to keep this optimism alive. The FSA and financial services industry players must maintain market trust, public trust as well as possible and there should be no more practices that may harm the communities. Financial transactions that lead to fraud must be dealt with firmly. The FSA supervision should not be weak and must maintain its credibility and integrity. We must build a good internal system, the one with international standards, thereby increasing international confidence in our financial services industry.

Lastly, I’d like to invite the financial industry to continue to boost the development of MSMEs, to boost MSMEs’ access to financing and not only to serve the same and big ones. Both small scale business players which have the potential and large-scale business players must also be given priority. Access to finance for business players in informal sector and MSMEs must also be easier and faster.

I have delivered several things to Minister of Finance, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs to formulate regulations that are future oriented and to leave out the old ways, outdated regulations, which I think, those that are already lagging behind in global finance, which will speed up our economic growth.

It is also our hope that the youths, MSMEs that are not yet bankable, are also able to develop their business scale. People’s Business Credit (KUR), Micro Waqf Bank can also be utilized by a wider and more productive segment of the communities. And we must build an inclusive economic growth shared by all Indonesian people that materializes a developed and just Indonesia.

That concludes my remarks on this auspicious occasion.

I thank you. 

Wassalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,

Om Santi Santi Santi Om,

Namo Buddhaya.