Remarks of President of the Republic of Indonesia at the Opening of the 2021 National Leadership Meeting of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 3 December 2021, at the Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center (BNDCC), Badung Regency, Bali Province

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,
Good afternoon,
May prosperity be upon us all,
Om swastiastu,
Namo buddhaya,
Greetings of virtue.

Honorable Speaker of the People’s Consultative Assembly of the Republic of Indonesia;
Distinguished Ministers of the Indonesia Onward Cabinet. I counted how many ministers attend the Kadin national leadership meeting. There are ten ministers who are present. This reflects the importance of Kadin to our country, so all ministers attend this event. I will read the names, I counted them earlier, then I wrote them down. Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Minister of State Secretary, Minister of Finance, Minister of Trade, Minister of Manpower, Minister of Investment who has been with me since this morning so that I can make it. The Minister and I were even in the same car, I really had no idea, but I was properly escorted. Minister of Industry, Minister of Communications and Informatics, Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Minister of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises, Deputy Minister of State-Owned Enterprises. All ten Ministers are present.
Distinguished Governor of Bali Province;
Distinguished Chairperson of the Financial Services Authority’s (OJK) Board of Commissioners;
Distinguished Chairperson of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) Arsjad Rasjid, Chairperson of the Kadin’s Advisory Board Anindya Bakrie and all Chairs of Executive Board, Chairperson of Expert Council, Chairperson of Honorary Council, Deputy General Chairperson, and all Chairs and Ranks of Provincial, Regency and City Kadin, as well as all of Kadin members for the term of service 2021-2026;
Ladies and Gentlemen, Esteemed Guests.

Challenge after challenge continues to confront us. Do not ever think that the pandemic is over. Certainly, if we look at the total cases recorded in mid-July which stood at 56 thousand, yesterday we recorded 311 daily cases. We should be grateful for this. That’s because of our hard work, our mutual cooperation. But again, we must remain cautious since the challenge is not over yet.

There have been 29 countries that have reported the Omicron variant. This morning, our closest neighboring country, Singapore, has detected the new variant. Despite the ongoing rapid research, this new variant can be fivefold more contagious than the Delta variant. It can also weaken the human immune system.

To that end, once again, we all must remain vigilant and stay alert. However, do not be too scared and worried. We have to remain optimistic, especially in 2022. We must be optimistic that our economy can rebound above 5 percent.

It turns out that those things that we do not count and predict have multiplied impacts. We learnt that several countries saw a scarcity in energy and containers due to the pandemic, be it inter-country, inter-provincial, or inter-island containers.

It is due to the pandemic as well – which we did not predict – that inflation in several countries has skyrocketed. And because of inflation, in the last few days it has been informed that there is an increase in producer prices in several countries that will eventually have an impact on increasing consumer prices.

This is a mutual complexity, the problem is getting wider everywhere. We have to prepare an anticipatory plan and move faster than usual. As global economic uncertainty is getting wider everywhere, the problem complexity is also spreading everywhere. The key to global economic growth, to our economy, lies in how we can control the pandemic as we do today. That is all. The others will surely follow suit. And investment is the driving force of our economy, be it business investment from micro, small, medium, to large enterprises, all of which are essential at this time.

The investment target for 2021 is at Rp900 trillion, we seem to achieve it. In 2022, since I notice that the Ministers are young and very agile, let us increase it to Rp1.200 trillion. And now, numerous investments have been recorded outside Java than in Java. This is great, 48 percent in Java and 52 percent outside Java. This is excellent. Thus, it [the investment] is no longer Java-centric, but has started to become Indonesia-centric. This is what we will continue to encourage.

And at this meeting, I also need to convey that I have just ordered Minister of Finance. This is what I usually apply, I see what our economy is like. To date, taxes have entered 77.5 percent, while non-tax state revenues (PNBP) have entered 107 percent, which has already surpassed, already… What does that mean? Tax revenue grew by 15.3 percent. Excellent. Even though our economy contracted 18.8 percent last year, from minus 18.8 percent, now it grows by 15.3 percent. We should be grateful for this. The PNBP also grew by 25.2 percent in 2021, while it stood at 16 percent last year. These are fantastic numbers. Well, we’re really excited to see numbers like this, but when we hear the Omicron, we hold our breath a little. Again, there is no need to worry too much, because it will affect the numbers if you are worried a lot.

On this auspicious occasion, I remind Kadin that starting from yesterday, we have the privilege and honor of holding the G20 presidency, the G20 chairmanship. And there will be 150 meetings in the framework of the G20 with all countries. In the G20, we will focus on the issue of global health architecture, energy transition towards green and sustainable energy, and digital transformation, re-digitalization of energy transition and a green economy, as well as on the health architecture.

The world’s economic pendulum is starting to swing towards a green economy. We must immediately adjust to the transformation, if at some point in the next two, three, or five years, the European market only accepts green products produced by renewable energy and we are not ready yet, then how are we going to export our products? Once they start, other countries will definitely follow suit too. Therefore, we must start shifting the direction of our economy as soon as possible according to our discussion at the G20.

When it comes to energy transition, we have the advantage since we have abundant natural resources for renewable energy that produce green energy. For hydropower, we have 4,400 rivers. No country in the world has as many rivers as we do. Only from two rivers, namely the Mamberamo River in Papua and the Kayan River in North Kalimantan. In Mamberamo, it can generate about 24,000 megawatts and the Kayan River in North Kalimantan can produce about 11,000-13,000 megawatts. It is only from two rivers; once again, we have 4,400 rivers in total.

For geothermal, we have not made use of it yet. Of 29 thousand megawatts, we only use about 2 thousand, which has not even reached 10 percent of the total. These are the opportunities we have in order to compete with other countries. We have these strengths that we have not been aware of for a long time.

To that end, in order to support economic reform, structural reform, and assistance for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), I urge Chairperson of Kadin to prepare in more detail the needs, challenges, and aspirations of business players on the ground. Thus, if the Government formulates major policies, and Kadin prepares the detail, then the players and the policymaker will synergize.

Then, as I said earlier, also prepare in more detail the transformation of our economy towards a green economy, green energy, green tourism, blue economy according to economic players. What they need and what they aspire. There must be policies and implementation. If these two things meet, it will be a great strength.

That concludes my remarks on this auspicious occasion. And I would like to congratulate Mr. Arsjad Rasyid, Mr. Anindya Bakrie, and all ranks and management of Kadin for the 2021-2026 term of service. Even though they are faced with many challenges, I am convinced that the current management structure is a solid team.

And by saying bismillahirrahmanirrahim, this afternoon, I officially open the 2021 National Leadership Meeting of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

I thank you.
Wassalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
Om santi santi santi om. (RIF/MUR)