Remarks of President of the Republic of Indonesia on the Disbursement of Working Capital Assistance Wednesday, 16 December 2020 at the Backyard of the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta
FIRST SESSION
President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.
Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,
Good afternoon,
May peace be upon us all.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Today, I will hand over the Working Capital Assistance (BMK) in order to provide additional assistance to help all of you due to the difficult situation caused by COVID-19, which I think everyone here feels the impact. And, it happened not only in Indonesia but in 215 countries in the world. All of them experienced exactly the same way as we did.
And alhamdulillah, in the economic sphere, I think our country can still survive. However, ladies and gentlemen, I think their turnover sales has dropped by half, the profit has fallen and dropped to more than half or a third. I think, all of business players experienced the drop, be it large-scale enterprises, medium-scale enterprises, small-scale enterprises, micro enterprises, all of them experienced the drop. Thus, I want to remind all of you to be tough in this condition, endure the test, withstand difficult pressures, so that at some point we can return to get turnover/profit as we do in normal circumstances.
And we can realize it if the vaccination have started. Insyaallah, the vaccination will start soon. The vaccines are already available, but the vaccination will start in January.
I want to know who’s here that wants to be vaccinated? Who wants to be vaccinated? Is there anyone who doesn’t want to be vaccinated? Anyone? Oh, none of you. That means all of you want to be vaccinated. Alright.
So, all of you want to be vaccinated? Okay.
We will give the priority, of course, to doctors and nurses. Those who stationed in hospitals will be injected with the vaccines. Then, the Indonesian National Defense Forces (TNI) and the National Police (Polri), because they are the ones who guard the sovereignty of the state. The TNI and the Polri maintain order and security of the state. They should also be prioritized. After that, teachers will be vaccinated and all of us will get vaccinated, it’s for free, okay. Don’t make mistake bypaying for the vaccine, it’s free of charge.
I think that concludes my remarks.
Thank you.
Wassalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
SECOND SESSION
President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.
Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,
Good afternoon,
May peace be upon us all.
Distinguished Presidential Chief of Staff General Moeldoko;
Distinguished Head of the Presidential Secretariat, BapakHeru.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
First of all, I would like to thank you for your presence in the palace.
I am aware that the current condition is difficult, it is difficult for us to do business, be it business at home or business in the market or business on the side of the street or business in a shop. Every business, the small-scale, the medium-scale, the large-scale are all under difficult condition.
This condition is not experienced by our country Indonesia, but also experienced by 215 other countries, the same condition. We should be grateful that we can still survive. Currently, in Europe, several countries have been locked down again due to the second wave of the COVID-19, which will also bring an impact on the economy. They must have estimated the economic impact.
Therefore, I also call on all of us to keep our discipline in maintaining health protocols. We should remind our neighbors, our friends, our brothers and sisters about the importance of adhering to it. We are still under the condition we can control. That means, if the COVID pandemic can be controlled, the economy will be too. Even if it will not be as fast as in normal situation, we can control it. Although I know, once again, the condition is way different from normal.
Therefore, the Government will start the COVID-19 vaccination in January, which will be provided free to the public. But the vaccination requires several stages, including the number of people will be vaccinated in January, February, March, and April. It takes time because at least 67 percent of the population will be vaccinated, 70 percent of the population must be vaccinated. What does that mean? 182 million people must be vaccinated. Imagine injecting 180 (million) people with vaccines, injecting 182 (million) people? How many people can be vaccinated in a day? How many months will it take? So, we are still waiting for the time to return to normal again.
Thus, all of you still have to be resilient, endure trials so that the business can still operate. That needs to be maintained. If you have a lower income, that is okay, but the business still has to be profitable and be maintained.
Therefore, today we provide emergency Working Capital Assistance in an envelope. Have you seen the envelope? Not yet? Rp2.4 million. We hope this can increase working capital for all of you in your efforts to make the business even better while waiting for conditions to return to normal.
I’d like to ask, is there anyone here that doesn’t want to get vaccinated? No one? All of you want to get vaccinated? Right? So, all of you want to get vaccinated.
Well, if everyone wants to get vaccinated, it will provide protection. For example, in our community units (RW) environment, the children will not be vaccinated 100 percent, because the vaccines have not been tested. That means, if the total number of those who can be vaccinated is around 70 percent, it will be fine for the remaining 30 percent not to be vaccinated since the environment is clean. If other community units have also been vaccinated around 70 percent of people, the remaining 30 percent will be safe. Hence, we want to refer to herd immunity. But we have to be vaccinated, and I always inform the importance of the vaccines.
Regarding the halal status of the vaccines, Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) have been involved in ensuring the halal status of the vaccines. We are all aware that this is an emergency situation.
Well, I think that concludes my remarks on this auspicious occasion.
Thank you.
Wassalamu’alaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh.
Translated by Syarifah Aisyah
Reviewed by Lulu Wuliarti