Indonesia Highlights: Indonesia to Build New 700-Hectare Seaport in Ambon This Year, Says Jokowi | ATM Transactions Drop by 5 Percent amid Pandemic: Bank Indonesia | 16 Million Doses of Covid-19 Bulk

KOMPAS.com – President Joko Widodo said that a new port in eastern Indonesia will be developed in Ambon city, Maluku province this year.

The port, which will be completed in two years, aims to become the center for the growth of the fish processing industry and the hub of cargo in eastern Indonesia.

In other news, due to the Covid-19pandemic, the development of digital banking in Indonesia has significantly affected the use of automated teller machine (ATM) transactions which have fallen by five percent.

Below are excerpts from the stories in Indonesia, curated by Kompas.com editors:

Indonesia to Build New 700-Hectare Seaport in Ambon This Year, Says Jokowi

Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo said that the government will develop a new seaport in the Ambon city in Maluku province.

“This morning, I purposely came to Ambon for this particular reason. We will build Ambon New Port covering an area of about 700 hectares,” said the President who is popularly known as Jokowi in a televised address in Ambon city on Thursday, March 25.

“The logistics port, fishing port, and fishing industry will be integrated into one area,” he said.
The development of the new port aims to become the center for the growth of the fish processing industry and the hub of cargo in eastern Indonesia.

Jokowi further added that the development of the new port was urgently needed considering the existing special fisheries port has reached its maximum capacity.

“This construction of (Ambon New Port) will begin this year and we hope it will be completed in two years,” said Jokowi.

“I call for the fisheries industry players to immediately register and come into the location so that we have confidence that the plan is feasible,” he said.

The head of state also reminded the big potential of the fisheries industry in Maluku province. However, he said, so far there is still room for improvement.

Source: https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2021/03/25/13205861/jokowi-pemerintah-segera-bangun-pelabuhan-baru-di-ambon-dimulai-tahun-ini.

ATM Transactions Drop by 5 Percent amid Pandemic: Bank Indonesia

AFP/Getty Images/BBC Indonesia An illustration of automated teller machines (ATM) from several banks in Indonesia.

The development of digital banking in Indonesia has significantly affected the use of automated teller machine (ATM) transactions, an official said.

“Currently, the amount of payment transactions via ATM [automated teller machine] cards has contracted by nearly five percent this year, while digital transaction services turned otherwise,” said Bank Indonesia deputy governor Sugeng in a virtual press conference Thursday, March 25.

Sugeng said this was caused by the restrictions on the movement of people during the Covid-19 pandemic, whereby online shopping activities increase.

Therefore, the use of digital banking shows an increase. Sugeng said the growth of digital money reached 27 percent and the growth of digital banking transactions stood at 23 percent.

“This is quite high,” he said.

In line with that, the central bank will continue to promote financial inclusion in the digital economy, he added.

Source: https://money.kompas.com/read/2021/03/25/134853326/bi-akibat-pandemi-transaksi-lewat-kartu-atm-anjlok-hampir-5-persen.

16 Million Doses of Covid-19 Bulk Vaccine from China’s Sinovac Arrive in Indonesia

KOMPAS.com/FITRIA CHUSNA FARISA Another shipment of 16 million doses of Covid-19 bulk vaccine from China?s Sinovac arrives Soekarno-Hatta International Airport Thursday, March 25, 2021.

Indonesia received 16 million doses of Covid-19 bulk vaccine from China’s Sinovac Thursday, marking the seventh shipment of vaccine since the first batch arrived on December 6, 2020.

Besides Sinovac Biotech Ltd, Indonesia also received the Covid-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca under the COVAX program, which is supported by the World Health Organization (WHO) and GAVI vaccine alliance to provide vaccines to poor and middle-income countries earlier this month.

“Today, we managed to bring in the seventh shipment of the vaccine totaling 16 million doses of Covid-19 bulk vaccine,” said Deputy Health Minister Dante Harbuwono at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport near Jakarta on Thursday, March 25.

With this latest shipment, Dante said, Indonesia had received a total of 53.5 million doses of bulk vaccine. The newly-arrived bulk vaccine will be brought to state-owned pharmaceutical company Bio Farma for further process of production.

“During the process, the vaccine will be evaluated in terms of quality by the BPOM [the Indonesian Food and Drug Monitoring Agency] before it will be distributed to the public,” he said.

He said that the availability of vaccines is vital in the mass vaccination program. The sooner the government gets the vaccination done, the better the herding community could be achieved, he said.

To date, six million people have been vaccinated. Of this number, three million people have been given a second dose. Based on the government's evaluation, the vaccination program has shown positive developments such as reducing the transmission of the coronavirus among health workers and reducing active cases of Covid-19.

Source: https://go.kompas.com/read/2021/03/25/175034774/16-million-doses-of-covid-19-bulk-vaccine-from-chinas-sinovac-arrive-in-indonesia