Indonesia Highlights: 59 Arrivals from India Contracted Covid-19, Says Indonesian Health Official | Indonesia’s State Bank BNI to Permanently Close 96 Branch Offices This Year | Indonesia Calls on Mal

KOMPAS.com – A spokesperson for the Covid-19 Mass Vaccination Program of the Ministry of Health Siti Nadia Tarmizi confirmed that 59 travelers, including 10 Indonesians, from India, contracted Covid-19 upon arrival.

Indonesia’s state-owned bank, PT Bank Negara Indonesia Tbk or BNI, is planning to relocate and close permanently its 96 branch offices this year as many customers prefer to use digital services.

Below are the editors’ picks stories published on Kompas.com:

59 Arrivals from India Contracted Covid-19, Says Indonesian Health Official

A spokesperson for the Covid-19 Mass Vaccination Program of the Ministry of Health Siti Nadia Tarmizi confirmed that 59 travelers, including 10 Indonesians, from India, contracted Covid-19 upon arrival.

"As we know that from December 28 last year to April 25, we have detected 59 confirmed cases from India. Of the total number, 49 were Indian citizens and 10 were Indonesians," Nadia told a streamed news conference on Thursday, May 6.

Nadia said that as many as 26 Indian citizens who contracted Covid-19 are undergoing whole genome sequencing (WGS) to look at all of the genes in the body to identify whether they are exposed to the latest variant of coronavirus, called B.1.617, which is common in India.

"The specimen test was also done to the arrivals between December 28, 2020, and April 10," said Nadia.

"We are currently still waiting for the test results, both the positive ones and the specimens that were taken previously," she said.

Source: https://go.kompas.com/read/2021/05/06/175413074/59-arrivals-from-india-contracted-covid-19-says-indonesian-health-official

Indonesia’s State Bank BNI to Permanently Close 96 Branch Offices This Year

KOMPAS.com/ Bambang P. Jatmiko An illustration of a BNI branch office in Depok, West Java.

Indonesia’s state-owned bank, PT Bank Negara Indonesia Tbk or BNI, is planning to relocate and close permanently its 96 branch offices this year as many customers prefer to use digital services.

"(Our banking transactions) can be done through a digital network, so this year we will close about 96 outlets throughout Indonesia,” said BNI director of Services and Networks, Ronny Venir, in a press conference on Thursday, May 6.

Ronny said that the number of BNI customers who bank in branch offices has dropped as nearly 80 percent of the customer transactions are done digitally.
“Only a few consumers who still use a teller. They still visit a branch, perhaps they are non-tech savvy,” said Ronny.

Ronny said that the number of consumers who visit the branches has been decreased. Previously, tellers used to serve 150-200 transactions per day, but now only the decline in transactions at teller outlets had decreased. In the past, tellers used to serve 150-200 transactions, now they only serve 40 percent of it.

Besides, consumers also prefer to use BNI SONIC or BNI self-service opening account program, which allows the consumers to carry out various transactions, including opening a new account.

Source: https://money.kompas.com/read/2021/05/07/080142326/tahun-ini-bni-berencana-tutup-96-kantor-cabang.

Indonesia Calls on Malaysia to Finalize Migrant Worker Pact

Dok. Humas Kementerian Ketenagakerjaan Indonesia's Manpower Minister Ida Fauziyah speaks during a video conference with her Malaysian counterpart Datuk Seri Saravanan Murugan on Thursday, May 6.

Indonesia’s Manpower Minister Ida Fauziyah called on the Malaysian government to discuss a renewal of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on migrant worker's placement.

“We hope the discussion on the MoU renewal can reach a win-win solution,” said Ida in a video conference with her Malaysian counterpart Datuk Seri Saravanan Murugan on Thursday, May 6.

Indonesia has sent the initial draft of the MoU in September 2016, but the draft has yet finalized as it is still being discussed. Malaysia’s response to the initial draft had been submitted in August 2020.

“I hope we can finalize this MoU based on each country’s guidance,” she said.
Ida hoped that both countries could reach an agreement on the domestic sector based on the One Channel Recruitment scheme and a clear job description for the placement of the Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Saravanan Murugan welcomed the commitment between the two governments and will also introduce an application to assist Indonesian domestic workers while working in Malaysia.

"This application system can be used by the Indonesian migrant workers to report any unwanted treatments from their employers to the Human Resources Ministry,” said Datuk Seri Saravanan.

Source: https://money.kompas.com/read/2021/05/06/205652426/indonesia-minta-malaysia-kembali-rundingkan-mou-penempatan-pmi.