Indonesia Dishes Out First Free Meals in Programme Targeting 83 Mn People 

 

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s ambitious multi-billion dollar program to provide free meals to more than a quarter of his people was officially underway on Monday, officials said, with 570,000 mouths to feed on its opening day. 

 

Despite being the centerpiece of an election campaign that catapulted Prabowo to power last year, the scheme was rolled out with little fanfare on Monday, with no official launch and just 190 kitchens involved in preparing the first meals to school children and pregnant women in more than 20 provinces. 

 

The free meal plan will be a Herculean logistical effort when in full swing, with a target by 2029 of reaching 82.9 million of the country's 280 million population. 

 

Prabowo's signature policy has been controversial, however, with previous estimates of its cost of USD 28 billion over five years triggering concern among some economists that it could dent Indonesia's hard-won reputation for fiscal prudence. 

 

Prabowo has defended the program and last month described it as strategic in countering child malnutrition and spurring growth in Indonesia's economy at regional level. It is estimated to cost IDR 71 trillion (USD 4.39 billion) in its first stage this year, providing meals for 15 million people. 

 

At an elementary school in West Jakarta, staff carried food trays to class and students picked them up one by one, finding rice, fried chicken, fried tofu, beans, and an orange. 

 

Hana Yohana, a parent of a first grader, said she hoped the program continues as it made her morning routine easier. 

 

"Thank God, this helps us. We normally had to work hard preparing food every morning, and now we don't," she said. 

 

The government and military, who will help prepare and distribute the meals, have been running pilot programs where they have handed out trays of food including rice, chicken and milk. 

 

Source: Reuters 

Indonesia to Seal Free Trade Pact with Peru, Eurasia in Q1 2025  

 

Trade Minister Budi Santoso also reaffirmed that the ministry aims to conclude a similar agreement with the European Union by the end of first half of this year. 

 

Indonesia aims to conclude negotiations on a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) with Peru and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) in the first quarter of the year as the country seeks to diversify exports to non-traditional markets.  

 

Trade Minister Budi Santoso also reaffirmed that the ministry aims to conclude a similar agreement with the European Union by the end of first half of this year, which Jakarta previously hoped to conclude before the new administration came to power on Oct. 20 last year.  

 

“The discussions are nearing completion and are expected to conclude by the first quarter of 2025,” Budi said during a media briefing on Monday.  

 

Jakarta and Lima began talks on the trade pact in May 2024.  

 

President Prabowo Subianto, when meeting his counterpart during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit last year, endorsed the finalization of the deal in time to mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two nations this year.  

 

Trade between the two countries totaled USD 444.3 million in 2023, with Indonesia exporting USD 367.4 million worth of goods, including textiles and processed foods, and importing USD 77 million, largely in raw materials and agricultural products.  

 

Simultaneously, Indonesia is accelerating its talks with the EAEU, an economic bloc comprised of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia, after negotiations started in 2017.   

 

Indonesia went on with the negotiations amid Western sanctions on Russia for its war in Ukraine and Belarus for its involvement in the conflict.  

 

Discussions within the Indonesia-EAEU CEPA are nearing completion and government officials expect to conclude the talks within the expected timeframe, the trade minister said.  

 

Trade between Indonesia and the EAEU reached USD 3.8 billion in 2023, with Indonesian exports, including palm oil, copra, televisions and electrical machinery amounting to USD 1.1 billion.   

 

Imports from the bloc, dominated by coal, fertilizers, semi-finished steel products and wheat, totaled USD 2.7 billion.  

 

New trade deals are what Indonesia is looking for right now, as the country requires new markets in light of waning demand from traditional trade partners because of the global economic slowdown.  

 

Indonesia has signed 19 trade agreements to date, spanning both bilateral and regional partnerships.   

 

These include deals with ASEAN, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Chile the United Arab Emirates and Iran.   

 

In December last year, Indonesia inked a comprehensive economic partnership agreement with Canada, marking Jakarta’s first free trade deal with a North American country.  

 

The deal is set to enter into force in 2026 pending legislative approval in both countries, while legal scrubbing is anticipated to conclude by mid-2025.  

 

In 2025, the Trade Ministry said it would prioritize securing the domestic market, expanding export markets and increasing exports from small and medium enterprises (SMEs).  

 

The country aims to achieve USD 294 billion in total exports by 2025, or a 7 percent year-on-year (yoy) increase, with projections reaching USD 405 billion by 2029.   

 

Meanwhile, exports from SMEs are targeted to reach USD 19.3 billion in 2025, up 9.6 percent from the previous year, and are expected to grow to USD 35.3 billion by 2029. 

 

Source: The Jakarta Post 

Apple's AirTag investment Will Not Secure iPhone 16 Entry: RI Govt 

 

Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita has said that Apple's investment commitment to establish an AirTag production facility in Indonesia will not open up entry for the iPhone 16 in the domestic market. 

 

The investment plan, according to the minister, is not directly related to the manufacturing of mobile phones, handled computers, and tablets, which is a requirement for obtaining the domestic component level (TKDN) certification from the Indonesian Government. 

 

"If we look at the regulation, it (iPhone 16) is not allowed yet (to enter the Indonesian market). The Ministry of Industry has no basis to be able to issue TKDN certification in order for Apple to have a distribution permit in Indonesia," he explained here on Wednesday. 

 

During the negotiation between the ministry's technical team and Apple in Jakarta on Tuesday, the US technology giant submitted a proposal to fulfill the TKDN certification requirement through the third scheme of advancing innovation. 

 

However, the figure offered by the company was not in keeping with the four principles of justice set by the Ministry of Industry. 

 

The four principles included a comparison of Apple's investment in other countries; investment in mobile phones, handheld computers, and tablets by other manufacturers in Indonesia; added value and income for Indonesia; and absorption of labor in the ecosystem. 

 

"We told them that the value proposed by Apple in following this third scheme is still below what is considered technocratic," Kartasasmita emphasized. 

 

On Tuesday, Minister of Investment and Downstreaming Rosan Roeslani announced Apple's plan to establish an AirTag vendor factory in Batam, Riau Islands, with an investment of USD 1 billion. 

 

The announcement was made following a meeting with Apple's vice president of global policy, Nick Amman, in Jakarta. 

 

Apple's investment commitment is expected to create up to two thousand jobs. 

 

Amman is currently in Jakarta for investment negotiations with the Indonesian government. The negotiations aim to extend the TKDN certification for Apple products so that the company can officially sell its latest offering, the iPhone 16, in the Indonesian market. 

 

Source: Antaranews