People walk past parked G20 Summit official electric vehicles (EVs) in Nusa Dua, Bali on Nov. 12, 2022. The proliferation of EVs alone will not solve people's overreliance on fossil fuels.

Are subsidies for private electric vehicles effective?

Subsidy policies that encourage EV use need to be integrated with policies to encourage the use of public transportation and non-motorized transportation, such as walking and cycling.

2 years ago

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Indonesian economy remains resilient amid the global shocks

Holding more than a fifth of global nickel reserves and as the third-largest source of cobalt, Indonesia will be the world’s leading EV battery industry. ...

2 years ago

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Overused plot will only kill Indonesian soccer at every rebirth

Indonesia, the biggest country in the region, has never won the AFF Cup tournament since its inception in 1996, as compared with Thailand (7 times), Singapore (4 times), Vietnam (twice) and Malaysia (once). ...

2 years ago

The Latest

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo looks on at sunrise on March 15, 2022, after spending the night at a campsite in North Penajam Paser, East Kalimantan, where the government plans to build a new capital city replacing Jakarta.

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Nusantara an energizing site for construction industry

The government must prepare a number of business schemes and incentives to attract investors, mainly from the private sector.

2 years ago

Morowali Police officers take up positions on Jan. 16, 2023, after two workers, including a Chinese national, were killed at a nickel--smelting plant in North Morowali, Central Sulawesi, when a riot broke out during a protest over labor conditions.

Academia

Easy to blame China for the deadly riots at Morowali nickel plant

For Indonesia, the Morowali tragedy should serve as an example to educate the public about China because, like it or not, there is strong suspicion and distrust in China investment.

2 years ago

Banding together: ASEAN and Japanese leaders (from left to right) Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, Singaporean President Lee Hsien Loong, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Laotian Prime Minister Phankham Viphavanh and Malaysian lower house speaker Azhar Azizan Harun wave on stage during the ASEAN-Japan Summit as part of the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits in Phnom Penh on Nov. 12, 2022.

Academia

Advancing the Fukuda Doctrine afresh

As a responsible member of the international community, Japan is obliged to revise its past security strategy based on the current, extremely complex and challenging geopolitical landscape.

2 years ago

New Year celebrations: Chinese New Year ornaments featuring rabbits are being sold across the Glodok Chinatown Market area. (JP/Yohana Belinda)

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Chinese New Year means empathy, sensitivity

Chinese New Year celebrations become meaningful when the Chinese-Indonesian ethnic group can present and place itself together with other national elements to be part of the solution.

2 years ago

People rest on veld beds inside the emergency ward for the COVID-19 patients at a government-run hospital in Jakarta on June 29, 2021.

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The pluses and minuses of omnibus health bill

The shortage of 150,000 doctors will not be met anytime soon by 92 medical schools across Indonesia.

2 years ago

Gold mine: President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (right) speaks with Richard Adkerson (left), director of the Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold company at the Grassberg mine in Mimika during Jokowi’s visit on Sept. 1, 2022. In 2018 Indonesia acquired Freeport, a giant United States company operating in the country.

Academia

The new American playbook: Climate resilience

Today, the US is compelled to expand its economic presence in order to compete with China in Asia-Pacific affairs.

2 years ago

An electric bus driver passes Jl. Ahmad Yani in Surabaya, East Java, on Dec. 20, 2022.

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Transforming SMEs in the current EVs era

To make the EV industry inclusive to all entities, the government could introduce an overarching scheme to pull SMEs into the EV supply chain, for instance, by providing incentives for producers that partner with SMEs.

2 years ago

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati (left) and Bank Indonesia Governor Perry Warjiyo (right) brief the press after the Group of 20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Washington DC, on Oct. 14, 2022.

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Why sustainable finance matters

Sustainable development requires the involvement of the financial system and its alignment with the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement.

2 years ago

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (left) and President Joko “Jokowi“ Widodo attend an honor-guard ceremony at the presidential palace in Bogor, West Java, on Jan. 9, 2023.

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Stronger relationships between Indonesia, Malaysia and Turkey can promote world peace

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has to work with Malaysian PM Anwar and President Jokowi to show Europe how one exits from a destructive conflict that can literally end human civilization if nuclear weapons are used.

2 years ago

The industrial area is equipped with a range of supporting infrastructure, from high speed internet to a reliable supply of electricity.

Academia

Rethinking dispute resolution in infrastructure projects

More time and resources will be lost to litigation and arbitration to determine unresolved issues which have escalated into disputes.

2 years ago

President Joko Widodo, accompanied by members of the Nonjudicial Resolution Team for Past Serious Human Rights Violations (PPHAM), expresses his regret over 12 gross human rights violations in the past in his speech at the Presidential Palace on Jan. 11, 2023.

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Acknowledging rights violations: A new year’s resolution?

Is the President's human rights promise like a typical new year's resolution that will be broken, or can we trust that it is part of the legacy he intends to leave behind to create a better future for the nation's children?

2 years ago

Closing statement: Ministers deliver statements during the closing plenary at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt on Nov. 20, 2022.

Academia

Doers, not delayers: Cities forging ahead with their climate actions

While cities are increasingly seen as the driver of climate actions, city governments still face challenges in accessing finance to address climate change.

2 years ago

United States President Joe Biden speaks at an event on CHIPS manufacturing held on Oct. 27, 2022 at Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, New York.

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Biden is trapped in uncertain territory

That Biden is now also facing an investigation by a special counsel over alleged mishandling of classified materials, just like his erstwhile and potential rival Trump, spells an uncertain patch in his political trajectory ahead of the upcoming election year.

2 years ago

Parched: A resident pushes his bicycle carrying containers filled with potable water along a dried-up rice field in Lamongan, East Java, on Oct. 30, 2014. Droughts are a common challenge for farmers in Indonesia.

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Addressing the climate crisis: Loss and damage

The COP27 agreement on loss and damage funding was a breakthrough for developing and developed nations, and Indonesia should be looking to incorporate climate-related L&D policies as it gears up for the 2024 polls.

2 years ago

A border wall between China and Myanmar with barbed wire and a Chinese national flag is pictured on Jan. 14 in Ruili, west Yunnan province. The city of Ruili is slowly creaking back to life as China ditches its zero-tolerance COVID-19 strategy after years of strict lockdowns and other grueling restrictions.

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How to approach the protracted Myanmar crisis

Any objectives ASEAN has set out to achieve will not be possible unless the conflicting parties sit and talk to each other.

2 years ago

Jokowi regrets over past human rights abuses

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Don’t expect too much from Jokowi’s regrets over past atrocities

Within his almost 10-year tenure, Jokowi has managed to build his political empire, which now includes his former political enemies from the military.

2 years ago

Police take up position outside a nickel smelting plant in North Morowali, Central Sulawesi, on Monday, after two workers, including a Chinese national, were killed when a riot broke out during a protest over labor conditions on Saturday.

Academia

The Morowali nickel tragedy

There is an impression that the government tends to focus on the foreign investment boom but sweeps the potential risks under the rug.

2 years ago

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri delivers her speech during the party’s golden jubilee celebration at the Jakarta International Expo in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta on Jan. 10, 2023.

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Megawati is dependent on Jokowi, now more than ever

Jokowi has several times signaled his preference for Ganjar as his successor.

2 years ago

Members of labor organizations protest against the government’s decision to increase subsidized fuel prices, outside the House of Representatives building in Jakarta on Sept. 6, 2022.

Academia

Emergency labour regulation changes spark worker anger a year out from election

By changing it into an emergency regulation, Indonesia government evades the possibility of the law being fully annulled.

2 years ago

Anti-hoax campaign: A woman walks on April 1, 2018 past a series of murals in the Rawa Buntu area of South Tangerang, Banten, reminding the public to avoid spreading hoaxes on social media platforms.

Academia

The urgency of digital citizenship curriculum in combating hoaxes

Many students and young people in Indonesia have fallen for hoaxes or spread hate speech because of a lack of subjects or school programs to educate them to be good digital citizens.

2 years ago

(Left to right) Thailand’s Prayut Chan-O-Cha, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, United States President Joe Biden, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo pose for pictures during the ASEAN-US summit as part of the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits in Phnom Penh on Nov. 12, 2022.

Academia

Time to ramp up ASEAN’s Indo-Pacific strategy

ASEAN centrality is not simply a recognition of Southeast Asia’s geographical location straddling two oceans but also of the bloc's long list of diplomatic achievements in the region and the world.

2 years ago

Pioneering point: People visit “ground zero” of Nusantara, the new capital city to be developed in Sepaku district in North Penajam Paser, East Kalimantan, on Aug. 17. The nation’s new capital has reportedly been designed as a sustainable city.

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Tax incentives for potential investors in new capital city project

Tax holidays with partial exemption, tax allowances and super deduction types of tax incentives will still likely survive in the post-Pillar Two world.

2 years ago

Members of the 1965 Murder Victims Research Foundation (YPKP 65) reported their findings of 122 mass graves across Java and Sumatra of the 1965 mass killings in a meeting with Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud M.D. on Monday. The Government plans to form a team to verify the graves of the mass killing victims.

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Justice for post-genocide reconciliation?

Amid growing economic expectations, human rights cases suffer under what has been termed “the institutionalization of impunity.”

2 years ago

A child reaches for Spring Festival ornaments on Jan. 11, 2023 in a park
ahead of Lunar New Year festivities in Beijing.

Academia

Piloting spaceship Earth in the New Year

One study suggested that the richest countries are spending 30 times as much on their armed forces as they spend on providing climate finance, and seven of the top 10 historical emitters are among the top 10 global military spenders.

2 years ago

From shelter to shelter: Rohingya refugees eat breakfast at a temporary shelter in Ladong, Aceh on Tuesday. They were among 185 Rohingya asylum seekers who reached Aceh after weeks of journey from their overcrowded refugee camp in Bangladesh.

Academia

Rohingya drowning at sea as regional leaders fail to act

Even ASEAN members who have criticized the Myanmar military since the attempted coup in 2021 still engage in business with Myanmar.

2 years ago

Security first: Figurines stand around a smartphone, whose back is opened, in a photo studio in Paris on July 23, 2021 to raise the issue of personal-data protection in this fast-growing digital era.

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As private as it is, data privacy is a public good

With interdependent relations, even the most careful, educated and responsible individuals still rely on others for their data privacy.

2 years ago

Cashing in: Retirees line up to cash their monthly pension fund in Jakarta on Feb. 15, 2011.

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Addressing challenges in Indonesia’s pension funds

IFG Progress estimated that assuming income was the single factor deciding pension fund ownership, Indonesia needed around 10 years to achieve Asia's average pension fund penetration rates.

2 years ago

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