AmCham Update Vol. 2 #16

Jokowi Approves Gotong Royong, 49 More Omnibus Regulations, Healthcare Forum

Feb 19, 2021 | AmCham Indonesia

President Green Lights Gotong Royong Program

President Joko Widodo signaled his approval of the independent Gotong Royong (mutual assistance) vaccination program on Feb 17, and said he is hopeful it can start either at the end of February or the beginning of March at the very latest. He also emphasized the crucial role the private sector plays in helping to accelerate vaccination targets. With the private sector involved in the vaccination program, this would place less of a burden on the state budget (APBN) and the vaccination period could be shortened to less than a year.

However, there is still no formal regulation for the program. Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin said Presidential Regulation (Perpres) No 14/2021 is an umbrella regulation and does not contain specific measures for the program. He said the Ministry of Health is finalizing a new regulation (Permenkes), but the timing and scope are unclear.

The government has released six principles to help guide the independent vaccination program. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has also given the government additional recommendations for its implementation, including calling for the Ministry of Health to act as the regulator in terms of procurement, distribution, and implementation, and that independent vaccinations cannot take place in government-owned healthcare facilities.

AmCham fully appreciates the value and importance of the Gotong Royong vaccination program, and we are currently assessing how companies will access vaccines, given they are to be different from those used in the government program, pricing policy, details of vaccination administration plans, as well as possible procurement-related issues and risks faced by the participating companies.

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49 Omnibus Regulations Promulgated

Minister of Law and Human Rights Yasonna Laoly announced the government has promulgated 49 implementing regulations from the Omnibus Job Creation Law - 45 governmental regulations and four presidential regulations. He said the Omnibus Law and the regulations derived from it will help Indonesia’s economic recovery through the simplification of bureaucracy to attract foreign investors to Indonesia.

Notable regulations that were promulgated include:

GR No. 5 in 2021 on Permits for Risk-Based Business
GR No. 34 in 2021 on Foreign Manpower
GR No. 35 in 2021 on Fixed-Term Work Agreement (PKWT), Outsourcing, Working and Rest Time, Employment, and Layoffs (PHK)
GR No. 39 in 2021 on Halal Product Assurance
GR No. 46 in 2021 on Post, Telecommunication and Broadcasting.

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Healthcare Forum: Coping with COVID’s Aggressive Growth

AmCham Indonesia hosted a healthcare forum “Coping with COVID’s Aggressive Growth” on Feb 18. The panel consisted of Professor Wiku Adisasmito of the COVID-19 Task Force, epidemiology specialist Pandu Riono, Lia G Partakusuma of the Indonesian Hospitals Association (PERSI), Varun Khanna of Siloam Hospitals, and Richard Jones of International SOS.

The event kicked off with an update from Professor Wiku on Indonesia’s strategy in mitigating the COVID-19 virus. He said the government’s most recent move was the creation of command centers (Posko) with the 5S (strategy, structure, system, skill and speed) 1T (target) approach. Pandu then gave a brief overview of what Indonesia has done so far in combating the pandemic, and emphasized public participation and the community are more important than any government regulations.

Lia gave an update on PERSI’s current situation, saying it faces the issue of handling an increasing number of non-COVID patients. PERSI is confronting this challenge through increasing infrastructure and adjusting its system to adapt to both COVID-19 and non-COVID patients.

Members then learned of the challenges private hospitals are facing in fighting the pandemic. Varun agreed with Lia’s concerns over the increasing number of non-COVID patients, and said Siloam had also taken action by cleaning specific healthcare centers for non-COVID patients with chronic illnesses and dedicating three hospitals solely for COVID-19 patients.

Richard then spoke on the COVID-19 vaccine, explaining how safe it is and that severe side-effects are very uncommon. He also said health and safety protocols should be observed even after receiving the vaccine, as there is still the possibility of becoming infected.

Members asked many questions, including on how to get more information on the vaccination program, the progress on existing targets, and future plans from the government. Overall, the forum further reaffirmed the importance of robust policies and public participation in pandemic response measures, in the hope the curve will flatten as soon as possible.

IPR Committee Virtual Kick-Off Meeting

AmCham Indonesia held an insightful virtual 2021 kick-off meeting for its Intellectual Property Rights Committee on Feb 17. Led by committee chair Nies Purwati, the meeting discussed Patent Law changes in the Omnibus Job Creation Law, the academic draft of the Patent Law revision, Presidential Regulation 77/2020 on Patent Use by Government, and priority issues for 2021.

Members said they were open to the patent regulation changes in the Omnibus Job Creation Law, as they have answered several concerns lingering since the enactment of the Patent Law, including local manufacturing requirements, compulsory licenses, and simple patents. Members are also looking forward to the Patent Law revision after the academic draft was published recently.

Moving on to 2021, the committee will focus on advocating better enforcement of IPR laws, specifically those relating to trademarks, copyright, and IP enforcement issues. AmCham will assist members so their concerns can be catered to in the upcoming regulation revisions. AmCham provides platforms for companies to share their aspirations and continue fostering close engagements with relevant stakeholders.

BI Cuts 7-Day Reverse Repo Rate to 3.5%

Bank Indonesia (BI) has cut its 7-day reverse repo rate to a record low 3.5 percent, deposit facility interest rate to 2.75 percent, and lending facility interest rate to 4.25 percent. BI Governor Perry Warjiyo said this was consistent with predictions of low inflation and rupiah stability and is part of efforts to drive national economic recovery. In 2020, BI reduced the reverse repo rate by a total of 125 basis points (bps). This is the first interest rate cut in 2021.

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Clubhouse, the New Social Media App – Are You Invited?

There is a new player in the social media world, Clubhouse, which started as a platform for people to connect through audio-only to kill time during the lockdown. The tiny 11-month old audio chat app lets people gather in audio chatrooms to discuss different topics, and has been downloaded nearly four million times in the last month alone. Public figures such as Elon Musk, Kevin Hart, Lindsay Lohan, and Roger Stone have already joined.

The app thrives on the concept of FOMO - fear of missing out - which basically means, if you are not online when the conversation happens, then you missed it. What makes it more interesting is the exclusivity, as it can only be accessed by accepting an invitation from an existing Clubhouse user sent through the app. Once you are in, you can listen to or start a conversation in digital rooms, ranging from small talks to major discussions, be it with friends or public figures.

For now, Clubhouse is only available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod (with iOS 13) users, but according to founder Paul Davidson, it will soon be available for Android users with additional features. This popular app is said to have recently received fresh funding of $1 billion, and its estimated worth was $100 million in 2020.

In Indonesia, film director Joko Anwar has joined Clubhouse and started a discussion on how to enter the film industry here, with an invitation posted on his Twitter account.

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AmCham Cares: ExxonMobil Indonesia

ExxonMobil Indonesia supports all efforts to improve public health through its community development programs. One of the focuses is stunting prevention for toddlers at their golden developmental stage.

With the support of SKK Migas and local NGO IDFoS Indonesia, ExxonMobil Indonesia helped the Posyandu Services Capacity Building at Balen subdistrict and Bubulan subdistrict in Bojonegoro, East Java. Aside from providing equipment such as body scales, height measurement tools, and educative toys, the program also implemented the Positive Deviance Method, which encourages health cadres and midwives to provide guidance on how to properly provide a balanced diet for toddlers of less fortunate families in the region. The method was delivered through nutritional Posts and followed up with home visits to participating toddlers after the nutritional post-period concluded.

After four months of the program, the positive effects of nutritional repair on the toddlers of Sarirejo Village, Balen subdistrict, Bojonegoro were evident by their healthy weight gain. All 24 of the toddlers gained an average increase in body weight of 400 grams. Based on these achievements, the community has decided to continue what it has learned from the method to maintain the quality of health and reduce the number of malnourished toddlers.

Support Independent Journalism: Subscribe to The Jakarta Post

In these difficult times, our hometown English language newspaper, The Jakarta Post, is more important than ever. Given the difficulties of physical circulation and the economic slump, the Post needs to boost its online subscribers – a goal we heartily support at AmCham Indonesia. Quality English language news is vital for our businesses, our home offices and the flow of information out of Indonesia. It is for this reason, that we are urging all of our members and readers to subscribe to JP! Information is what will help get us through this crisis. Below is information about how to sign up.

JP Premium Digital Subscription Packages

https://www.thejakartapost.com/packages

Monthly subscription – Rp 50,000

Yearly subscription – Rp 600,000

We Still Need Your Support to Shelter the Front Line

AmCham Indonesia and Habitat for Humanity have joined forces in an initiative called Sheltering Those Who Care for Us, a program to provide temporary quarters in hotels for Indonesian medical workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our program has helped not only medical workers in Jakarta, but also Tangerang and Surabaya; we are now planning to expand to Sulawesi.

With the COVID-19 pandemic still spreading, medical workers are working a lot harder than before. In these difficult times, they often cannot go back home for fear of infecting family members or being rejected by their local communities. As a result, they are forced to sleep in hospitals without a proper bed, also increasing the possibility of getting infected.

By donating, we will increase the overall capability of Indonesia to treat COVID-19. Habitat will match individual hospitals with hotels on an as-needed basis.

Your support is needed more than ever.

PROJECT REPORT - PHASE 1

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FLYER ON HOW TO DONATE

Now is the Time to Join AmCham!

We offer a full slate of meetings, events, and information for our community online. But we can only do this through the support of our members. If you are not yet an AmCham member, please join now.

AmCham Indonesia is open to all companies with an interest in US business relations and we have many non-American members. We are a community and we welcome you!

Reach us at [email protected] or click below!

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AmCham Office and Events

The AmCham Office is on work from home status and all face-to-face meetings and events have been postponed. We are having a number of meetings online using the Zoom platform. You will be notified of virtual meetings as they are scheduled.

What is Your Company Doing on COVID-19?

Please let us know what measures your company may be taking in the form of donations and other assistance to help Indonesia during this time of confusion and concern. Contact [email protected] with your news. We would like to publicize the ways that our AmCham companies are pitching in.

Stay well

We urge you to send us press releases and other information that we can pass on to the broader AmCham community. If you have items of interest, please email material to [email protected]. Follow this link to information provided by the US Embassy

Stay safe, call a doctor if you have a high fever, cough, or difficulty breathing. Stay healthy above all else.

AmCham Update is AmCham's regular newsletter on developments related to the pandemic crisis and other issues in Indonesia. It is edited by AmCham Managing Director A Lin Neumann and written by the AmCham Staff. Paul L Goddard is the Managing Editor

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