Day: May 17, 2023

The 13th Party Central Committee has issued an announcement on its mid-term meeting, which wrapped up in Hanoi on May 17 after two and a half days of sitting.

According to the announcement, the committee presented opinions on a report reviewing the leadership and direction of the Politburo and Secretariat since the beginning of the term and several key tasks till the end of the 13th National Party Congress’s tenure, and casting of confidence votes on members of the Politburo and Secretariat and other important issues.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong chaired and delivered opening and closing speeches at the event.

The committee determined that the mid-term meeting holds significance to the fulfillment of the 13th National Party Congress’s Resolution, offering an opportunity to make objective and comprehensive review of the achievements obtained thus far, point out weaknesses and shortcomings, causes and lessons, as well as forecast the new context with a mixture of opportunities and challenges, thus proposing major strategies and policies in the latter half of the 13th term.

They hailed and reached high consensus on the contents presented in the report evaluating the leadership and direction of the Politburo and the Secretariat from the 13th National Party Congress until now, saying that the work has been conducted with seriousness, meticulousness, and deep self-criticism.

The officials showed a sense of responsibility, straightforwardness, democracy, objectivity, sincerity, and dedication in their discussions on the mid-term report reviewing the leadership and direction of the Politburo and the Secretariat since the beginning of the term and several key tasks until the end of the 2021-2026 tenure.

The committee highlighted the important and comprehensive achievements in various areas, including socio-economy, national defence, security, foreign relations, the building of the rule-of-law socialist State and the great national unity bloc, the fight against corruption and negative phenomena, and the Party building and rectification.

They pointed out shortcomings and weaknesses, looked into their causes, and drew five lessons learned regarding the need to innovate leadership methods, and working styles and practices.

Later, they asked for performing five key tasks in the latter half of the 2021-2026 tenure, including socio-economic and cultural development, strengthening national defence-security, perfectly holding external activities, stepping up Party building and rectification, and preparing for the Party congresses at all levels for the 2025-2030 tenure, toward the 14th National Party Congress.

Members of the committee demonstrated a strong sense of responsibility, seriousness, democracy, objectiveness, fairness and carefulness in evaluating the personal performance of each Politburo and Secretariat member, showing the level of trust on them.

The committee decided to expel Nguyen Van Vinh, former member of the Party Central Committee, former Secretary of the provincial Party Committee, former Secretary of the Party delegation to and former Chairman of the People's Committee of Lao Cai province, from the Party as a disciplinary measure.

They also voted and agreed to allow Nguyen Phu Cuong, member of the Party Central Committee and Chairman of the National Assembly's Finance and Budget Committee, to cease holding his position as a member of the 13th Party Central Committee.

They also offered opinions on personnel in several centrally-run agencies for the Politburo to nominate them to the 15th NA for election and approval at its upcoming fifth session.

The committee believed that following the meeting, with new trust, new spirit and new motivation, the entire Party, people, and armed forces will continue staying united and strive with even greater determination and efforts to grasp every opportunity and advantage, overcome all difficulties and challenges, and accomplish tasks set for the entire 13th term of the Party./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Health has launched the Supplementary Local-Based Ingredient Food Provision (PMT) program as an effort to prevent stunting in children."Supplementary food made from local ingredients is crucial to preventing stunting," said Maria Endang Sumiwi, the ministry's Director General of Public Health, stated at the program launch event here on Wednesday. She explained that the PMT program is part of the government's efforts to reduce stunting and wasting. Stunting is currently at 21.6 percent, and wasting is at 7.7 percent. Stunting is a growth disorder caused by chronic nutritional deficiencies that result in shorter height growth for children compared to the normal average. Meanwhile, wasting is a condition among children where their weight decreases over time, falling far below the standard growth curve. Sumiwi stated that the stunting prevalence rate was successfully reduced by 2.8 percent in 2022. However, the wasting prevalence rate increased by 0.6 percent during that period. "Therefore, we have changed the strategy of the PMT program to focus on children who are experiencing wasting and are not gaining weight," she remarked. She said that by directing the PMT program to focus on children who are experiencing wasting, stunting cases can also be prevented. Sumiwi further stated that the launch of the PMT program aims to encourage the participation of various parties at the district and city levels in efforts to reduce stunting by improving the nutritional fulfillment of mothers and toddlers. "We hope that the launch of this program will serve as a momentum for accelerating the improvement of the nutritional needs of mothers and toddlers," she remarked. The government is optimistic that the target to reduce stunting prevalence to 14 percent by 2024 will be achieved. ccording to the Indonesia Nutrition Status Survey (SSGI), the stunting rate in 2022 experienced a 2.8 percent decline compared to the figure in 2021.

Source: Antara News Agency

Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Joko Widodo spoke of having received public reports of damaged roads at 7,400 locations through his social media accounts, during inspection of damaged roads in North Labuhanbatu District, North Sumatra, Wednesday."Yesterday, I checked on the issues of damaged roads, and I received (information on) 7,400 reported locations through our Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook accounts," the president noted in his statement as observed through a video broadcast from Jakarta. Widodo remarked that the reports from netizens were received in addition to data obtained from the Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Ministry. Earlier, President Widodo had invited people to lodge their complaints regarding damaged roads through his Instagram account @jokowi. "If you have damaged roads that have not been repaired for a long time in your regions, you can report them to me through the comment section and send a video through direct message to this Instagram account," the president wrote in his statement. The video broadcasting the president's inspection in Lampung drew over 100 thousand comments from netizens, who conveyed their complaints on damaged roads in their regions. Deputy for Protocol, Press, and Media of the Presidential Secretariat Bey Machmudin affirmed that the netizens' complaints in the comment section of the president's post helped the government to cross-check the data on damaged roads. ccording to Machmudin, the PUPR Ministry had conducted data collection and survey on damaged roads in all provinces through its National Road Development Center (BPJN) in various regions. "The complaints of the people and of netizens in the president's social media accounts help us to cross-check the data between those outlined by the PUPR Ministry and those of the netizens. This will help the government to make follow-up actions more accurately," he stated. Related news: Jambi road repairs to begin in July-Aug: President Jokowi

Source: Antara News Agency

Jakarta (ANTARA) - State-owned bank PT Bank Syariah Indonesia Tbk (BSI) is currently bolstering innovation and strategy in a bid to accelerate digital transactions."The development of digital service innovation became one of the focuses for BSI this year," Digital Banking Senior Executive Vice President (SEVP) at BSI Saut Parulian Saragih noted through his statement on Wednesday. "Not just for business development, but through BSI Mobile, we expect to bring people closer through convenience of reaching BSI anywhere and at any time," he remarked. The people's interest in using BSI Mobile continues to rise. Currently, the number of BSI Mobile users had reached 5.18 million, which is a 37-percent year-on-year (yoy) increase. The figure continues to rise along with the people's increasing preference to lead a sharia lifestyle. This is reflected through the fee-based income obtained through BSI Mobile that reached Rp64 billion, or US$4.30 million, from January to March 2023, or growing five percent yoy. BSI is also aiming for the millennial generation to open the BSI account online as well as other transactions. This has driven the company to maintain the customers' trust through improvement of BSI Mobile's quality in terms of system or features. BSI plans to strengthen financial, social, and spiritual transactions through BSI Mobile. Moreover, BSI has taken steps to express appreciation to customers that have trusted BSI, such as by holding the Hujan Rezeki BSI Mobile Program (BSI Mobile Fortune Rain Program). The Hujan Rezeki BSI Mobile Program is a program for active BSI Mobile users. Points are obtained from opening the account online, activating the BSI Mobile application, and actively conducting transactions using BSI Mobile. This year, BSI prepares various prizes, such as a Mini Cooper Countryman, two Vespa LX, five Vespa Sprint S, 10 iPhone 13 phones, 20 Samsung Galaxy A73 5G phones, and 263 E-mas savings balance. These prizes are expected to be beneficial to support the people's activities and transactions. In future, the company expects that BSI Mobile can become the sharia banking's literacy channel that reaches people across Indonesia.

Source: Antara News Agency

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Trade ministers, senior officials, and working-level experts from 21 APEC member economies convened in Detroit, Michigan, on Tuesday to discuss advancing interconnectedness, innovation, and inclusiveness of trade in the Asia-Pacific region.They will meet over the next 10 days against a backdrop of persistent economic headwinds and the risk of declining globalization, according to a statement from the APEC Secretariat received on Wednesday. The statement said that as the Asia-Pacific region emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, the APEC members will be given the opportunity to engage and focus on how to ensure that international cross-border trade flows smoothly. They will also focus on how trade can help them address the region's most pressing challenges, from climate change to economic inequality. "I can't stress enough how critical engagement between member economies is, despite differing views on several issues related to trade and investment," said Rebecca Sta Maria, executive director of the APEC Secretariat, in the statement. "When officials and ministers convene next week, the task at hand is to ensure we push forward an inclusive and sustainable agenda so that we can protect the future for our people in the region," she continued. The proceedings will culminate with the 2023 APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting on May 25 and 26, which will be chaired by the United States Trade Representative, Katherine Tai. It will build on new measures advanced at this year's Second APEC Senior Officials' Meeting on May 2425, as well as policy development exchanges within more than half a dozen technical working groups. The meeting will be chaired by Nora Todd, who is the 2023 APEC Alternate Chair of the Senior Officials' Meeting. US Senior Official for APEC, Matt Murray, said that Detroit represents the story of the United States' economic revitalization, transformation, and resilience. "Detroit showcases the importance of cross-border trade with our neighbors, worker-centric trade policies, and an advanced manufacturing industry, making it a perfect location for highlighting economic inclusion and innovative growth," he observed. "We are committed to being a good steward of APEC to promote an international economic policy that boosts prosperity, both at home and in the region," Murray said. "APEC has delivered success stories in the past three decades and we want to build on this momentum," he added. During their meeting, APEC Ministers will discuss practical examples of how trade policies and cooperation on trade and investment through APEC can contribute to sustainable and inclusive trade. The APEC Trade Ministers will also convene with the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to discuss how APEC can continue to support the multilateral trading system and the WTO. The unveiling of the APEC Policy Support Unit's latest Regional Trends Analysis report will also help to guide APEC Trade Ministers' discussions. "It is important that we discuss here how to enable an innovative environment for a sustainable future," Murray said. "This issue not only covers the digital economy priorities, but it's also how we can use technology to really address the climate crisis, advance environmental protection, and attempt to build a more sustainable future across a whole range of efforts," he said. Those efforts include food security, disaster risk reduction, or mitigating the impacts of climate change, he added.

Source: Antara News Agency

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Home Affairs Ministry urged regional governments to push for the realization of the regional budget at the start of the year, so people can immediately benefit from the development."The Home Affairs Ministry always expects that the regional budget can be realized by a significant amount since the beginning of the year, so that people can reap (the benefits) and development can progress," Director General of Regional Finance at the MinistryAgus Fatonidelivered the statement during a virtual event accessed here on Wednesday. The event was titled "National Food Inflation Control Initiative for Bali and Nusa Tenggara." Fatoni remarked that immediate action on the regional budget was necessary in order to ensure an improvement in the people's buying power. "Currently, the regional budget is Rp1,200 trillion (US$81 billion). This will boost the people's buying power, and this will impact the people's economic growth," he remarked. Fatoni emphasized that the regional budget should be realized at the earliest, so that development projects, pursued by regional governments, can be initiated at the start of the year. "If the development is carried out since the start of year, then people can feel the presence of the government and state, and people are aware that the state is (actually) doing development, the region is doing development, so their trust ever grows," he pointed out. When there is a high level of public trust, then high public participation would also follow, he remarked. Fatoni called for pursuing budget realization at the earliest, so public services would go accordingly throughout the year, thereby contributing to the improvement in public trust. ll those aspects that come with immediate initiative towards the regional budget would improve public welfare, he noted. Moreover, it would increase regional capability, and in turn, it would attract more investors, Fatoni remarked. "If the regional budget is not absorbed, then most of our targets that have been outlined would not be met because the programs are not pursued," he pointed out. He outlined five ways that can be pursued to obtain regional revenue, ranging from intensifying sources of income, pursuing extensification by tapping into unexplored sources of income listed in the law, establishing regional government digitization, improving capability of human resources, and driving creative innovations.

Source: Antara News Agency