The President Post T H E
S P I R I T
O F
IDR 20,000
I N D O N E S I A
Display until April 17, 2011 /// N0. 22
www.thepresidentpost.com
RI Researchers Produce 10 New Rice Varieties The 10 new rice varieties are the result of research that had lasted between six to seven years. The Agriculture Ministry`s research and development agency has succeeded in producing 10 new rice varieties to be introduced in anticipation of the impact of climate change on food production. The agency`s head, B. Haryono, told newmen here last week that climate change currently had caused the emergence of unpredictable extreme weather both wet and dry besides causing pest attacks. “There is need for rice seeds which are resilient to drought, excessive water or attacks from planthopper pests,” said Haryono. The 10 new rice varieties are the result of research that had lasted between six to seven years. Three of the new rice varieties were named Inpara (water resilient), Inpago (drought resilient) and Inpari (pest resistant). Haryono added, in the last five years the agricultural research and development agency had produced a total of 31 new rice varieties. Since its establishment, the agricultural research and development agency has produced more than 200 superior rice varieties.
www.matanews.com
Minister of Health in 2004-2009 attended the ground breaking of Medical City
Ministry of Health Reiterate the Business Opportunity in Healthcare Indonesians Spend $11 b on Overseas Healthcare Actually, the quality of domestic healthcare is not far different from that of foreign ones. However, most domestic hospitals still face many shortcomings in terms of health services and patients’ safety. JAKARTA (TPP) – Indonesia loses an estimated Rp 100 trillion (about $11 billion) in foreign exchange a year, as many of its citizens go abroad for healthcare, a Health Ministry official said. “According to the 2004 World Bank report, the amount of our foreign exchange spent on overseas healthcare was about Rp 70 trillion. If the report is true, the figure could now be more than Rp100 trillion per year,” Supriyantoro, the ministry’s director general of health effort development, said at the Gadjah Mada
University`s medical school here recently. “Most Indonesians who prefer overseas healthcare believe that the quality of foreign hospitals is far better than that of domestic ones,” he said, according to Antara. Actually, the quality of domestic healthcare is not far different from that of foreign ones. However, most domestic hospitals still face many shortcomings in terms of health services and patients’ safety, he said. “So the problem is not about
bad treatment but how to improve existing services,” he said. “The government has made various efforts to improve the quality of health services at each hospital. One of the efforts is encouraging hospitals to apply international quality standards,” he said. Yet, only four of about 1,500 hospitals across the country had applied international quality standards. One of them is Dr Sardjito hospital in Yogyakarta, he said. RI urged to build health tourism in facing ASEAN Economic Community in 2015 Indonesia needs to build a health tourism industry to promote health care services in the country, as it also faces the im-
pact of liberalization relating to the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015. “The government needs to maximize its competitiveness by synergyzing the potential of production factors into a lucrative business entity like building health tourism,” post-graduate teacher of the Economic Faculty of Universitas Indonesia Sjamsul Arifin said in a seminar on ASEAN Economic Community of 2015 here last week. He said three ASEAN countries provide health care services known as health tourism, namely Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia. He said the mainstays of the special quality in the three countries are relatively low service cost, good service quality, and technol-
RI Upbeat Poverty Rate to Reach MDG-sanctioned Level The Social Affairs Ministry is optimistic Indonesia will be able to cut its poverty rate to 7.5 percent by 2015 in accordance with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a spokesman said. “We believe the target is achievable as according to Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) data the poverty rate today is around 13 percent,” Rusli Wahid, the ministry`s social empowerment and poverty eradication director general, said here recently. The ministry would intensify
the implementation of the poverty eradication programs among other things through the Family of Hope Program (PKH) and the Common Business Group Program (Kube), he said. The social affairs ministry had carried out the two programs for the past several years, including in a number of regions. “The poverty eradication program that we are implementing will last for six years and it has produced encouraging results,” he said.
The ministry has allocated funds amounting Rp1.6 trillion to address poverty in 2011 by helping around 1,116 very poor households in around 20 provinces. The money will also be used to help poor pregnant women and school-aged children. The six-year program is expected to cut off the poverty chains so that parents would not pass down their poor condition to their children, according to Rusli Wahid. The Kube program for poor families provides Rp 20 million
for each group consisting of 10 people. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) comprise eight goals that emerged from the 2000 Millennium Summit of world leaders in New York. Indonesia is one of countries which have committed to meeting the MDGs. The MDGs provide a set of time-bound and measurable targets for combating poverty, hunger, illiteracy, disease, discrimination against women, and environmental degradation.
INTERVIEW
BUSINESS
EYE WITNESS
INDUSTRIAL ESTATE
Mien Uno: Education and Social Manners
RI to Have Only 78 SOEs by 2014
Singapore’s Remarkable Public Transportation
Indonesia Plans More Industrial Zones to Meet Growing Relocation Demand
Widely recognized as a naster of etiquette and personal grooming, she is also a successful businesswoman and a passionate educator
PAGE A2
At present, Indonesia had 142 stateowned companies and the reduction of the number by half was a measure to make those companies world-class ones. PAGE B2
“We Keep Your World Moving”, the sentence is able to give us general picture of a city of pleasant urban planning, where the public transportation runs neatly, clean, and fast. PAGE B7
In order to properly accommodate industrial relocations, Indonesia needs to provide more industrial space complete with international-standard infrastructure. PAGE C1
BI: Economy to Expand 6.5 pct This Year The government needs to maximize its competitiveness by synergyzing the potential of production factors into a lucrative business entity like building health tourism. ogy of international standards. He noted that the Philippines and Indonesia are two of the biggest world exporters of nurses. “Medical personnel of the Philippines reached 87 thousand with main destinations Ireland, Kuwait, Libya, Saudi Arabia, the UK, and the US. Indonesian medical personnel abroad are mostly in the Middle East and ASEAN,” Sjamsul said.
Bank Indonesia (the central bank/BI) has predicted domestic economy may expand by a range of 6-6.5 percent in 2011 and 6.1-6.6 percent in 2012. “The relatively high economic growth will be fueled by growing exports,” Bank Indonesia Deputy Governor Ardhayadi said here last week. The balance of payment was expected to record a surplus of $16.4 billion and foreign exchange reserves was projected to increase to $112.6 billion from US$96.2 billion previously, he said. “Investment which began to show an upward trend in 2010 is expected to continue, making the structure of economic growth more balanced,” he said. Imports were likely to grow sharply in line with rising investment and consumption although the socio-political crisis in the Middle East and North Africa had the potential to impede global oil supplies, he said. If the increase in global commodity price could not be kept in check it would cause an upheaval to the money market and stock exchange, he said. “The spectacular upheaval may cause panic to global market players. The market players` panic that will engulf many countries may lead to a crisis,” he said.