On Sunday last, HM Queen Elizabeth II made a rare and unscheduled address to the British people.

 

She referred to the current challenge being different to previous because all nations across the globe are joined by common endeavours.

 

In addition to thanking the British people for personal sacrifices, she also thanked the tremendous work being done by health workers in particular, but also by society as a whole, as a collective effort to support all those afflicted and affected.

 

“Together we are tackling this disease, and I want to reassure you that if we remain united and resolute, then we will overcome it," she added. She also stressed the value of self-discipline and resolve - and said she hopes that, in the future, everyone would "be able to take pride in how they responded to this challenge".

 

It continues to strike me that there are many similarities in the challenges being faced by the UK and the Republic of Indonesia. The need for a united response from leaderships and their publics is paramount.

For more on the speech click HERE, for video HERE

With leadership in mind, many on Tuesday’s call by Bank of Indonesia Governor Pak Warjiyo and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani were impressed by the aligned understandings of the challenges and the approach to solutions. Indonesia is getting very adverse coverage in the media overseas and if ever there is a time for the RI leaders to offer strong unified positions, it is now.

 

The interventions of BI and GOI ( coordinated through the MoF) are in response to three priorities: the health and safety of the population, social safety and support to business and the ongoing economic activity of the country.

 

Practical measures range from emergency funding directly to the healthcare sector and in particular the construction of 132 new, specially equipped hospitals. Thirty million families would receive direct support and more via utility subsidies. Regions are to be funded to encourage support of the widespread social restriction movement. (not a lockdown), to allow preparation for stricter movement restrictions. Business are being afforded tax breaks, deferrals on labour liabilities, corporation tax is being reduced and banks are being incentivized to postpone loan and interest repayments particularly or SMEs.

 

It is reassuring to know that much of the spending is being funded from budget savings. More detail can be found in the link to a recording of the meeting below:

 

Take time out to listen. It is greatly encouraging to hear the unified approach to protecting the people and the economy, noting a new GDP forecast of 2.3% which assumes that a start to RI’s new normal will begin around the end of June. Let us indeed hope so.

 

In response to active dialogue with members that suggested there are enough sources of COVID-19 information and that you are happy with our regulatory updates within these Snapshots and on our website, we begin a series of webinars today aimed at offering practical information and guidance relating to all the changes we are needing to make in our personal, family and business lives. We begin with the upheaval relating to education and perspectives aimed at supporting parents, teachers and educational institutions.

We are finalizing a programme that will offer our community at least one webinar each week for the foreseeable future. Please keep an eye on our notifications.

 

BritCham Indonesia is the first in our global network to offer our own fee deferral scheme to allow cash-flow strapped BRITISH SMEs to continue their market access plans for Indonesia and be ready for a running restart. This has been very well received and represents practical support during difficult times.

A reminder, our team is buddied up with your team members. It is great to notice that there has been very active engagement. Please keep this up. Anyone wishing to share thoughts or suggestions personally with me during these extraordinary times may do so by email: chriswren@britcham.or.id or by what’s app: +44 7561 485733

 

Wishing you can stay safe.

Best regards,

 

Chris Wren

Executive Director

BritCham Indonesia.

 

Following the approval of the Minister of Health [Indonesian version HERE], Anies Baswedan decided to officially start LSSR in the region on Friday, April 10, 2020. The Governor of DKI Jakarta Province shared this decision last night, April 7, 2020 during the press conference at Balai Kota. While referring to the guidance from the Ministry of Health, there will be 8 exceptions for office activities on certain sectors i.e.

1) health, 2) food & beverage, 3) energy e.g. water, electricity, petroleum, 4) communication, 5) finance and banking inc. capital market, 6) logistic, 7) daily needs e.g. retail and small stores, 8) strategic industries.

Ministry of Health's Guidance of LSSR in support of COVID-19 Mitigation Efforts _

Following President Jokowi's instruction, the RI Ministry of Health issued a regulation containing guidance of LSSR implementation amidst COVID-19 pandemic.

Minister of Health Regulation no.9 (2020) / (Permenkes no.9 tahun 2020)-Indonesian version /Informal English translations

 

British nationals in Indonesia who wish to leave, should make arrangements to do so as soon as possible.

The number of international flights out of Indonesia is reducing daily, to destinations within the region and globally, so you may not be able to leave Indonesia when you had planned to. Flights and medical evacuation may not be available, or become very expensive if you do not depart soon.

The British Embassy Jakarta is issuing regular updates on Twitter and Facebook with the latest available information on flight departure options for British nationals wishing to leave Bali and other areas of Indonesia.

One of our members #Diageo is very kind to help Indonesia during this difficult time, to distribute Hand Sanitizer to the authority and partners

Full on article on this in Indonesian, HERE