Cumulative number of reported cases: 4,248,409 (as of November 9)

  • Deaths: 143,557
  • Recovered: 4,095,078
  • Fatality rate: 3.3%

Rupiah to US: 14,233
Jakarta Stock Exchange Index: 6669
Reserves (US$ Billions): $145.461 (October 29)

Overview- Negligible Caseloads

New daily cases and fatalities dropped to a very low this week, indicating that Indonesia’s pandemic is, for the time being, running out of steam. Just 23 deaths were reported over the last 2 days.  On a weekly basis through November 4, cases detection fell another 9%. The vaccination rate is still clocking at 1.7 million a day. 38% of the eligible population has been fully vaccinated. Unless the rate can be bumped up, the government’s goal of 100% full vaccination by the end of 2021 won’t be met.

The Chinese vaccine Sinovac has been approved for children 6 to 11 but they government will wait until 70% of the 208 million nationwide target of adults has had their first jab. The current number is 50%. Indonesia plans to give booster shots to the general public after 50% of its population has been fully vaccinated.

Mobility restrictions in Jakarta and major cities in Java to their lowest level through at least November 15. The government may change the mobility protocols in the run up to the New Year to guard against a resurgence of COVID Cases.

Here are the current vaccination rates by province (source: Reformasi Weekly)

Travel- 3 Day Quarantine

Indonesia has lowered its required quarantine for foreign visitors to 3 days. Bali and Batam are now open for foreign tourists but direct international flights have not resumed to Bali.

It is now possible again to travel to Indonesia on sponsored business visas. A five day quarantine is required at designated Jakarta hotels. A local Indonesian organization applies online at the Directorate for Immigration. If travelers do not have a local counterpart an AICC member, PT Cekindo (a business facilitation firm, part of Singapore’s InCorp group) can become the sponsor for a $300 fee. 14 days is the approximate processing time.

Contact: Pandu Biasramadhan, pandu.ramadhan@cekindo.com.

View travel restrictions here.

Economic

·     Consumer Confidence: The latest Consumer Survey conducted by Bank Indonesia revealed how consumer confidence continued to grow in October 2021 in response to greater public mobility after the Government relaxed restrictions. The Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) increased to 113.4 in October 2021 from 95.5 in the previous period, with gains reported across all spending, education, and age brackets, along with consumers in almost all of the surveyed cities, most significantly in Banten, followed by Makassar and Banjarmasin.

·     Sri Mulyani on Coal: Visiting the Scottish city of Glasgow for the COP26 conference, Sri Mulyani Indrawati said Indonesia would announce detailed plans to move to cleaner energy, with the phase-out of coal being the key issue. Indonesia could phase out coal-fired power plants by 2040 if it gets sufficient financial help from the international community. “If we are going to put forward until 2040, then we need to have funding to retire coal earlier and to build the new capacity of renewable energy,” Sri Mulyani said.

·     UAE Plans Huge Investment: Following his visit to Glasgow for the Climate Change Summit President Jokowi stopped in the UAE where his host announced plans to invest a whopping $44..6 billion, a huge sum from any country, let alone one that has not followed up previous pronouncements with actual commitments. Since 2016, annual FDI from UAE has never been more than $70 million. Much of the investment, if realized, would be in renewable energy.

Foreign Affairs

Jokowi’s Remarks in Glasgow at COP26: “Climate change is the biggest threat to prosperity and global development. Solidarity, partnership, corporation, global collaboration are keys. With such great natural potential, Indonesia continues to contribute in addressing climate change. The rate of deforestation has declined significantly, to the lowest point in the past 20 years. Forest fires have also declined by 82 percent in 2020. Indonesia has also begun rehabilitating mangrove forests which will measure 600,000 hectares by 2024, the world’s most extensive. Indonesia has also rehabilitated three million hectares of critical land between 2010 until 2019. The sector, which previously contributed 60 percent of Indonesia’s emissions, will become a net carbon sink by 2030 at the latest. In the energy sector, we are continually making progress. With the development of an electric-vehicle ecosystem, the development of Southeast Asia’s largest solar power array, the use of new and renewable energies including biofuel, as well as the development of clean-energy based industry that includes the world’s largest green industrial region in North Kalimantan.

However, this is not enough. Especially for those of us who are countries with large expanses of green area and regions with green potential, as well as countries that possess an extensive maritime area with potential to store carbon, there is a need for supporting contributions from the international community, from developed countries. Indonesia will continue to mobilize climate finance and innovative financing as well as hybrid financing, green bonds and green Syariah bonds.”

Footnote: President Jokowi and his entourage stayed at the Turnberry Resort south of Glasgow, owned by the Trump Organization.

(sources: International and Indonesia news media, Bali Update (from balidiscovery.com), Reformasi Weekly, US Embassy website)