President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo said that The G20 and advanced economies must work together to create a more resilient and responsive global health architecture to face future threats and pandemics. International Monetary Fund should be tasked to mobilise resources to revitalise global health architecture through technologies. This should include a global contingency fund for medical supplies, building capacity in developing countries to manufacture vaccines and the creation of global health protocols and standards.
Indonesia invited all global business leaders to contribute their ideas to the G20’s three key goals for 2022: creating a more resilient global health system; optimising digital technology to support societal transformation; and driving a fair and affordable transition to clean energy and a circular economy. The benefits must be felt by wider society.
Six of Indonesia’s sectors are wide open for foreign investment – export-oriented labour-intensive industries (including health), renewable energy, infrastructure, automotive (especially electric vehicles), tourism and value-added mining.
Developing countries need technology transfer and financial support from advanced economies to ensure the transition does not burden their citizens. Indonesia needs $50 billion for its renewable power sector and a further $37 billion for forestry, land use and marine sectors. Concrete outcomes can only be achieved through strong cooperation. Technology and financing will be key.
To finance the green transition, the President has initiated a carbon trading system that will deliver results-based payments for actions that reduce carbon emissions as well as a carbon tax on coal-fired power plants, due to start in April. The government also plans to raise capital by issuing environmental and social bonds, and through REDD+ projects that reduce deforestation and promote sustainable forest management.
Through its G20 Presidency in 2022, Indonesia is honoured to have the responsibility to chair the first Digital Economy Working Group. The elevation of the Digital Economy Task Force to the Digital Economy Working Group (DEWG) in which platform provides greater credence and allows more comprehensive discussion on cross-cutting digital issues under G20,” said the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Communications and Informatics of the Republic of Indonesia, and the Chair of DEWG.
Taking into consideration the strategic, dynamic, and multi-dimensional nature of the digital economy, Indonesia’s Presidency raises 3 (three) priority issues that will be conferred in the DEWG, namely:
- Post COVID-19 Recovery and Connectivity;
- Digital Skills and Digital Literacy; and
- Cross-Border Data Flow and Data Free Flow with Trust.
Through these three priority issues, Indonesia is seeking to bring forth a substantive and concrete discussion to the G20 table. The DEWG is expected to explore prospective solutions for the global and cross-sectoral digital economy challenges that are apparent in various countries. In some parts of the world, rapid innovation of digital technology has led to unprecedented challenges that we have never encountered before. The issue of the complex interplay between stakeholders in the digital landscape and the level of the playing field should be discussed and faced together.
As reported by OpenGov Asia, the Minister of Communications and Informatics Johnny G. Plate encourages everyone to continue to improve their quality of life in line with the projected number and types of new jobs due to technology adoption. It is projected that there will be 85 million old jobs that may be lost and 97 million new jobs that may appear, this is due to the division of labour between humans, machines and algorithms. The new jobs require a high level of digital skills and soft skills.
A report shows that in 2025 there will be 43% of industry players who reduce or reduce the number of workers as a consequence of the application of technology integration. Increasing digital skills and soft skills in line with technological developments for the workforce, especially the younger generation of Indonesia, can be done through upskilling and reskilling.
