Event Reports

The Governor of West Java, Ridwan Kamil, invited a number of leading foreign chambers, which includes EuroCham, to a virtual roundtable meeting to talk about the COVID-19 handling strategy in West Java on dealing with the spread of COVID-19 and oxygen scarcity in West Java. This meeting, which was held on 27 July 2021, consisted of two parts namely, 1) a briefing on West Java’s situation by the Governor Ridwan Kamil, and 2) a call for foreign chambers and companies to support the provincial government’s efforts. Governor Ridwan Kamil confirmed that the current Implementation of Public Activity Restrictions (PPKM) has helped reduce the number of positive COVID-19 cases. However, Indonesia, especially West Java, still suffers from a lack of oxygen-related materials. This lack of oxygen prevents hinders the ability to meet not only hospital needs, but also the needs of light and middle cases to self-isolate or isolate in one of the 42 designated isolation centers in West Java.

In order to meet all the needs and to be prepared for an eventual future wave of the delta variant, the Governor of West Java appealed to foreign companies to support the West Java Province’s efforts, either by donating the funds, or to help directly provide oxygen tubes, or oxygen concentrators. Many companies with operations or presence in West Java, including European companies, attended the briefing. Companies who are willing to support with this effort were requested to reach out to the secretariat of the Regional Government of West Java Province either through Dr. Dino Patti Djalal or Ridwansyah Yusuf in order to further discuss the establishment of such support.

EuroCham together with SwissCham had the opportunity to hold a virtual meeting with Mahendra Siregar, the Head of Job Creation Law Implementing Task Force, and his team on 13 July 2021. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss and seek further clarification pertaining to technical issues that both SwissCham and EuroCham members may encounter in the implementing The Job Creation Law and its implementing regulations. The meeting was also attended by senior officials from the relevant government institutions, such as Febrio Kacaribu (Head of Fiscal Policy Agency) and Raden Pardede (Senior Offical from the Coordinating Ministry of Economic Affairs), along with other representatives from various ministries. As a follow up, the post meeting notes were delivered and this meeting seeks to establish more regular dialogue between European businesses in Indonesia and the Indonesian government.