At last, SOEs Minister Erick Thohir intervened and tackled the medical oxygen and Covid medication shortages that plagued many hospitals. Erick mobilized several SOEs to help meet the needs of referral hospitals particularly in Java. He also instructed Indofarma and Kimia Farma to boost ivermectin production to fill the market with ample supplies. Although the BPOM has not approved the drug, Erick is pushing its use given the efficacy and minimal side effects proven in several countries. Amid the marked increase in Covid cases, Erick, who also leads Covid-19 Mitigation and Economic Recovery Working Committee makes frequent rounds of site inspection to check on oxygen and Covid drug supplies, all the while continuing with measures to transform SOEs.

The explosion of new Covid-19 cases in the past month will see the increase in health care expenditure, mainly to purchase 400 million doses of vaccines and for patient treatment. The emergency has compelled Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati to recalculate the budget as the health ministry increased its budget from Rp172 trillion to around Rp185 trillion. Having experienced in dealing with the 1997-1998 and 2008 financial crises, Sri Mulyani says the Covid-19 presents challenges that are starkly different from those of the previous economic calamities.

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed Indonesia’s demographics affecting the trends in the capital market. Indonesia Stock Exchange’s Commissioner Pandu Patria Sjahrir says enthusiasm of millennial and Gen Z investors has risen phenomenally during the pandemic. Since 2016, the number of young investors has grown to over 1.8 million with those aged 28 and below making up the highest increase. The rapid development of the digital technologies has opened the floodgates for tech companies and start-ups. One of the sectors most sought after by foreign investors is financial technology (fintech). Pandu, a businessman and an investor, who is also the chairman of Indonesian Fintech Association, says that in future fintech companies will not just focus on consumer lending but increase productive loans to support micro, small and medium enterprises through peer-to-peer lending.

Chairman of Indonesian Pediatric Association (IDAI) Aman Bhakti Pulungan is concerned about the rising cases of Covid-19 among children in Indonesia. According to IDAI’s record, around 117,000 children have been infected since the pandemic struck. Children makes up 12.5 percent of the total cases. Aman says children are most vulnerable to the disease via their parents and the people around them. He observes that many pediatric patients with Covid-19 go to doctors rather late rendering the doctors unable to offer maximal treatment. Given the recent surge in the cases, Aman urges the government to put on hold face-to-face classes scheduled to resume in July.

Dr. Sasa carries out his duties as International Cooperation Minister and Spokesperson for National Unity Government (NUG), Myanmar’s parallel government, from an undisclosed hiding place. He moves from one discussion forum to the next to lobby for support from the international community. Sasa has been in contact with international leaders and politicians from the US, UK, EU or even Japan, yet he has been unsuccessful in establishing communication with ASEAN. He presses ASEAN to take a more prominent role in resolving the crisis in his home country, among others, by promptly appointing a special envoy to mediate dialog between the NUG and junta leader Gen. Min Aung Hlaing. According to him the five point consensus from the ASEAN Summit has not been followed up.

Following an investigation into the leak of personal data belonging to 279 million Indonesian citizens on May 20, Population and Civil Registration Director-General Zudan Arif Fakrulloh ascertained that it was not population data. As Indonesia’s Population and Civil Registration (Dukcapil) data is the world’s fourth largest big data after those of China, India and the United States, Zudan is constantly worried about the threat of hackers. Albeit Dukcapil’s system which is more sophisticated nowadays, Zudan admits that his agency’s infrastructure on the other hand is already out of date. To build a stronger system and upgrade the infrastructure, the home affairs ministry is planning to collect non-tax revenues from private companies that access Dukcapil data.