Bagian Berita Hari Ini adalah bagian yang diperbarui secara teratur dan berisi informasi terkini mengenai topik-topik yang mewarnai pemberitaan di media massa Indonesia pada hari ini. Sebagian besar berita yang diterbitkan di sini meliputi hal politik, ekonomi dan sosial. Namun, seiring dengan penampilan berita terkini, tentu belum meliputi analisis yang mendalam. Silakan lihat kolom Berita, Keuangan atau Bisnis jika Anda ingin membaca topik tertentu dengan analisis yang lebih mendalam.
Although we already discussed the (then-looming) merger between Aplikasi Karya Anak Bangsa (Gojek) and Tokopedia in detail in our January 2021 report, we do feel it is justified to cover this topic once more – albeit slightly more succinct this time – since it is now official (announced on 17 May 2021) that both sides re to merge, thus creating a massive entity (named GoTo) with an impressive and unique ecosystem.
While Indonesia is still in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis, albeit – most likely – set to exit the economic recession in the second quarter of 2021 due to the so-called low base effect, and while Indonesian consumers continue to display reluctance to spend (reflected by 16 consecutive months of contracting retail trade on an annual basis), the Indonesian government expressed its intention to raise Indonesia’s Value-Added Tax (VAT, or in Indonesian: Pajak Pertambahan Nilai, abbreviated as PPN).
It was already known that –just like in 2020– the Indonesian government would ban the traditional mudik this year (mudik, which is a distinctive feature of Indonesian culture, refers to the exodus of millions of city-dwellers toward their places of origin where they typically spend a few days to celebrate the end of the Ramadan month).
The textile and textile products industry (which includes garments or clothes) is a very important one for the Indonesian economy because this industry ranks among the country’s biggest foreign exchange earners (thanks to strong exports), while also providing jobs to more than 3.7 million Indonesians, and contributing nearly seven percent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) – provided we only take non-oil and gas manufacturing into account – or around 1.25 percent of total GDP.
