Finding Synergy between Health and the Economy

Kompas

Muslim women ride a motorbike past a coronavirus-themed mural in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020. Writings on the mural read "Let\'s fight coronavirus together". As companies race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine and countries scramble to secure doses, questions about the use of pork products — banned by some religious groups — has raised concerns about the possibility of disrupted immunization campaigns.

2021 is the defining year for Indonesia’s economic recovery. Managing the pandemic is the key for success.

Amid the economic stimulus for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), health sector, social welfare, manufacturing, and the financial sector, we are still shadowed by widespread COVID-19 in-fections. The government is still implementing community activity restrictions (PPKM), which have been extended until March 2021, in accordance with the severity of the infections.

Also read: 2021: Between Pandemic and Economic Recovery

The PPKM limits economic activity, making it difficult to operate optimally. On the other hand, the implementation of mass vaccination gives hope for better economic growth – perhaps achieving the government target of 5.5 percent this year if economic activity recovers.

Also read: Vaccines and Economic Recovery

Vaccination should be performed efficiently and effectively in order to achieve herd immunity, which requires a minimum of 70 percent of the population to be vaccinated. To achieve this target, we need good preparation, including availability of vaccine supply, its distribution, the readiness of vac-cinators, as well as a monitoring system to ensure the vaccine is received by targeted individuals in accordance with the government’s COVID-19 mapping.

INDONESIAN PRESIDENTIAL PALACE / AFP

This handout photo taken on December 6, 2020 and released by the Indonesian Presidential Palace shows workers unloading the 1.2 million dosage of covid-19 vaccine made by Sinovac, upon its arrival from Beijing at the Jakarta International Airport in Tangerang.

At the same time, we should prepare to face the new coronavirus variants and the possibility of a new epidemic. Therefore, health programs should be balanced with continuous research. Citizens’ knowledge on health and nutrition should be improved to maintain community resilience.

To ensure these policies create new employment opportunities, the bylaws of Law No. 11/2020 on employment creation should solve bottlenecks at the central and local governments.

Fiscal and monetary policy for national economic recovery should be achieved through the state budget (APBN). To ensure these policies create new employment opportunities, the bylaws of Law No. 11/2020 on employment creation should solve bottlenecks at the central and local governments.

Also read: Notes on Turbulent 2020

Prioritized economic activities should have characteristics such as value creation, quality employ-ment opportunities, import substitution, export oriented, and—as directed by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo—using greater local content.

We can use the slow recovery of global trade as an opportunity to turn our export products from a comparative advantage into a competitive advantage. Fisheries and maritime produce, as well as spices could become an example of products that involve MSMEs and local farmers along the value chain.

KOMPAS/ISMAIL ZAKARIA

A woman arranges a display of locally produced coffee on Thursday (23/7/2020) at a business meeting on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB). Local MSMEs have developed superior products from the NTB administration’s economic assistance for earthquake-affected communities. Today, MSMEs in Lombok have said they have been encouraged by the transition to the “new normal” phase of the Covid-19 mitigation measures.

We need to push for import substitution in sugar, soybean, milk, cassava, metals, automotive, health equipment, chemicals for pharmaceutical use, food and agriculture, as well as oil and gas. This at-tempt should be done by the central and local governments, at both cities and villages, to ensure economic equality.

Health programs that works simultaneously and in synergy with economic policy will accelerate na-tional economic recovery.

(This article was translated by Lionel Priyadi)