Wellington, New Zealand - Vice President (Wapres) Ma'ruf Amin conveyed Indonesia's experience in strengthening interfaith dialogue and religious moderation as a contribution to creating world peace.
Vice President Ma'ruf conveyed this experience during the Interfaith Dialogue agenda at a public lecture at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, Wednesday.
"Indonesia and New Zealand have similarities, including high respect for diversity, including religious diversity," he said.
He said that since the last two years, Indonesia has been committed to being active in the field of interfaith dialogue as an important element in Indonesia's foreign policy.
Indonesia is working with other countries and the international community to encourage mutual understanding between religious believers globally.
Vice President Ma'rif said that Indonesia has strong capital in the field of interfaith dialogue because it stems from experience as a very diverse country.
"We have 278 million people, 17 thousand islands, six officially recognized religions, around 1,300 tribes and 718 regional languages," he said.
At a public lecture attended by more than 100 students and academics from Victoria University of Wellington, the Vice President conveyed Indonesia's experience in managing differences, so that they do not become a factor that triggers divisions.
First, said Ma'ruf, the tradition of interfaith dialogue has become institutionalized and deeply rooted in society as the first and main choice in finding solutions to the problems of the Indonesian nation.
"We have a Religious Harmony Forum, whose members consist of religious assemblies in Indonesia, to prevent conflicts with religious backgrounds and at the same time resolve internal and cross-religious disputes," he said.
The government is also strengthening regulations regarding harmonious and peaceful national life, as well as enforcing the law against parties who commit violations in the name of religion, Ma'ruf added.
Second, said Ma'ruf, Indonesia adheres to the foundations of a state that upholds unity and harmony.
"These values are contained in the Pancasila ideology, the 1945 Constitution, and the form of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia which was the agreement of the founders of the Indonesian nation who had different backgrounds, nationalist and religious," he said.
Meanwhile, from a policy perspective, there should be no discriminatory regulations based on religion in all fields, be it politics, economics, law, culture or other fields, Ma'ruf added.
Next, the Vice President conveyed the strong role of religious leaders and civil society in various aspects of life, so that they continue to be involved in spreading the values of tolerance and moderation.
"In this regard, Indonesia's two largest Islamic organizations, namely Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, have just received the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity from the United Arab Emirates, for their dedication and commitment to advancing moderation, brotherhood and peace," he said.
Jokowi: Indonesia's economy continues to grow amidst global uncertainty
Jakarta - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said that the Indonesian economy is quite strong amidst global uncertainty.
"We should be grateful, thank God, in the midst of continuous world crises, economic uncertainty that is difficult to calculate, our economy is quite strong and in the G20 it is in the top three economies with good growth and economic development conditions," said Jokowi at the TNI Leadership Meeting (Rapim). -Polri at TNI Headquarters, Cilangkap, Jakarta, Wednesday.
Jokowi explained that the Indonesian economy in 2023 will grow 5.05 percent, with controlled inflation at 2.57 percent.
Indonesia's poverty rate fell to 9.36 percent, the unemployment rate fell to 5.32 percent, and the Gini ratio also fell to 0.388 percent.
"Even though we see good numbers, I keep reminding us that we have to be careful, we have to remain vigilant, because in the future global competition will become more complex, and it will become increasingly unclear where it will lead," said Jokowi.
Furthermore, Jokowi said that the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza and Yemen had contributed to the increase in food inflation.
This condition has caused a number of countries to implement protectionist policies for their food commodities.
Jokowi noted that currently there are 1,348 protectionist policies implemented by countries in the world related to food. This number has tripled compared to 2014, and is predicted to continue to increase.
"We know that in the past many people offered us, for example, rice, now we are looking for rice in producing countries, which is also not easy and not easy, because everyone is now putting the brakes on not exporting their food, both wheat and rice, due to changes in climate, due to weather changes and supply chain disruptions," said Jokowi.