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The following is important information related to the development of the business universe that needs attention today based on the curation of the SUAR Team.

Business thrives, economy thrives

The ideals of an economically advanced and prosperous Indonesia can be realized if the business world is advanced and sustainable. This can be achieved with efforts realized in various ways, such as deregulation of rules & bureaucracy and legal & regulatory certainty. Of course, the most important thing is the close collaboration of all stakeholders, starting from the business world, government, intellectuals, and mass media.
This became the common thread in the SUAR media launch event in the Urban Forest by Plataran Senayan, Jakarta, Thursday (21/8/2025). Present to give opening remarks were Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto, Deputy Chairman of Commission XI of the House of Representatives Hanif Dhakiri, Minister of National Development Planning / Head of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) 2019-2024 Suharso Monoarfa.

(left to right) Editor-in-Chief and *Founder* SUAR Sutta Dharmasaputra with Chairman of the Press Council Komaruddin Hidayat, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto, Chairperson of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) Shinta Widjaja Kamdani, and Deputy Chairman of Commission XI DPR Hanif Dhakiri at the SUAR media launch event at Plataran Senayan, Jakarta, Thursday (21/8/2025)/ Photo: SUAR.idPa

Also present to give remarks were Chairman of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) Shinta Widjaja Kamdani, Vice President Director of PT Triputra Agro Persada Tbk Budiarto Abadi, and Chairman of the Press Council Komaruddin Hidayat. Also present were Indonesian Ambassador to Singapore Suryopratomo, Chairman of the Association of Indonesian Regency Governments (Apkasi) Bursah Zarnubi, senior economist Hendri Saparini, and scholar and national thinker Yudi Latif. Also present were a number of special guests such as former ministers, seasoned entrepreneurs, company officials, and academics.

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Exploring New Routes, Shipping Industry Tips Post-Trump Tariffs

President Donald J. Trump's imposition of a 19% tariff on Indonesian products to the United States (US) starting August 7, 2025 is one of the challenges for theshipping industry. Since Trump announced that he would issue a trade tariff policy last April and only decided 90 days later, suppliers of goods from the US have been scrambling to order goods from trading partner countries including Indonesia. They imported goods from other countries before they became more expensive due to the new tariffs imposed in August.
The surge in exports to the US was also recorded by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS). Indonesia's total exports to the US in the first half of this year reached USD 14.78 billion, an increase of 33.49% compared to the same period last year of USD 12.25 billion. However, after the implementation of Trump's tariffs, new uncertainties began to emerge.

Industry players are challenged to take a number of adaptation steps, one of which is by exploring new route opportunities. Businesses should not rely solely on the Trans-Pacific route to the US. Seafreight companies need to strengthen networks in Asia-Africa, intra-ASEAN, and the relatively more open Latin American market. Route diversification will reduce dependence on one region that is vulnerable to protectionist policies.

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Stories of Local Food UMKM Successfully Entering the Global Market

An inspiring story of local food UMKM that have successfully penetrated the global market from Minie Sudjarwo Founder of MiniesQ. Through the MiniesQ brand, the woman who used to work as a bodybuilder now stands on the stage as a healthy cookies entrepreneur. MiniesQ then began to be placed on supermarket retail shelves. Now, MiniesQ is present in 15 modern markets, souvenir centers, and 90s fitness centers. Stronger branding, according to her, has made her products more easily accepted by the market, even doubling her turnover.
Another inspiring success story came from Santi Krisantina Hakim, owner of the Wizz brand, who also made it to the top 3. From her home kitchen, she develops various processed food products, ranging from shredded chicken to shredded fish.

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Logistics Industry Tasting Opportunities from Merah-Putih Village Cooperative

The logistics industry has the opportunity to take part in the government's megaproject to develop more than 80,000 units of the Merah-Putih Village Cooperative (KDMP), which is one of the spearheads of the distribution of agricultural products and various basic necessities. "The establishment of Merah Putih Village and Village Cooperatives has started this year. By the end of 2025, each cooperative will have a warehouse, cold storage, outlets, and each cooperative will have two trucks to pick up and deliver agricultural products," the President said on Friday (15/8/2025).
Chairman of the Indonesian Logistics Forwarders Association (ALFI) Institute Yukki Nugrahawan Hanafi stated that the integration of the logistics sector can encourage economic equality, job creation, and the stretching of the national supply chain logistics sector. According to him, there are four important factors that need to be fulfilled to realize this. Namely, including the capacity of KMP organizational governance in carrying out optimal logistics and supply chains, the availability of an efficient fleet, digitalization of logistics and supply chains, and ensuring the availability of logistics and supply chain human resources.

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Budget Prioritization for Increased Oil and Gas Production

The government has placed energy security as one of its priority agendas in the 2026 Draft State Budget (RAPBN). With an allocation of IDR 402.4 trillion, one of the targets is to increase the volume of national oil and gas production.
In addition to focusing on efforts to create energy security through new and renewable energy (EBT), a necessary step to meet domestic energy needs is to increase oil and gas production. The decline in production, especially from the oil sector in recent years, has led to imports and a trade balance deficit in the oil and gas sector. Therefore, fiscal support allocated in the 2026 Draft State Budget is prioritized to increase oil and gas lifting to maintain energy price stability and increase production and energy mix in Indonesia.