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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.
Export boost for businesses in the face of Trump's new 19% tariffs
The government's long negotiations have finally paid off. On Thursday (17/7) the United States officially applied a new export tariff on Indonesia to 19 percent, down from 32 percent initially.
Businesses see this as an encouragement to export to non-traditional countries and improve competitiveness. While some experts consider this to be a breath of fresh air in the midst of the threat of the current global situation.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said that negotiations with the US were tough, but eventually resulted in a lower tariff for Indonesia.
In response to this, in the near future, the Indonesian Employers Association (APINDO) will immediately gather export businesses in the field to sectoralize the impact of this tariff policy update.
"We are also preparing various mitigation proposals to the government to ensure that the industry's transition and adaptation run effectively, including encouraging increased exports to non-traditional markets and accelerating the national deregulation agenda," said the Chairman of APINDO in his statement to SUAR.
Read the full story here.
BI Slashes Interest Rates, Signals to Boost Economic Growth
The July 2025 Bank Indonesia (BI) Board of Governors Meeting (RDG) on Wednesday (16/7/2025) decided to lower the benchmark interest rate (BI Rate) by 25 basis points to 5.25 percent. This decision indicates that BI wants to blow fresh air to boost economic growth amid sluggish conditions.
This is the second time BI has lowered the benchmark interest rate. In January 2025 the benchmark interest rate was at 5.75 percent. The first benchmark rate cut was 25 basis points in May 2025.
Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) Economic Policy Analyst Ajib Hamdani welcomed BI's decision to lower the benchmark interest rate. Cutting the benchmark interest rate will encourage more liquidity to rotate and people's purchasing power will be well maintained.
Bank Permata Chief Economist Josua Pardede, believes that the BI Rate reduction will have a significant impact in lowering the cost of capital for businesses.
Bank Mandiri Corporate Secretary M. Ashidiq Iswara said that BI's decision was an accommodative step amidst inflation conditions that remained under control and exchange rate stability that was maintained.
Continue reading here.
Peeking into Social Media for Taxes
After officially setting taxes for online merchants . The government is now preparing a strategy to utilize social media monitoring to detect tax reporting discrepancies.
Deputy Minister of Finance Anggito Abimanyu at a working meeting with Commission XI of the House of Representatives, Monday (14/7/2025), emphasized that the government will strengthen the extraction of tax potential through data analytics and the use of social media in 2026.
"The potential is explored through data analytics and social media," Anggito was quoted as saying in an online broadcast.
The Directorate General of Taxes (DGT) itself has been monitoring social media with a crawling scheme: a system that 'combs' content on the internet to detect potential tax report discrepancies.
"If you like to show off your car on social media, your tax friends will definitely observe it," said Hestu Yoga Saksama, Director of Taxation Regulation I of the DGT, in a media briefing at the DGT Head Office in DPR, yesterday.
Continue reading here.
Financial Industry Opportunities in Green Finance and Carbon Exchanges
As awareness of running a sustainable business and protecting the environment increases, so does the business world's interest in the green economy. This is where the financial industry can also play a role in channeling green economy financing and carbon exchanges.
Permata Bank Chief Economist Josua Pardede highlighted the strategic role of domestic and foreign financial institutions as drivers in mobilizing capital for green investment through carbon trading.
"The financial services sector has a strategic role as an enabler in mobilizing capital for green investment through carbon trading," Josua told Suar in Jakarta, (16/7/2025).
Based on global practices from major banks, Josua explained that financial institutions can play a role in various capacities. These include providing credit for carbon project development,result-based finance, as well as channeling green investments through innovative financial products.
He also added that at the global level, several leading banks have created carbon unit transaction platforms such as Carbonplace, which facilitate carbon unit transactions in a secure, efficient and transparent manner, and provide liquidity and price transparency in the voluntary carbon market.
Continue reading here.
Unemployed High School and Vocational School Graduates Begin to Be Absorbed
In the last six months, the number of unemployed people has decreased by 2.5 percent. Data from the Central Bureau of Statistics shows that unemployed high school and vocational school graduates are beginning to be absorbed into the labor market.
In the midst of a sluggish economy, BPS data shows that the number of unemployed people has decreased, from 7,465,599 people (August 2024) to 7,278,307 people (February 2025) or a decrease of 2.5 percent. The largest portion of unemployment comes from the population whose last education is high school and vocational school, namely 50.4 percent (3.6 million). This share decreased compared to the condition in August 2024, which was 55.3 percent (4.1 million). Unemployment among high school and vocational school graduates decreased by 11.1 percent and 11.5 percent, respectively.
Meanwhile, the portion of unemployed people from the educated group who attended college was 16.3 percent or around 1.2 million people (February 2025). This number increased compared to the previous six months which was around 1 million people.
Continue reading here.
Inauguration of the APKASI 2025 management board: Inauguration of the management board of the Association of Indonesian Regency Governments (APKASI) 2025-2030. The event will be held at Grand Sahid Jaya Hotel, Jakarta, July 17, 2025. This event is important because entrepreneurs often interact with regional heads. By forming an association, the aspirations and attitudes of regional heads on an issue become clearer. This can help entrepreneurs navigate the direction of their business decisions.
Entrepreneur Hub Finance 2025: The series of events consisted of training, talk shows, and interactive finance workshops to a micro, small and medium enterpriseUMKM) product expo. The event was held on July 17, 2025 at Graha Pancasila, Batu Malang city.
Don't settle for mediocre results. Keep trying until you create something extraordinary. Larry Page (Pendiri Google)
Have a great day, Chief.
Team SUAR