The President of the Republic of Indonesia, Dr. H. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, officially inaugurated the Third National Coordination Meeting (RAKORNAS) of the Regional Inflation Control Teams (TPID), on Wednesday, 16th May 2012, in Jakarta. The importance of controlling fluctuative food prices and the need to expand the active role of local communities involved with inter-regional trade as well as broadening access to food price information were the central themes of the RAKORNAS TPID meeting.

The RAKORNAS meeting produced three impressive accomplishments, namely (i) commitment from all participants to expedite the implementation of a Warehouse Receipt System (WRS) in the various regions by a task force comprising of members from government agencies and Bank Indonesia, coordinated by the Coordination Office of the Ministry of Economic Affairs; (ii) joint commitment from provincial heads and related ministries/institutions to broaden access to food price information and support the establishment of an Information Centre for Strategic Food Prices (PIHPS); and (ii) mutual understanding and strong commitment from the participants regarding the importance of smooth inter-regional trade in order to realise regional price stability.

The President of the Republic of Indonesia, Dr. H. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono pledged his support for the TPID initiative. At his direction, the President emphasised the importance of boosting national food production, maintaining uninterrupted distribution and broadening access to price information for all economic players in an attempt to overcome inflation. To confront the arduous challenges of controlling future inflation, the President requested all regions to jointly bolster coordination, both inter-regional and with the central government, in order to formulate applicable concrete measures.

At the RAKORNAS III meeting, the President witnessed the award ceremony for the best performing regional inflation control teams (TPID) proposed by the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Mr Hatta Rajasa. The award categories included the best TPID at the regional level and the best TPID at the district/city level for 2011. Awards were handed to the province of North Sumatera and the city of Pematangsiantar for the region of Sumatera; the province of West Java and the city of Surakarta for the region of Java; as well as the province of South Sulawesi and the city of Balikpapan for the region of eastern Indonesia. In addition, the appreciation shown to local governments through the awards ceremony is expected to motivate other regions to expand their role in regional price stability as well as support low and stable inflation nationally.

The third RAKORNAS meeting was attended by all governors, provincial heads of government, heads of Bank Indonesia regional representative offices as well as heads of local governments that operate a regional inflation control team and are used as the basis for calculating national inflation. RAKORNAS is made possible due to cooperation between Bank Indonesia, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Coordinating Ministry of Economic Affairs in conjunction with the Pokjanas national work group for TPID.

Jakarta, May 16, 2012
Public Relations Group

Difi A. Johansyah
Director