20240529_IMAS_Penyampaian Bukti Iklan_31644054_lamp3.pdf

The Jakarta Post                                                                                              BUSINESS                                                                            WEDNESDAY May 29, 2024                  5




Rich influencers vanish
from social media
amid Beijing crackdown
China has been moving to reduce inequality
    Agence France-Presse                ible on the YouTube-like Bilibili           “Douyin guides creators to re-
                                        site on Tuesday.                         cord true, good lives,” the com-
Shanghai, China                            “Young Master Bo”, an influ-          pany said.
Chinese social media censors            encer who filmed himself test-              China’s Communist govern-
have blocked multiple influenc-         driving Rolls-Royces and splurg-         ment has in recent years sought
ers known for showing off their         ing on rare Hermes Birkin bags,          to tighten the reins on social me-                                                                                                       Reuters/Blair Gable
lavish lifestyles after an official     was also missing from Douyin on          dia celebrities, with authorities        Hazard alert: A woman shops on May 18 at fast fashion brand Shein’s pop-up store in Ottawa, On-
campaign to curb displays of os-        Tuesday, with his account show-          frequently criticising “money            tario, Canada. The Seoul municipal government said on Tuesday that it had found toxic substances in
tentatious wealth online was an-        ing an error message that said he        worship” and “vulgar” content.           amounts hundreds of times above acceptable levels in children’s products sold by Chinese-founded
nounced.                                had “violated relevant laws and             Chinese President Xi Jin-             online shopping giant Shein.
   The Douyin account of Wang           regulations”.                            ping’s “common prosperity”
Hongquan, a content creator                Douyin said in a statement            initiative to reduce economic
who amassed more than 4 mil-
lion followers with videos
                                        on Monday that it would also
                                        start cracking down on fake
                                                                                 inequality has also resulted in
                                                                                 massive fines for livestream-            Seoul finds high toxic chemical in Shein goods
showing off designer outfits,           “hot events”—for example vid-            ing influencers, with “queen of
first-class flights and his jade        eos of staged medical crises and         livestreaming” Viya forced to
jewellery collection, was no lon-       domestic disputes designed to            pay a US$204 million fine for tax            Agence France-Presse                 In the latest round, they se-       quested a removal of these prod-
ger accessible on Tuesday.              boost views.                             evasion in 2021.                                                               lected eight products sold by          ucts from sale and said that since
   An error message displayed                                                                                             Seoul                                 Shein, including children’s shoes,     the city began inspections in
on the Chinese version of TikTok                                                                                          Children’s products sold by the       leather bags and a belt and found      April, most platforms had com-
said Wang’s account had been                                                                                              Chinese-founded online shop-          several to contain high amounts        plied with such requests.
blocked “due to violations of                                                                                             ping giant Shein contained toxic      of phthalates—chemicals used to           AFP has reached out to Shein
Douyin’s community guidelines”.                                                                                           substances in amounts hundreds        soften plastics.                       for comment.
   China’s internet watchdog in                                                                                           of times above acceptable levels,        One pair of shoes contained            So far, Seoul authorities said
April launched the “Clear and                                                                                             the government of South Korean        428 times the permitted levels         they had inspected 93 products
Bright” campaign to remove un-                                                                                            capital Seoul said on Tuesday.        of phthalates—the highest ob-          and found that almost half of
desirable content from social                                                                                                Shein, headquartered in Sin-       served so far during the Seoul         them contained toxic substances.
media, vowing to crack down on                                                                                            gapore, has skyrocketed in popu-      inspections—and three bags had         These items include children’s
influencers who created “osten-                                                                                           larity around the world in recent     amounts as high as 153 times the       watches and coloring pencils.
tatious personas to cater to vul-                                                                                         years, offering a vast selection of   limit, the city government said.          Last month, the European
gar needs, and deliberately dis-                                                                                          trendy clothes and accessories at        Phthalates are widely used to       Union added Shein to its list of
play extravagant lifestyles filled                                                                                        stunningly low prices.                soften plastic and are found in        digital firms that are big enough
with money”.                                                                                                                 This explosive growth has          thousands of products includ-          to come under stricter safe-
   Chinese state media reported                                                                                           also led to increased scrutiny of     ing containers, beauty prod-           ty rules, including measures to
that Wang’s videos disappeared                                                                                            its business practices and safety     ucts and toys. However, they           protect customers from unsafe
from Douyin this month, along                                                                                             standards, including in the Eu-       have been known for decades            products, especially those that
with the accounts of several oth-                                                                                         ropean Union and South Korea,         to cause hormone disruptions           could be harmful to minors.
er luxury influencers.                                                                                                    where Seoul authorities have          and have been linked to obesity,          Shein and Temu have fol-
   “Sister Abalone”, a woman                                                                                              been conducting weekly inspec-        heart disease, some cancers and        lowed Chinese e-commerce titan
who filmed her elaborately deco-                                                                                          tions of items sold by platforms      fertility problems.                    Alibaba in challenging Amazon,
rated mansion and was regularly                                                                      Reuters/Tyrone Siu   including Shein, Temu and                Seoul city official Park Sang-      especially by making inroads in
seen dripping with diamond and          Digital life: Laura Li, 28, and her cousin Diego Deng, 20, search for             AliExpress.                           jin told AFP that they had re-         the United States market.
pearl necklaces, also appeared to       photography guides on April 30 on Chinese social media platform
have been targeted.                     Xiaohongshu, a day ahead of the Chinese Labor Day Golden Week
   Her videos were no longer vis-       holidays in Hong Kong, China.

                                                                                                                          Saudi Fund debuts new group for space industry
Improving investment                                                                                                          Agence France-Presse

                                                                                                                          Riyadh
                                                                                                                                                                dustry”, the sovereign wealth
                                                                                                                                                                fund said in a statement, and
                                                                                                                                                                “aims to develop and enhance
                                                                                                                                                                                                       a specialty shop serving camel
                                                                                                                                                                                                       milk gelato, the PIF has splashed
                                                                                                                                                                                                       billions on acquisitions intended


attractiveness
                                                                                                                          Saudi Arabia’s Public Invest-         commercial space operations in         to support diversification.
                                                                                                                          ment Fund (PIF) on Monday             Saudi Arabia, providing innova-           The fund has also made high-
                                                                                                                          launched the Neo Space Group          tive satellite and space solutions     profile investments in foreign
                                                                                                                          (NSG) to work on the kingdom’s        locally and globally”.                 firms including stakes in Uber,
                                                                                                                          nascent satellite and space in-          The PIF would also “invest in       electric vehicle maker Lucid and
Jakarta                                  Analysis                                                                         dustry, its first investment in the   localization, technology, start-       video game company Activision
The global market is becoming in-                                                                                         sector.                               ups and knowledge in the space         Blizzard.
creasingly competitive.                  Reny Eka Putri                                                                      One of the world’s largest         and satellite sector in Saudi Ara-        Domestic investments consti-
    Every country needs foreign                                                                                           sovereign wealth funds, the PIF       bia” in its latest bid to boost eco-   tute the vast majority of its port-
investment as a financing source         Senior economist at Bank Mandiri                                                 has already invested heavily in       nomic diversification.                 folio, however.
for its economy. Foreign invest-                                                                                          sports, gaming and so-called             Under Crown Prince Moham-              “The establishment of NSG
ment is essential to support gov-                                                  is in turn expected to maintain        Saudi giga-projects including         med bin Salman, the de facto           marks an important milestone in
ernment programs, such as in-                                                      the stability of the rupiah ex-        Neom, a US$500 billion futuris-       ruler, Saudi Arabia has sought         the development of the growing
frastructure expansion, industry                                                   change rate amid increasing            tic megacity under construction       both to open up and diversify its      satellite and space sector in Sau-
development and job creation to                                                    market volatility.                     in the desert.                        oil-reliant economy.                   di Arabia,” said Omar Al-Madhi,
    Foreign direct investment                                                          Optimizing SRBI issuance is           NSG is the “PIF’s first invest-       From world-class soccer players     the PIF’s cohead of MENA Direct
(FDI) will create more jobs, re-                                                   expected to improve the trans-         ment focused on the space in-         to a new national airline and even     Investments.
duce unemployment and improve            cent year-on-year (yoy) in Q1 2024,       mission of monetary policy to
people’s welfare.                        higher than the 13.7 percent yoy          the money market, the govern-
    Foreign investment can also          growth booked in Q4 2023. FDI was         ment bonds (SBN) market and
take the form of foreign portfolio       largest in the manufacturing sec-         foreign exchange market, and
investment (FPI), such as shares         tor, especially the metals indus-         positively influence the utili-
and bonds. Foreign investors buy-        try, at 55 percent of total FDI of Rp     zation of bank portfolio assets
ing shares or bonds reflects their       112.5 trillion (US$6.99 billion).         in optimizing credit financing.
confidence in a country’s econo-            FDI continues to be the domi-              As of May 21, 2024, the po-
my and political stability.              nant source of direct investment,         sitions of the SRBI, SVBI and
    As Southeast Asia’s largest          contributing around 51 percent in         SUVBI instruments were at Rp
economy, Indonesia offers signif-        Q1 2024, compared to 54 percent           508.41 trillion, $2.13 billion
icant investment opportunities           in Q1 2023.                               and $257 million, respectively.
for both domestic and foreign in-           Going forward, potential do-               The instruments had also at-
vestors. The country’s stable po-        mestic factors impacting invest-          tracted foreign capital inflows,
litical climate, abundant natural        ment should also be anticipated.          which was reflected in increased
resources, growing base of mid-          For example, this year will expe-         nonresident ownership of SRBI
dle-class consumers and ongoing          rience a government transition            from Rp 71.55 trillion (18.18
infrastructure development proj-         period, the formation of a new            percent of the total outstand-
ects make it an attractive destina-      cabinet and the adoption of the           ing) on April 23 to Rp 142.90
tion for capital allocation.             incoming government’s policies,           trillion (28.11 percent of the to-
    A country has several strategies     which may shape Indonesia’s               tal outstanding) on May 21.
it can adopt to attract foreign fund     economic outlook.                             Apart from these three new
inflows to the domestic market.             Banks and financial institu-           instruments, other BI money
    First is to develop a healthy        tions can carry out strategies            market instruments also play
and stable financial market. For-        to attract foreign fund flows by          an essential role in maintaining
eign investors tend to choose a          developing attractive financial           financial stability and provid-
stable environment with solid            products and services for for-            ing safe investment alternatives
legal certainty when investing.          eign investors, such as loans with        for investors. BI will continue to
Countries must therefore provide         competitive interest rates, flex-         optimize various pro-market in-
legal certainty and maintain fi-         ible financial solutions and accu-        strument innovations, support-
nancial stability.                       rate market information.                  ed by strong domestic economic
    License simplification and              One of the policies of Bank In-        fundamentals.
transparent policies on foreign          donesia (BI) for attracting foreign           Furthermore, coordination
ownership of shares can also             fund flows is its interest rate pol-      between authorities is also im-
drive investment inflows.                icy. The central bank can deter-          portant in providing incentives
    Second, a government needs           mine its benchmark interest rate          for investments or in avoid-
to develop and invest in infra-          (BI Rate) to attract foreign inves-       ing any regulatory overlap. To
structure. Adequate infrastruc-          tors. Besides that, its can also in-      maintain investor confidence,
ture is one of the critical consid-      tervene in the market through             the government and other au-
erations among foreign investors         monetary instruments, such as             thorities must therefore ensure
on where to invest their capital.        conducting open market opera-             clear investment regulations,
Countries must view infrastruc-          tions to maintain financial stabil-       legal protections and a stable
ture as a long-term investment           ity and attract foreign fund flows.       financial environment.
and ensure its sustainability               Toward the end of 2023 amid                In conclusion, Indonesia’s
through careful planning and ap-         increasing volatility in the money        enormous economic potential
propriate investment.                    market and large flows of foreign         makes it a desirable investment
    Third, a government can provide      funds leaving the domestic mar-           destination. However, inves-
attractive tax incentives and facili-    ket, BI launched three pro-market         tors must construct a compre-
ties for foreign investors. For exam-    instruments: Bank Indonesia Ru-           hensive strategy that considers
ple, reduced tax rates or exemptions     piah Securities (SRBI), Bank Indo-        economic data, the regulatory
for a certain period can attract the     nesia Foreign Currency Securities         environment, industry poten-
interest of foreign investors. In ad-    (SVBI) and Bank Indonesia Foreign         tial, market dynamics and geo-
dition, providing incentives such as     Currency Sukuk (SUVBI), BI-owned          political issues. Investors may
matching fund and grant programs         securities to recognize short-term        successfully traverse Indone-
can also motivate foreign investors      debt using an underlying asset.           sia’s investing landscape and
to place their funds.                       The issuance of SRBI was fol-          capitalize on its prospects by
    By implementing optimal              lowed by the issuance of SVBI and         adopting solid investment con-
strategies, foreign investment is        SUVBI, two new monetary instru-           cepts, diversifying portfolios
expected to increase.                    ments aimed at deepening the              and comprehending local mar-
    FDI in Indonesia grew 15.5 per-      national financial market, which          ket opportunities.