"All mayors must ensure that basic commodities are available and the prices are affordable, especially now that the world's geopolitical conditions are not good due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine," he said here on Monday.
Hasan made the statement at the opening of the XV National Working Meeting of the Association of Indonesian Municipalities (Apeksi), which was attended by 85 mayors from all over Indonesia.
According to him, the war between Russia and Ukraine has triggered a sharp increase in food and energy prices.
"In addition, there are many countries that have currently banned exports of food, such as wheat," he said.
This is because food plays a vital role in determining stability, therefore, mayors must ensure that the food stocks and prices in their regions remain under control, he added.
"You have to be careful about (food) stocks and prices," he told the mayors.
The Indonesian people should be grateful because, even amid the current difficult circumstances, the country's economy has managed to grow by 5.44 percent, he added.
In the trade sector, exports in the second quarter of 2022 recorded a surplus and reached their highest level in history at US$24.9 billion.
However, he expressed concern about inflation, which is quite high, but still lower compared to other countries in Europe or the United States.
"In western (countries), inflation has reached 10 percent, ours is 4.9 percent. However, this is a warning because if it goes higher, people will ‘scream,’" he added.
He said that he is optimistic that Indonesia will be able to face the tough situation. To this end, he invited city governments to synergize and collaborate to advance the trade sector in the country.
He also invited mayors to optimize digital transformation in the trade sector.
"The Ministry of Trade has a target of training one thousand traditional markets and one million traders to utilize digital platforms," he said.
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Translator: Ikhwan Wahyudi, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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