To increase inter-region connectivity, the Indonesian government initiated infrastructure projects such as toll roads, airport, highways, as well as agriculture ones throughout the countries. One of the big projects in road infrastructure was the Cikampek–Palimanan (Cipali) toll road in West Java with a budget of more than USD1 billion which started to operate in July 2015. This paper is aimed to evaluate the impact of the toll road on accessibilities, trades, and investments in the region it traverses. To carry out the analysis, we used qualitative approach, difference-in-difference approach, and ANOVA, utilizing three kinds of data. The first data is collected from a survey of 331 small-medium enterprises (SMEs) in the logistics and the hotel and restaurant industries. The second one is bank loan data sourced from Bank Indonesia, while the third one is investment data from Investment Coordinating Board of Indonesia (BKPM).
After two years of its operation, Cipali toll road has increased accessibility, mobility, trade, and investment in the region it traverses. The travel time was reduced by 39%, while the cargo volume of the local businesses increased by 30% to 40%. These led to an improvement of wholesale trade volume in almost all regencies. However, SMEs in the hotel and restaurant industry along the traditional northern coastal highway in Subang, Indramayu, and Brebes experienced a decline due to the traffic shifting. Meanwhile, investments from national companies especially those of labor-intensive manufacturing industries flowed significantly especially to Subang and Majalengka, which reflected a “sorting effect”. However, investments from local and foreign businesses did not increase significantly yet after 2.5 years of toll operation.
To reap the benefit from the presence of Cipali toll road, the local governments should improve the ease of doing business to attract investments that boost employment in return. In addition, given a better accessibility from Greater Jakarta and a large number of potential visitors passing through the toll road, local businesses in the trade sector would benefit if they could promote the local attractions such as in tourism activities supported by the local government. The latter strategy should also be implemented by the local governments and local businesses in the northern coastal traditional route to minimize the negative impact of the toll road due to the traffic shifting. This strategy should be strengthened through increasing connectivity from the toll exits to local business areas and through increasing the ease of doing business.

This paper examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on financial inclusion in China, a country with a significant agricultural sector and an evolving digital landscape. The pandemic has accelerated the shift towards digital financial services, underscoring disparities in access. This study explores the pre- and post-pandemic scenarios of financial inclusion in China, evaluates the economic and social impacts of the pandemic, and assesses the role of digital transformation in the financial sector. It also investigates the changing roles of commercial banks and microfinance institutions, the integration of technology in finance, and the development of rural-urban economic linkages. The paper aims to propose strategies to enhance financial inclusion, ensuring it reaches the most vulnerable, and concludes with recommendations for creating a more equitable and robust economic system.

This study conducts a systematic literature review to analyze the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) within business excellence frameworks. An analysis of the findings in the reviewed articles yielded five major themes: AI technologies and intelligent systems; impact of AI on business operations, strategies, and models; AI-driven decision-making in infrastructure and policy contexts; new forms of innovation and competitiveness; and the impact of AI on organizational performance and value creation in infrastructure projects. The findings provide a comprehensive understanding of how AI can be integrated into organizational excellence emerged frameworks to address challenges in infrastructure governance, and sustainable development. Key questions addressed include: how AI affects consumer behavior and marketing strategies. What AI’s capabilities for businesses, especially marketing and digital strategies? How can organizations address the drivers and barriers to help make better use of AI in these business operations? Should organizations even do anything with these insights? These questions and more will be tackled throughout this discussion. This paper attempts to derive a comprehensive conceptual framework from several fields of human resources, operational excellence, and digital transformation, that can help guide organizations and policymakers in embedding AI into infrastructure and development initiatives. This framework will help practitioners navigate the complexities of AI integration, ensuring profitability and sustainable growth in a highly competitive landscape. By bridging the gap between AI technologies and development-related policy initiatives, this research contributes to the advancement of infrastructure governance, public management, and sustainable development.

Poverty is a major challenge caused by various situations as well as cultural, social, economic, and political interactions. Therefore, poverty alleviation programs and strategies require an integrated approach carried out in consistent and organized stages. It required the participation of all parties, both regional heads, Regional People’s Representative Assembly (RPRA) members, entrepreneurs, and other elements of society. This study aimed to investigate the effect of local spending efficiency on public welfare in Indonesia, using a quantitative and explanatory method. The analysis method used in this study is the panel data regression model. The research population in all provinces in Indonesia was 34 provinces, and a purposive sampling method was used, where a total of 26 provinces were selected. The research period is 2017–2021. The efficiency of local spending (education, health, and infrastructure) is estimated using the Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) cost function approach. The results showed that the higher the efficiency of education spending, the more it will increase public welfare in Indonesia. Meanwhile, the health spending efficiency and the infrastructure spending efficiency do not affect public welfare. The implications of this study for the development of science are that the efficient allocation of education spending will be able to improve the quality of education which is a long-term solution to overcome poverty in Indonesia and for policymakers to be able to optimize education spending to achieve the expected educational goals.

The food supply chain in South Africa faces significant challenges related to transparency, traceability, and consumer trust. As concerns about food safety, quality, and sustainability grow, there is an increasing need for innovative solutions to address these issues. Blockchain technology has emerged as a promising tool to enhance transparency and accountability across various industries, including the food sector. This study sought to explore the potential of blockchain technology in revolutionizing through promoting transparency that enable the achievement of sustainable food supply chain infrastructure in South Africa. The study found that blockchain technology used in food supply chain creates an immutable and decentralized ledger of transactions that has the capacity to provide real-time, end-to-end visibility of food products from farm to table. This increased transparency can help mitigate risks associated with food fraud, contamination, and inefficiencies in the supply chain. The study found that blockchain technology can be leveraged to enhance supply chain efficiency and trust among stakeholders. This technology used and/or applied in South Africa can reshape the agricultural sector by improving production and distribution processes. Its integration in the food supply chain infrastructure can equally improve data management and increase transparency between farmers and food suppliers.There is need for policy-makers and scholars in the fields of service delivery and food security to conduct more research in blockchain technology and its roles in creating a more transparent, efficient, and trustworthy food supply chain infractructure that address food supply problems in South Africa. The paper adopted a qualitative methodology to collect data, and document and content analysis techniques were used to interpret collected data. 

The successful execution of large-scale infrastructure projects is essential for economic growth and societal development, but these projects are too often beset with financial risks. The main financial risks related to infrastructure projects, including cost overrun, funding uncertainty, currency fluctuation, and regulatory change are examined in this research. The study identifies and assesses the magnitude and frequency of these risks by combining surveys and analysis of financial reports. The findings show that current risk management strategies, including hedging, contingency funds, and public-private partnerships, are often unsuitable to respond to the specific needs of financial uncertainties. The research suggests the need for an all-encompassing financial risk management framework that relies on real-time data analysis and a cocktail of risk assessment tools. Additionally, the development of strategic tailored approaches to address financial risk recovery depends on proactive stakeholder engagement. This research complements the existing literature on risk management in infrastructure projects by highlighting the financial dimensions of risk management and suggesting future research on advanced financial tools and technologies. Ultimately, large-scale infrastructure project sustainability and success contribute to economic stability and societal well-being can only be achieved through effective financial risk management.