VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

 Indonesia is set to sign a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with Australia in March 2019, Indonesian Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita stated.

"We want to make a business forum in March. We need its scope. It is true (we will sign the CEPA)," he noted in Jakarta last week. 

Indonesia and Australia agreed on CEPA when Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison had paid a visit to Indonesia in August 2018.  Indonesian Trade Minister Lukita and Australian Minister of Trade and Tourism and Investment Simon Birmingham had signed a joint declaration of CEPA in the presence of the two countries` leaders.

However, the signing of the CEPA was put on hold following Australia`s plan to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Total trade between the two countries had reached US$8.3 billion last year, with Indonesia suffering a deficit of $3.48 billion. (ant)

The Dutch Ambassador to Indonesia, Rob Swartbol, ​​handed over Prince Claus 2018 Award to Eka Kurniawan at a celebration at Erasmus Huis, Jakarta, Saturday (02/16). Previously, in December 2018, Eka Kurniawan had received the award from the Kingdom of the Netherlands at an official ceremony at the Royal Palace, Amsterdam. In his remarks at the Prince Claus 2018 award celebration in Jakarta, the Dutch Ambassador to Indonesia explained the reason why the Jury chose Eka Kurniawan to be one of the recipients of the Prince Claus Award 2018.

"His writing combines elements of local tradition, oral history, magical realism, Indonesian martial arts and horror comics to illustrate the experiences of people in layers. Novels, short stories, essays, film scripts and graphic novels, break through social barriers, reach diverse audiences by entertaining with local stories that reveal terrible historical truths," said Ambassador Rob Swartbol quoting the jury. 

Prince Claus Award is annually held by Prince Claus Fund to honor an outstanding award in the field of cultural development. The awards are given to individuals, groups or organizations whose activities are given to the community. Eka Kurniawan, an Indonesian writer born in Tasikmalaya, West Java, was chosen as one of the recipients of the 2018 Prince Claus Awards in literature category along with several individuals from various countries who received awards in the fields of theater, architecture and urbanism, film, media, photography and dance. (VOI / AHM)

President Joko Widodo said that the amount of budget for research and development programs is Rp26 trillion. This number is regarded to be enough but it is still placed in various ministries and institutions, so that its use has not been maximally enjoyed by the people.

“So we all know that our development and research funds have reached Rp26 trillion. But there must be a big institution, so as it has a clear direction, to enable the targeted R&D programs to be properly achieved. By doing so, innovations will appear in our country. Now the funds are placed in several ministries and government agencies. So we don’t know where the focus is. So it is already a big budget although in the future we want to develop it," said President Joko Widodo. 

Earlier, Ahmad Zacky, Bukalapak founder and CEO, through his personal Twitter account said that Indonesia still ranks the 43rd in the development and research budget with a budget of 2 billion US dollars. The amount of the budget is still lsmall compared to the funds owned by developed countries in supporting research and development. According to Jokowi, the government will also consider providing tax relief in the form of Super Deductible Tax for private sectors who want to be involved in supporting the government in encouraging research and development efforts for these innovations. (VOI/Ndy/PUTRI/AHM)