VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi held a bilateral meeting with Papua New Guinea Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Rimbink Pato on Thursday, July 19th, 2018 at Pancasila Building, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of RI, Jakarta. On the occasion, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Rimbink Pato stated that any statement in the name of Papua New Guinea which contains support for Papuan independence is not from the Papua New Guinea government. He asserted that the Province of West Papua and Papua is the sovereign territory of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia.

“And of course on the issue of the respect for the sovereignty and integrity of both Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Papua New Guinea is the present policy, and previous policy, and future policy is that the province of Papua and West Papua remind that there are part of the Republic of Indonesia. So, any intepretation, any statement, whatever that anyone has raid. Anyway changes PNG policy and the policy of the future. There is, we will walk with Indonesia to address issue of the development along the border in close cooperation and consultation under the various agreement,” Rimbink Pato said.

Papua New Guinea is one of the Pacific countries that affirmed West Papua as the territory of Indonesian sovereignty. As is known, many countries in the Pacific region expressed support for separatist groups that support the independence of West Papua. However, recently a spokesman for the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Arrmanatha Nasir stated that many neighboring countries have appreciated the progress of the Government of Indonesia under the leadership of President Joko Widodo in addressing human rights issues and development inequality in Papua. (VOI/Rezha/AHM)

Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi held a bilateral meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade II of Brunei Darussalam, Erywan Yusof at Pancasila Building, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jakarta, Friday, July 20th, 2018. The meeting was held in the 4th Joint Committe Bilateral Cooperation for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) corridor. Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi discussed several regional issues in Southeast Asia, including the preparation of ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting / Post Ministerial Conferences (AMM / PMC) which will be held in Singapore in the near future. At the meeting the two Foreign Ministers also mambahas Indonesia Indo Pacific concept which in April became one of the discussion at the ASEAN Summit.

“For regional and international issues, we talked about the preparation of AMM / PMC meeting which will be held in Singapore at the end of this month and early next month. Indonesia highly appreciates Brunei Darussalam's support for the Indonesian paper concept on Indo Pacific which puts great emphasis on ASEAN centrality,” Retno Marsudi said.

The concept of Indo-Pacific is a geopolitical cooperation that connects between two oceans namely the Indian and Pacific Oceans where the point is in Indonesia. This makes Indonesia and ASEAN as a region region become the main players in this geopolitical cooperation. On the same occasion, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi also again conveyed his appreciation to Brunei Darussalam which has provided support to Indonesia to step forward as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for 2019-2020 period representing the Asia and Pacific region. In addition, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi also invited Sultan of Brunei Darussalam, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah to attend the ASEAN Leaders Gathering Meeting which will be held in Bali, in October. (VOI / Rezha/RHM)

IndonesianForeign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi held a bilateral meeting with Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah at Gedung Pancasila, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jakarta, on Monday (23/7). It was the first bilateral meeting between Saifuddin Abdullah and Marsudi after he officially inaugurated as Malaysian Foreign Affairs Minister on July 2, 2018. The settlement of border areas between Indonesia and Malaysia becomes one of the issues discussed in the bilateral meeting. Through a press statement with Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abullah, Retno Marsudi said that Indonesia and Malaysia agreed to prioritize the settlement of border issues through the negotiation technical team which has been previously established.

“By sharing land and sea boundaries, the issue of state boundary resolution has always been a priority. Therefore, negotiations must be intensified so that the issues can be solved. Indonesian President also delivered a message this morning about the importance of solving the border issues. We agree to provide full mandate to the technical team, to intensify the negotiations,” Retno Marsudi said.

Before holding the bilateral meeting with Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, Minister Saifuddin Abdullah firstly met with President Joko Widodo at Bogor Palace, in Bogor, West Java. At the meeting President Joko Widodo conveyed several priority issues between the two countries that must be resolved, including the border issues. Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah's visit to Indonesia lasted from July 20 – 23, 2018. Besides holding bilateral meetings with Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and President Joko Widodo, the Malaysian Foreign Minister also held a meeting with former President of Indonesia, BJ Habibie and Chairman of the House of Representatives (DPR-RI). Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abudllah is also scheduled to attend a scientific discussion held by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Jakarta. (VOI/Rezha/Trs.N/DP)

The Indonesian government is seriously implementing a 20 percent biofuel mixed-use (Biodiesel 20/B20) diesel to all diesel-engined vehicles in Indonesia. In addition to being able to save foreign exchange, the utilization of local raw materials can also reduce the import of fuel oil (BBM), said Minister of Industry Airlangga Hartarto through his statement in Jakarta on Sunday.

"It means that this CPO (crude palm oil) can be used for energy without putting pressure on the food sector," he noted.

Furthermore, the minister said, previously B20 in diesel consumption is only required to subsidized vehicle or public service obligation (PSO) such as train. However, later on, B20 will be mandatory for non-PSO (public service obligation) vehicles such as heavy equipment in the mining, tractor or excavator sectors, as well as extended to private vehicles.

"Therefore, the government will revise Presidential Regulation No. 61 of 2015 on the collection and use of oil palm plantation funds, which only implies the obligation of B20 to PSO vehicles," he explained.

In his assessment, the private sector will certainly be involved. According to Minister Airlangga, the supply of non-subsidized biodiesel is greater than subsidized. The amount of non-subsidized biodiesel is currently projected to reach 16 million tons.

"That means that there is an increase in demand for biofuels up to 3.2 million tons per year. However, the technical stages will be discussed on how long it could be achieved, "he explained.

Airlangga added that Indonesia is still sufficient in raw materials for biodiesel production, namely CPO (crude palm oil).

"The national CPO capacity reaches 38 million tons in 2017. A total of 7.21 million tons are for national exports and food needs of 8.86 million tons," he said.

The mid-term development plan after the B20 program is mandatory and non-PSO is encouraging the biofuel industry 100 percent. Minister Airlangga said, there is already a technology for 100 percent biofuel, and the same technology with fuel oil.

"The national CPO capacity reaches 38 million tons in 2017. A total of 7.21 million tons are for national exports and food needs of 8.86 million tons," he said.

The mid-term development plan after the B20 program is mandatory and non-PSO is encouraging the biofuel industry 100 percent. By doing so, it would not disturb the technical condition of motor vehicles or generators and others. Thus, the government encourages that there will be import substitution with biofuel or biodiesel that 100% is often referred to as green diesel.

"So, we switch from bio 20% in the future to medium term, the time will be determined by the government, to green diesel, 100% diesel. Thus we have endurance or independence, "explained the minister, adding that this is fully done in the country by optimizing local raw materials.

Hartarto believes, the effort will have a positive effect on the chain of 17 million farmers and 17 million planters.

"So, this is the government`s alignment to continue developing our own capability-based economy," said Minister of Industry.

In a limited meeting, President Joko Widodo encouraged his staff to continue to optimize the use of biodiesel and renewable energy in the national energy mix. To that end, the President requested a mixture of biodiesel in fuel is increased, so it can save foreign exchange for imports of crude oil or fuel.

"I get the information that every day if we can do it we will save about 21 million US dollars per day, if really we can do it," he said.

In front of the meeting ministers, Jokowi confirmed that he will continue to monitor the implementation of the use of biodiesel, by instructing the relevant ministries, agencies and SOEs to prepare in detail the implementation. ( ant )