VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Four Indonesian students have brought home four silver medals following their participation in the 29th International Biology Olympiad in Tehran, Iran`s capital city, this week, the Indonesian Embassy in Tehran said.

Indonesian Ambassador to Iran Octavino Alimuddin said he was so proud of the achievement. "During our team members` participation in the International Biology Olympiad, we fully support them," he said in a statement made available to ANTARA on Sunday.

The silver medals were obtained by Samuel Kevin Pasaribu, student of SMA Unggul Del High School in North Sumatra Province, Syailendra Karuna Sugito of SMA Semesta BBS High School (Central Java), Aditya David Wirawan of SMAK Petra 1 High School (East Java), and Silingga Metta Jauhari of SMAN 8 High School (Jakarta).

Taking place at Tehran`s International Convention Center from July 15 to July 22, the 29th IBO was joined by 65 secondary school students coming from 78 countries. Indonesia sent four participants to compete with their colleagues from 78 countries in tackling biological problems and dealing with biological experiments.

This annual competition challenges and stimulates the secondary school students to expand their talents, and to promote a career in science. The event cannot be separated from the history of the biology competition between Czechoslovakia and Poland from 1985 to 1989 because it had paved the way for the birth of the IBO. Next year, Szeged, the third largest city of Hungary, will host the 30th IBO. ( ant )

 The current extreme bade weather condition has not yet affected the aviation sector as it has on shipping, yet caution must continue to be exercised to prevent accident, a minister said.

"So far, extreme weather has not impacted aviation but we should always monitor the possibility of the bad weather to disturb flights," Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said in Jakarta, on Sunday ( 22 July )

He said, so far, no reports on flight disturbance have been received due to bad weather. But that does not mean that stakeholders in the aviation sector are negligent. They are required to remain vigilant and carry on standard operating procedures that have been in place for long.

"We will still intensively monitor the weather in the air along with the airlines and airport operators every day," said the minister of transportation.

According to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), extreme bad weather is more experienced by the shipping sector characterized by high sea waves and strong winds. ( ant )

To improve the economic community in the border region, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea –PNG agreed to increase interaction between businesspeople of both countries. One of these efforts to be realized is through the visit of Indonesian business delegation to PNG next September. In addition, Indonesia also invited businesspeople in PNG to attend the International Trade Exhibition (ICE) at BSD, South Tangerang, Banten.

“We welcome significant increase in bilateral trade from $179, 2 million dollars in 2016 to $208,89 million dollars in 2017. We enjoyed an increase of 17 percent in our bilateral trade. I mentioned to Minister Pato that a business delegation from Indonesia will make a visit in September 2018. Indonesia also invites PNG business community to attend Indonesia Trade Expo in October 2018,”said Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi in a press statement with Papua New Guinea Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Rimbink Pato at Gedung Pancasila of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jakarta on Thursday, (July 19th, 2018).

In addition to inviting Papua New Guinea businesspeople to come to Indonesia, on the occasion, Minister Retno Marsudi also returned an invitation to Foreign Minister Rimbink Pato to attend the ‘Our Ocean Conference’ which will be held at the end of October and the Bali Democratic Forum; both of which will be held in Bali. So far, with regard to economic cooperation between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, there have been some sectors of cooperation, such as food and beverages between PNG and Indonesia. In addition, there are also exports of household appliances, soaps, and electronics. (VOI/Rezha/AHM)

Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi held a bilateral meeting with her Papua New Guinea –PNG counterpart, Rimbink Pato to discuss main issues between the two countries. The bilateral meeting took place at Gedung Pancasila, Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jakarta on Thursday (July 19, 2018). On the occasion, Minister Retno Marsudi expressed her appreciation to Papua New Guinea which has been respecting the territorial integrity of Indonesia. In addition, the two countries also agreed to strengthen economic cooperation and improve community empowerment to face global challenges.

 “Indonesia appreciates very much the consistency of PNG in respecting the territorial integrity of Indonesia and likewise Indonesia also respects the territorial integrity of PNG. Indonesia and PNG are two partners in the Pacific. We both are very active in a number of forums in Pacific among others, APEC, MSG, PIF, and others. We are committed to using regional forum in Pacific to strengthen economic cooperation, empower our people and to jointly face our challenges. In this regard, Indonesia strongly supports the chairmanship of PNG in APEC,” Retno Marsudi said.

Furthermore, Minister Retno Marsudi also explained that the form of support given by Indonesia to PNG is related to the leadership of Papua New Guinea in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) such as capacity building assistance, protocol and security management for APEC Summit in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea in November. On the other hand, both Foreign Ministers also agreed to strengthen the border security between the two countries, especially in the areas of Skouw and Wutung. Minister Retno Marsudi perceived that the border management is very important to ensure that the movement of goods and people between countries runs well and improves the economy of the people in both countries, especially in border areas.(VOI/Rezha/RHM)