VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Wiranto has called on local candidates to hold their election campaigns peacefully and avoid any potential conflict.
"It is okay to hold a campaign, but do not spread hoax and hatred and avoid the use of the issue of race, religion, and inter-group (SARA) that could spark unrest in the country," Wiranto cautioned here on Monday.

Wiranto noted that the government has taken some measures to tackle the spread of fake news these days, including the establishment of an anti-hoax team and inter-institution cooperation.

The government will also develop technology to counter fake news.

He also urged all parties to not hinder the smooth implementation of the simultaneous local election, legislative as well as presidential elections.

"We have called on the police chief to seek, arrest, and take stern measures against those found spreading hoax, regardless of who he or she is, whether an individual, group, or organization. We will eradicate this," Wiranto asserted.

Indonesia is planning to hold simultaneous local elections on June 27, in which 17 provinces, 115 districts, and 39 municipalities will elect their leaders.

According to the Home Affairs Ministry, regions prone to conflict during elections are Papua, Mimika, Paniai, Jayawijaya, Puncak, South Timor Tengah, Maluku, Konawe, East Nusa Tenggara, South Sulawesi, East Java, and West Kalimantan.（ant）

Indonesia's largest state-owned pharmaceutical company, PT Kimia Farma (Persero) Tbk, has expanded its business to the Middle East by acquiring 60 percent stake in Dawaa Medical Limited Company (Dawaa), a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia-based Marei Bin Mahfouz (MBM) Group.

"Kimia Farma`s capital investment in Dawa reaches 38 million riyals, or equals to Rp133 billion, which is used for the development of the company`s business," President Director of Kimia Farma Honesti Basyir said in Jakarta on Tuesday.

The signing of the shareholder agreement was marked by the establishment of a joint venture company (JV) of Kimia Farma Dawaa between Kimia Farma's President Director Honesti Basyir and CEO of MBM Mahfouz Bin Marei Bin Mahfouz.

Basyir stated that the cooperation was a sign of an effective operation of Kimia Farma Dawaa in March 2018.

He added that Kimia Farma`s business expansion abroad, especially in Saudi Arabia and countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), is taken as a business and market development strategy to increase the benefits for stakeholders.

"As a state-owned pharmaceutical company, Kimia Farma is not only aimed at fulfilling the needs of Indonesians inside the country but also those living in or traveling to Saudi Arabia.

This business expansion is also supporting the Government of Indonesia`s program to serve the health service needs of Hajj pilgrims and Indonesia's Umrah, which increases every year and serves Indonesian citizen who work in Saudi Arabia.

Dawaa currently has 31 outlets of apothecary networks, including 10 outlets in Mecca and 21 outlets in Jeddah, In conducting the pharmaceutical wholesales, cosmetics, and medical devices. Besides this, there are also two distribution centers in Mecca and Jeddah.

"We expect to add at least 90 outlets after establishing the Kimia Farma Dawaa," he remarked.

Kimia Farma chose Saudi Arabia as the entrance for market penetration into the Middle Eastern region because greater prospects are available in Saudi Arabia, with market value estimated at US$20 billion in 2020.

Meanwhile, CEO of MBM Marei Bin Mahfouz revealed that Kimia Farma Dawaa will initially focus on distribution and retail pharmacies, including opening outlets near the Grand Mosque in Mecca and Nabawi Mosque in Medina and supporting health services for Hajj and Umrah pilgrims.

"We hope this cooperation can affect the health industry in Saudi Arabia and provide the people in Saudi Arabia with health services," he pointed out.

Later, Kimia Farma Dawaa will build a pharmaceutical factory in Saudi Arabia.

"Besides supplying pharmaceutical products to the Middle East market, the production of pharmaceutical factory Kimia Farma Dawaa will also be exported to countries in African region," he noted. (ANTARA)

Indonesian Health Minister Nila DF Moeloek said recently that all athletes participating in the upcoming 2018 Asian Games will get vaccinated in order to prevent any contagious diseases. Recently, the minister was attending a symposium of Indonesian hospitals in Palembang city, South Sumatra. The vaccines, Moeloek remarked, will support the physical condition of the athletes prior to the Asian Games competitions. The minister further said that not only Indonesian nationals have to get vaccinated before overseas visits, but all foreign visitors also need to get vaccines ahead of their arrival in Indonesia. He called upon Sports and Youths Minister Imam Nahrawi to discuss the issue of implementation. For the first time ever, the 18th Asian Games will be hosted in the two cities of Jakarta and Palembang. The Indonesian Asian Games Organising Committee (INASGOC hosted a try-out for some categories this month, including Taekwondo, Basketball, and Pencak Silat. Following the "invitation tournament", the committee admitted that it needed to improve several sectors, including transportation, data connection, and internal and external coordination. (Tempo)

Indonesian Air Force fleet is currently getting stronger after strengthened by 24 units of F-16 aircraft as grant project from the Government of the United States through Bima Sena II program. The gradual assistances were officially accepted on February 28 at Iswahjudi Air Base of Madiun. Air Force Chief of Staff, Marshal Yuyu Sutisna, told Radio Republic Indonesia in Yogyakarta on Sunday (4/3) that he believes the existence of 24 F-16 aircrafts could increase air defense capability of the Air Force. From the data of the Air Forces, the aircraft made by American weapons company Lockheed Martin has several advantages, including the ability of the radar to detect targets from 10-200 miles distance. In addition the aircraft is also equipped with a missile with hundreds of miles mileage and equipped with nine hard points for the missile. (KBRN.trs.Rezha)