VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta (voinews): Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani held a bilateral meeting with delegates of the European Union ASEAN Business Council (EU ABC) after organizing a meeting with ASEAN ministers of finance and central bank governor on March 30, 2023.

At the meeting, the EU ABC delegation was led by Vice Chairman of EU ABC Tassilo Brinzer, according to an official statement that ANTARA received here Sunday.

He was accompanied by 13 members coming from Swiss Re, Standard Chartered, HSBC, Prudential SWIFT, BASF, World Gold Council and Zuellig Pharma.

Both Mulyani and her EU ABC counterpart discussed how to strengthen collaboration for recovery and rebuilding process after the global pandemic of COVID-19.

This process still encounters various challenges due to scarring effect from the pandemic, high inflation as a result of geopolitical tension as well as banking issues in United States and Europe.

They also shared views on sustainable financing to mitigate climate change by prioritizing clean and sustainable energy development.

However, there are several challenges in the transition from fossil energy to a cleaner energy with sustainable financing which include the issue of investment to reduce the utilization of fossil fuel for power plant.

Several matters conveyed by the EU ABC members include the importance of the development of digital economy, health, and electric vehicle.

They also highlighted issues related to insurance, taxation policies, specifically corporation revenue tax and income tax.

Other issues discussed during the meeting included the development of clean energy, ASEAN taxonomy and taxonomy in other areas, policies in customs and gold bank.

At the final part of this bilateral meeting, the EU ABC delegates stated their support for  development process in Indonesia.

The official statement also informed that Mulyani held a bilateral meeting with Minister of Finance and Economy of Brunei Darussalam Amin Liew Abdullah on March 31, 2023. (Antaranews)

Jakarta (voinews): Indonesia and Russia have signed an extradition cooperation agreement so that the two countries have a legal basis to apply for the extradition of criminals from either country.

Russian Minister of Justice Konstantin Anatolievich Chuychenko came directly to Bali on Friday to attend the signing ceremony of the extradition cooperation agreement with Indonesia's Minister of Law and Human Rights Yasonna H. Laoly.

After the signing ceremony, Minister Laoly said the agreement is important for Indonesia and Russia because it makes it easier for law enforcement officials of the two countries to take action against crimes, especially transnational crimes.

"There are lots of transnational crimes such as cybercrime, money laundering, narcotics, corruption, and so on," Minister Laoly said.

"This extradition agreement makes it easier for us to work together to deal with cross-border crimes," he added.

The extradition agreement is a follow-up to the mutual legal assistance cooperation that was agreed upon by the two countries in 2019.

"We have signed a mutual legal assistance agreement in 2019 in Moscow. The legal assistance cooperation is for the criminal sector," he said.

"At that time, we planned to sign this collaboration when President Putin visited Indonesia. But due to COVID-19, that didn't happen. We waited for it and now is the time," he added.

Even though it had just been signed, Minister Laoly explained that the agreement would only take effect when Indonesia ratifies the agreement in law.

The central government will immediately process it so that Indonesia has a legal basis to submit an extradition request or even accept an extradition request from Russia.

Meanwhile, Chuychenko said he believes that the extradition treaty is a good step for the two countries for strengthening cooperation in law enforcement.

The two countries' cooperation will be more systematic and productive in the future, he said, adding that the Russian Government is committed to strengthening its partnership with Indonesia.

After signing the extradition agreement, Russia and Indonesia plan to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for cooperation in the field of cybersecurity and legal assistance for civil cases.

The agreement is the first extradition agreement reached by Indonesia with a European country.

Proposals to form extradition cooperation have been discussed since 2016, but negotiations took place only in 2018.

During the negotiations, the government of Indonesia was represented by the Directorate General of General Legal Administration of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights; Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs; as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Then, the police; attorney; Corruption Eradication Commission; Center for Reporting and Analysis of Financial Transactions; National Narcotics Agency; and the National Counterterrorism Agency also represented Indonesia during the negotiations.

Since 2017, Indonesia has made four extradition requests to Russia, one of which is currently being processed by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. (antaranews)

Jakarta (voinews): Indonesia's Ministry of Industry would immediately enforce controls against the illegal imports of thrift (used) shoes, according to acting Director General of Chemical, Pharmacy, and Textile Industry (IKFT) at the ministry Ignatius Warsito.

Warsito said that the control enforcement on illegally imported thrift shoes is in line with illegal imports of clothes in general, as stipulated in the Regulation of the Minister of Trade.

"It is in accordance with the prohibition on thrift clothes import regulated by the Ministry of Trade," he said in a press release on the industry confidence index (IKI) of March 2023 issued in Jakarta on Friday.

“This is being said with a reference to what is being implemented on thrift clothes on the field. Hence, I believe that the thrift shoes will be treated equally,” he added.

Warsito said he is confident that the thrift clothes control enforcement will benefit the domestic industry.

He further said many young entrepreneurs have taken advantage of the ban on imported thrift clothes by producing very competitive domestic products, both in terms of design and quality.

"However, we are still striving to catch up with the thrift clothes in terms of pricing," he added,

Warsito further noted that the domestic shoe market has also grown in a strong manner. Moreover, Indonesia ranks fourth in the world with regard to the footwear industry.

In fact, the impact of thrift shoes on the domestic industry is insignificant as their industry is export-oriented.

"Domestically, we have our own market with which the thrift shoes cannot intervene. Our small-medium industry (IKM) has also produced numerous good shoes," he affirmed.

Warsito concluded by stating that Kemenperin will continue to support the Intensification of Domestic Product Utilization (P3DN) program to promote the spirit of love for domestic products in order to suppress the imported thrift shoes market. (antaranews)

Jakarta (voinews): Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi underscored the importance of optimizing the utilization of the Indonesia-Korea Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IK-CEPA) in order to intensify economic cooperation between the two countries.

At the 4th Indonesia-South Korea Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) with Minister of Foreign Affairs Park Jin in Seoul on Friday, Foreign Minister Marsudi highlighted that through the IK-CEPA, both nations had recorded the highest trade value of US$24.53 billion (around Rp366.6 billion) last year.

This figure has increased by 33 percent as compared to the value of bilateral trade between Indonesia and South Korea in 2021.

"However, we still have quite a large room to increase trade, so that we can reach the target of US$30 billion (around Rp448.4 trillion)," Marsudi remarked while delivering an online press statement regarding her working visit to South Korea on Friday evening.

Since the implementation of IK-CEPA earlier this year, over one thousand certificates of origin have been issued to obtain preferential tariffs, with a trade value of US$52.88 million (approximately Rp790.3 billion).

Furthermore, the foreign minister stressed the importance of implementing the 18 project proposals submitted by Indonesia within the IK-CEPA framework, i.e., in the fields of agriculture, health, culture, construction, fisheries, automotive, semiconductors, and information technology, which can increase the capacity of Indonesian producers to meet standards and improve product quality in the Korean market.

"I also ask for Korea's support in accelerating the digitization of the Indonesian manufacturing industry in order to increase the capacity of Indonesian MSMEs," she remarked.

Regarding investment cooperation, Marsudi expressed hope that the Korean private sector would increase investment in Indonesia's strategic sectors, such as the steel industry, petrochemicals, electric vehicle batteries, renewable energy, and development of the archipelago's capital city.

According to Marsudi, the investment cooperation between Indonesia and South Korea can contribute to strengthening global supply chains.

"We also welcome Korea's cooperation commitment to developing the transportation system in Indonesia, including the feasibility study of the Jakarta MRT phase 4 and the Bali LRT, opening the Jeju Air flight route to Bali, and upgrading the Port of Batam," she stated.

Meanwhile, regarding cooperation promoting people-to-people contact, Marsudi pushed for the target of 300 thousand Korean tourists to Indonesia to be increased in line with better handling of the pandemic.

"In this case, I welcome the acceleration of the Korean visa application process, from two weeks to three days. However, I also propose that Korea can grant Indonesian tourists visa-free status for short visits," she remarked.

In the context of HR cooperation, Marsudi welcomed the additional quota of 1,500 people for Indonesian workers in the manufacturing sector in Korea.

She also expressed optimism that Korea would open new sectors for Indonesian workers, such as nurses and deep-sea welding workers.

"I encourage cooperation in developing the capacity of the Indonesian workforce through e-learning, vocational education, and polytechnics, as well as the construction of a Migrant Worker Center in Bekasi," she stated.

The implementation of JCM this time is special in a way that it coincides with the celebration of 50 years of Indonesia-South Korea relations.

In their journey, the two countries have had a Special RI-South Korea Strategic Partnership Action Plan for the 2021-2025 period, with a scorecard mechanism to monitor the implementation of various cooperation programs.

Based on the scorecard for 2021-2022, there are 60 collaborative activities in various fields that are going well.

However, Indonesia emphasizes the need for special attention to cooperation in the fields of information and communication technology and sports.

Indonesia also highlighted the importance of the two countries expanding defense cooperation, including through technology transfer.

"I emphasize that collaboration between Indonesian state owned-enterprises (BUMN), such as PT PINDAD, PT DI, and PT PAL with partners in Korea needs to be continuously strengthened," she affirmed. (antaranews)