VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta (voinews): The Transportation Ministry has stated that it will open cross-border freight transportation services between Kupang in Indonesia and Dili in Timor-Leste, following the recent inauguration of a bus service on the same route.

"The Kupang-Dili cross-border bus service is for moving people, but soon, a cooperation for freight transportation will be opened," the ministry's director general of land transportation, Hendro Sugiatno, stated at the Kupang City Passenger Terminal here on Thursday.

Sugiatno deemed it crucial to open cross-border freight transportation from Kupang City in East Nusa Tenggara to Dili on account of the huge economic potential in the border area.

He explained that the cross-border land transportation service for people and goods established in the border areas to Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam had shown a positive impact in strengthening competitiveness and economic growth there.

Hence, he expected that the Kupang-Dili commercial bus service and the planned freight transportation cooperation can grow the province's economy.

"We must support this together, so that economic growth will occur in the border areas of the two countries," he remarked.

The director general invited related parties to support freight transportation service providers to facilitate them in serving the Kupang-Dili route.

In addition, he emphasized that tourism bus services should be pushed to grow the tourism sector in East Nusa Tenggara.

Timor-Leste's Director General of Transportation and Communications Constantino Ferreira Suarez, Governor of East Nusa Tenggara Viktor Bungtilu Laiskodat, and officials of the Regional Leadership Communication Forum (Forkopimda) attended the Kupang-Dili bus route launch event.

President of Timor-Leste José Manuel Ramos-Horta witnessed the event virtually from Dili.

Sugiatno said the Kupang-Dili cross-border bus trip is priced at Rp350 thousand (around US$23) per passenger.

He also expected that the cross-border bus service can improve relations between Indonesia and Timor-Leste. (antaranews)

Jakarta (voinews): Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno has stated that his ministry is preparing various destinations, including tourist villages and religious tourism sites, in anticipation of the 123.8 million people expected to travel during the Eid al-Fitr holiday.

"We have prepared several tour packages, such as tourist villages to religious tourism-based destinations for the 123.8 million tourists who are predicted to travel during the Eid al-Fitr holiday," the minister informed in a written statement received on Thursday.

The Eid homecoming period would become the main momentum to achieve the target of mobilizing domestic tourists, namely 1.4 billion trips, in 2023, Uno noted.

"This momentum will be able to create 2–3 times the total trips. We are targeting 25 percent, or 300–350 million trips, of the target of 1.4 billion domestic tourist mobility this year to be achieved," he said.

The target is based on the pattern of people's mobility from their place of origin to their hometowns and travel to areas around their hometowns before returning to their place of origin, Uno disclosed.

“So, at least there will be three movements per person for this homecoming. We must also create a safe and comfortable homecoming for this year," he added.

As previously reported, the minister has prepared various scenarios and also increased coordination with local governments to anticipate the potential for a surge in tourists during the Eid holiday.
"We will also carry out a simulation to prepare for crowd control, visitors' flow, and other measures," he said.

The Eid al-Fitr 1444 H holiday is the first long holiday after the COVID-19 pandemic and the revocation of the community activity restrictions (PPKM). As a result, Uno has estimated that the number of tourists will increase during the holiday.

He said that his ministry has also coordinated with tourism services in districts, cities, and provinces as well as authorities in each tourism destination to prepare for travelers. (antaranews)

Jakarta (voinews): Indonesia's financing requirement for climate change handling has reached around US$281 billion, Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, said at the “Ministerial Fireside Chat Seminar on Financing Transition in ASEAN” here Thursday.

This requirement is for financing the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) commitment, which has been translated into programs, policies, and projects.

Moreover, the biggest portion of this financing is for the energy sector, she said.

Thus, ever since its G20 Presidency last year, Indonesia has announced the Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM) platform, which has been developed with the support of Asian Development Bank (ADB) and international partners.

The minister said that the issue of climate change has become a serious consideration globally, including for countries in the ASEAN region.

Each country has a commitment to reduce CO2 emissions to handle climate change through the NDC.

The NDC is a document that contains a country's climate action and commitment communicated to the world through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Indonesia, as the largest country in ASEAN, has also committed to reducing CO2 emissions by increasing its NDC target.

The country is aiming to slash CO2 emissions by 31.89 percent through its own efforts and resources by 2060, compared to 29 percent earlier.

However, with the help of global efforts and support, Indonesia expects to cut CO2 emissions by 43.2 percent during the same period, an increase from its earlier target of 41 percent.

Indrawati underlined that Indonesia has made comprehensive efforts for handling climate change.

In addition, through the energy usage transition, the Indonesian government has also ratified regulations that stipulate the formation of a carbon market and the introduction of a carbon tax.

The government is also using fiscal regulations, such as tax holidays, tax allowances, and exemptions on value-added tax (PPN) or import duties for everything related to the renewable energy sector, and is striving to phase out coal.

The government is trying to handle the issue through all existing mechanisms, such as regulations, instruments, collaborations, as well as market and non-market mechanisms, the minister said.  (antaranews)

Nuclear submarine cooperation between Australia, the United States and Britain may may spark an arms race, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Thursday.

"Once 'pandora's box' is opened, the regional strategic balance will be disrupted, regional security will be seriously threatened," said Tan Kefei, a spokesperson at the Chinese defence ministry, during a regular press briefing.

The United States, Australia and Britain this month unveiled details of a plan to provide Australia with nuclear-powered attack submarines from the early 2030s to counter China's ambitions in the Indo-Pacific.

"China firmly opposes the establishment of the so-called 'trilateral security partnership' between the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. This small circle dominated by Cold War mentality is useless and extremely harmful," Tan said.

Tan added such cooperation was an extension of the nuclear deterrence policy of individual countries, a game tool for building an "Asia-Pacific version of NATO" and seriously affected peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region. (Reuters)