VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Australian Border Force (ABF) Commissioner, Michael Outram APM, and the Indonesian Director General of Customs and Excise (DGCE), Askolani after signing an MOU, (Photo : Australian Embassy) - 

VOInews, Australia : Businesses in Australia and Indonesia are set to benefit from a simplified customs process after the two countries signed an Authorised Economic Operator Mutual Recognition Arrangement (AEO MRA).​

Australian Border Force (ABF) Commissioner, Michael Outram APM, and the Indonesian Director General of Customs and Excise (DGCE), Askolani, signed the Arrangement at the 23rd Customs-to-Customs Talks in Canberra on Wednesday 7 August 2024.

Commissioner Outram said Australia's 11th MRA will mean Australian Trusted Traders (ATT) gain faster, more efficient, and more secure access to one of the world's fastest growing economies.

"Indonesia is a vitally important partner for Australia, and it is my honour to host today's Customs-to-Customs Talks and to sign the Arrangement," Commissioner Outram said.

"It is important we continue to strengthen cooperation and information sharing between our countries on enforcement and trade facilitation matters.

“Following today's signing, our two agencies will operationalise the Arrangement, which will reap tangible economic and security benefits. This is only possible due to the hard work of our officers over the past few years to finalise the details of the Arrangement.

"While this will be my last Customs-to-Customs Talks planned with Indonesia before I conclude my time as ABF Commissioner, I am confident that the long-standing cooperation between the ABF and DGCE will continue into the future."

In a release received by Voice of Indonesia on Wednesday August 7th 2024, in 2022-23, Indonesia was Australia's 13th largest two-way trading partner by value ($26.2 billion) and 9th largest export market ($15.7 billion).

Indonesia is also on track to become one of the world's ten largest economies by the mid-2030s and the fourth largest economy by mid-century. 

Australia has now signed arrangements with Canada, the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and India.

Indonesia has also signed with The Republic of Korea, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the United Arab Emirates, and ASEAN.

AEO MRAs, as outlined in the World Customs Organization (WCO) SAFE Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade (SAFE Framework), are arrangements between Customs administrations with equivalent AEO programs.

Australian businesses, who form part of the international supply chain, are encouraged to visit the ABF website to submit an application to join the ATT program//VOI

The inauguration of the lithium battery anode material factory by PT Indonesia BTR New Energy Material Kendal Industrial Zone (KIP) in the Kendal Special Economic Zone (KEK), (Photo : Kemenkomarves) - 

VOInews, Jakarta : In order to achieve Net Zero Emissions (NZE) by 2060, the Indonesian Government is committed to building an electric vehicle ecosystem starting from raw materials, electric vehicle (EV) batteries, to electric vehicles.

The Indonesian government through the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Kemenko Marves) on Wednesday (07/08/2024) inaugurated the lithium battery anode material factory by PT Indonesia BTR New Energy Material Kendal Industrial Zone (KIP) in the Kendal Special Economic Zone (KEK).

Currently, Indonesia has enormous potential to build an electric vehicle ecosystem. To realize production activities, use of domestic components, absorb labor and transfer technology, the Government is trying to attract as much investment in related sectors as possible to Indonesia.

The President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, was also present to inaugurate this lithium battery anode factory. President Jokowi really appreciates the construction of the factory which can encourage a strong and integrated electric vehicle ecosystem.

"I am very happy that at PT Indonesia BTR we can produce 80,000 tonnes of anode material, which if converted into cars will produce one and a half million electric cars, which is very large, especially if we add 80,000 tonnes of production in this industry. That means there will be three million cars. electricity annually," explained President Jokowi.

In a report by the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Menko Marves), Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, this factory has a capacity of 80 thousand tons, which is enough to make battery anodes for 1.5 million electric cars.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter of this year, construction of the second phase will begin and is predicted to be completed in March 2025, bringing the total capacity to 160 thousand tons.

"With this capacity, Indonesia will become the second largest battery anode producer in the world, and this factory will be the largest in the world," said Coordinating Minister Luhut.

BTR New Material Group has now been the largest producer of lithium battery anode material in the world for 10 consecutive years, with a market share of 26% in 2022.

Due to the cooperation of the Indonesian government with qualified battery manufacturers, as well as consistency in always encouraging development downstream, credibility becomes important.

"Because credibility is the basis of trust for investors. We can no longer compete with neighboring countries just by relying on incentives. But credibility and trust are key factors. This is what we must maintain," said Coordinating Minister Luhut.

This post-processing factory is located in the Kendal Industrial Area in Central Java Province, with a land area of ​​12 hectares, and will produce finished lithium battery anode material products.

The first export in August, a sample of 30.8 tons or 1 container of finished product, was exported to meet Samsung's demand. Furthermore, LG Panasonic, Tesla and other important international customers have placed orders for finished products//VOI

The handing over ceremony of the sundanese manuscript in Indonesian National Library on Wednesday August 7th 2024 (Photo : Perpusnas) - 

VOInews, Jakarta : The National Library of the Republic of Indonesia (Perpusnas) received 536 ancient Sundanese manuscripts submitted by the Indonesian Ngariksa Budaya Foundation.

This ancient Sundanese manuscript is a collection of R. Haris Sukanda Natasasmita and Viviane Sukanda Tessier which was collected in the 1970s to 1980s. The acquisition of this manuscript adds to the collection of ancient Sundanese manuscripts owned by the National Library, bringing the total to 1,003 manuscripts. Handover of manuscripts in the form of physical manuscripts as well as digital data and metadata.

The National Library is the institution that collects the largest number of Sundanese manuscripts in the world, beating the Leiden University Library in the Netherlands which holds 785 similar manuscripts.

Acting Director of the National Library, E. Aminudin Aziz, stated that this handover was not just an addition to the collection, but also had strategic significance in mainstreaming Indonesian manuscripts.

"Mainstreaming Indonesian manuscripts is a program that we have initiated to start implementing in 2024. And we are trying to channel this into a priority program at the National Library," he said in the talk show "Nusantara Manuscript Figures: Working Together Towards Mainstreaming Archipelago Manuscripts", which was held hybrid on Wednesday (7/8/2024).

Plt. The Director of the National Library added that the process of collecting and organizing manuscripts had become a top priority for his institution, even though the challenges faced were quite large.

“I tried to talk to my friends at the library about what had been done regarding the arrangement of the manuscript. "It turns out, they have worked a lot to collect manuscripts, but the publications are still lacking," he said.

Limited human resources and the costs required for manuscript preservation are said to be the main obstacles. "Manuscripts that have been damaged must first go through a conservation process, which takes quite a lot of time and money, while we have limited manpower," he explained.

Therefore, the team at the National Library carried out a priority selection to determine which manuscripts should take priority in the preservation process.

Apart from internal challenges, National Library also faces pressure from external parties to acquire manuscripts from various regions. “We are grateful to the parties who pay attention to external manuscripts and are ready to work together. "Today we gather together to express our shared commitment to preserving the heritage of this archipelago," he continued.

The handover of this ancient Sundanese manuscript is an important moment resulting from collaboration with various parties, namely the Center for the Study of Islam and Society (PPIM) of the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University and DREAMSEA (Digital Repository of Endangered and Affected Manuscripts in Southeast Asia) which has digitized the ancient manuscript .

"We will provide the public with the widest possible access to these manuscripts, through digitization and providing information on the official National Library website. "We believe that the past is a lesson for us to look to the future," he said.

In a release received by Voice of Indonesia on Wednesday 07/08/24, Chairman of the Indonesian Cultural Heritage Foundation Lukman Hakim Saifuddin said the handover of this ancient manuscript was an effort to encourage the state through the National Library to be more proactive in preserving the riches of past civilizations.

According to him, the main challenge for this nation is how to overcome the disconnection from a past that is full of ancestral values ​​and wisdom.

"We often lose context when facing various problems, whether social, cultural, educational, economic, political or religious, because we are disconnected from the values ​​and wisdom of our ancestors," said Lukman.

Meanwhile, in a talk show, DREAMSEA Principal Investigator Oman Fathurahman said that the DREAMSEA program focuses on inventorying and digitizing vulnerable manuscripts with a proactive approach.

“Since 2017, DREAMSEA has changed its approach to be more proactive. "We are no longer waiting for proposals to come, but are looking for and inventorying manuscripts that need digitization assistance, by visiting local communities that have valuable manuscripts but do not have access to preserve them," he explained.

Over the past seven years, this program, which is supported by the philanthropist Arcadia Fund, has visited 168 manuscript owners in various regions in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia.

"From this effort, we have succeeded in saving 8,570 manuscripts through the digitization process," he explained.

British Library main curator Annabel Teh Gallop explained that over the last ten years, around 500 Indonesian manuscripts in the British Library have been digitized.

“We started this project in 2013-2023. "At the British Library there is no special budget for digitization, so it must be sought through external budgets such as foundations or donors," he concluded//VOI