VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta (voinews): The Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno said that his party had prepared 15 homecoming posts, including on the alternative route across the south. In The Weekly Brief with Sandi Uno, Monday (13/2), in Jakarta, Sandiaga Uno said this was done in relation to readiness and anticipation of welcoming the Eid al-Fitr holiday which has high potential in increasing the number of movements of domestic tourists.

"And we will create a monitoring team, because this is the Mother of all Movement of domestic tourists. We have to make sure that we can present half of the 1.4 billion movements of domestic tourists during the Eid holiday," said Sandiaga Uno.

Sandiaga Uno further said that his party would also issue a circular letter to local governments regarding protocols that must be obeyed in organizing the Eid al-Fitr holiday, such as protocols for health, safety and organizing tourism activities, as well as environmental sustainability.

Specifically for the southern route, Sandiaga Uno said the government would increase a number of rest areas covering the beauty of tourist scenery to selling unique creative economy products and representing tourist destinations on the southern route. (VOI/Thiodor)

Jakarta (voinews): Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno said the Lake Toba F1 Power Boat was one of the economic recovery strategies and business opportunities for the people of North Sumatra. In The Weekly Brief with Sandi Uno, Monday (13/2) in Jakarta, he said that this international event was predicted to gain high attention from digital media and have a significant impact on the economy of North Sumatra.

"And the F1 Power Boat is predicted to get the attention of 180 million digital media impressions and a direct impact of 212 billion Rupiah on the economy of North Sumatra," said Sandiaga.

Sandiaga Uno further said that the direct economic impact of the F1 Power Boat would be felt more by the MSME sector. According to him, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy had conducted training and strengthened the supply chain so that MSMEs could maximize the existing economic potential when the Lake Toba F1 Power Boat was held.

The Lake Toba F1 Power Boat will be held from 24 to 26 February 2023. This championship is attended by 20 participants from 10 teams coming from various countries including England, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, China, Portugal, Brazil, France, South Korea and Qatar . Sandiaga Uno said that preparation for the highest level powerboat (water jet) race in the world (such as MotoGP) had entered its final stage.

"There are only 11 days left, so please promote it together. This (F1 PowerBoat) will be held in the Mulia Raja Napitupulu Harbor area, Balige, Toba Regency. This implementation has been monitored according to plan starting from (construction) dry paddock and wet paddock," said Menparekraf Sandiaga Uno.

Not only building infrastructure and other supporting facilities, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy together with ministries/agencies and other related parties, said Sandiaga, also ensured the readiness of human resources (HR). Ensuring community involvement through the preparation of homestays, tourism village packages, including the development of local MSME products.

The F1 PowerBoat event is targeted to attract 25 thousand tourists visiting from athletes, officials, crew, and others. So that it can encourage the achievement of the target of 7.4 million foreign tourists and 1.4 billion movements of domestic tourists this year. (VOI/Thiodor)

The World Water Council (WWC) is trying to be the voice of water since its establishment 27 years ago. Since there is no international organisation close to United Nations system in the field of water, the WWC shares and gathers all water communities such as governments, international organizations, NGOs, academics, operators and universities to provide solution to water problem.

President of World Water Council (WWC) Loic Fauchon told Voice of Indonesia on Monday afternoon that there should political will from decision makers to get solution. He added in national level there should laws and budget which could make water as priority. For Indonesia, he said the main problem is not the quantity of water resources but the quality of resources. He believes that related ministers in Indonesia have great concern on providing sanitation and better quality of water.

“Specifically in Indonesia your main problem is not the quantity of water resources but the quality of water resources. And probably I have a lot discussion with different ministries in charge and I understand that they have great consciousness or effort to provide sanitation and good quality of water in the future”, Fuchon said

Indonesia held the Kick-off Meeting of the 10th World Water Forum in Jakarta from 15-16 February 2023.

Fauchon also said the World Water Council will help Indonesia as the nation will help WWC to understand some problems important to Indonesia which to be able to transfer Indonesia’s solution worldwide.

As the president of World Water Council, Fauchon is very attentive about risk management and hydro diplomacy. He said Hydro diplomacy is a new diplomatic issue in this momentum for the future of water. He said there are about 270 water basins around the world and some of them are in tension among neighbouring countries, therefore there should be dialogs to avoid water wars. He also encourage all stake holders to spare water to share prosperity. He could not image prosperity without securing and preserving water. He called al parties to stop ignoring water.//DP

Jakarta (voinews): State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Erick Thohir has said that his ministry is gearing to open a bioethanol filling station in Surabaya city, East Java province, in the next three to four months.

"We have started ethanol trial production at PTPN (state-run agricultural company PT Perkebunan Nusantara), whose filling station will be established later in Surabaya city," he informed at a joint working meeting with Commission VI of the House of Representatives (DPR) on Monday.

Since bioethanol is derived from plants, it can decompose, thus, it requires a more complex logistical process compared to the one used for petroleum fuel, he noted.

Bioethanol cannot be disbursed to filling stations that are too far from its manufacturing location, he explained.

On November 4, 2022, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) inaugurated the "Bioethanol from Cane for Energy Security" program at the bioethanol factory of PTPN X’s subsidiary PT Nusantara Agro Energy (Enero) in Mojokerto city, East Java, which is 50 kilometers away from Surabaya city.

He said he expected the program for processing cane into bioethanol to be successful so that it can strengthen the resilience of Indonesia’s energy sector.

The President also asked the SOEs Minister to provide the world’s best cane seedlings to Indonesian farmers.

Meanwhile, on the occasion, Thohir said that Indonesia must produce bioethanol to reduce imports of fossil fuels.

His ministry has conducted benchmarking with Brazil, which has managed to encourage the processing of cane into bioethanol.

According to the minister, in keeping with the government's priority to develop the food and energy ecosystems, Indonesia's dependence on international supply chains for the two commodities must be overcome.

Hence, the government is continuing to encourage the downstreaming of sugar, palm oil, and nickel, rather than the industrialization of the commodities.

Thohir has urged PTPN to increase the production of sugar and bioethanol with research octane number (RON) of up to 130.

He said he expected that the utilization of bioethanol as a substitute for fossil fuels will improve state finances. (antaranews)