VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

President Joko Widodo held a bilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister (PM) Fumio Kishida at The Apurva Kempinski Bali, Monday (14/11).

“The world's hopes are very high for the G20 as a catalyst for global recovery. The success of the G20 is the collective responsibility of all G20 countries," said the President.

Regarding economic cooperation with Japan, President Joko Widodo is pushing for the completion of the IJEPA (Indonesia-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement).

"The performance of our economic cooperation is quite good. I am sure this performance will be better if we can finish the IJEPA soon,” he said.

Another thing that President Joko.Widodo discussed was infrastructure development. He appreciated the signing of the memorandum of understanding for the continuation of the MRT phase 1 today and the cooperation for the MRT phase 3 study at the end of last October.

"I hope for Your Majesty's support so that the MRT project can be completed on time," said the President.

Cooperation in the region was also discussed at the bilateral meeting. President Joko Widodo said that Indonesia's chairmanship of ASEAN coincided with the 50th anniversary of ASEAN-Japan. The President underlined the importance of continuing to maintain stability and peace in the region and building a green industry in the region.

"I encourage the concrete implementation of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) synergy with the Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP). Next year, Indonesia will also encourage the engagement of Pacific countries with ASEAN. Indonesia also wants to invite Japan to strengthen cooperation with countries in the Pacific," said the President.

At the Indonesia-Japan meeting, President Joko Widodo was accompanied by Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto, Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi, Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Arifin Tasrif, and Director General of Asia Pacific and Africa at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Abdul Kadir Jailani. (VOI)

The person who left the bomb that caused Istanbul's explosion was arrested by the police, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said on Monday according to state-run Anadolu agency's English-language Twitter account.

Six people were killed and 81 others wounded on Sunday when an explosion rocked a busy pedestrian street in Istiklal Avenue in central Istanbul in what Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan called a bomb attack that "smells like terrorism". (Reuters)

German federal police have warned their nation's delegation at the COP27 environmental summit in Egypt that its members may be subject to spying by Egyptian security agents, three people with knowledge of the matter said.

In an email sent on Saturday, the police, known in Germany as the BKA, warned delegates of "overt and covert surveillance through photography and videography" by Egyptian agents, said one of the people quoting from the email.

Comments last week by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz about Egypt's human rights record provoked the threat of surveillance, that person said.

Reuters did not view the email sent by the police. Two other officials in Germany confirmed the existence of the warning, though they declined to elaborate on its specific wording.

There was no immediate response to requests for comment from Egypt's COP27 presidency or the state information service, which handles relations with foreign media.

A spokesperson for the German police declined to comment.

In the warning, the police said delegates may have their conversations recorded and that people close to the Egyptian state may try to disrupt events organised by the Germans "through provocative actions", the person quoted the email as saying.

Three German attendees at COP27, from non-governmental organizations and industry, said they had received verbal warnings from other attendees and delegations of possible surveillance.

Two NGO members told Reuters about what they viewed as suspicious activity that took place on occasions in recent days, including being photographed and followed. One was Susann Scherbarth of the German Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation. The other was with the Climate Action Network but wished to remain unnamed. Reuters was unable to independently confirm their accounts.

An official with Germany's foreign ministry said it expected participants to "be able to work and negotiate under secure conditions".

"To this end, we are in continuous exchange with the Egyptian side," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

On Tuesday, Scholz said he had raised with the COP27 hosts the issue of the jailed hunger striker Alaa Abd el-Fattah, a prominent activist and blogger sentenced to five years on charges of spreading false news.

"A decision needs to be taken, a release has to be made possible, so that it doesn't come to it that the hunger striker dies," Scholz told reporters.

Egypt's government has said prison authorities will provide Abd el-Fattah with healthcare. (Reuters)

Global Blended Finance Alliance launch at G20 side event in Bali - 

The Indonesian government launched the "Global Blended Finance Alliance" at the Tri Hita Karana (THK) Sustainable Development Forum 2022 on Sunday, November 13, 2022 at Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center, ITDC area, Bali. Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Menko Marves), Luhut B. Pandjaitan said in his opening remarks that this launch would build capacity across the government, private sector, and philanthropy to make a better mix.

"This alliance will be based in Bali and we invite all parties to partner with us. We don't have time to give up if we want to open trillions of investments every year. We need to do this for our future generations," said Coordinating Minister Marves in his opening remarks.

The Coordinating Minister for Marves welcomed the THK Forum as a concrete action step to accelerate investment in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). "As co-host of the Tri Hita Karana Forum, the Government of Indonesia is proud to see that we have helped catalyze more than USD30 billion for projects and initiatives related to SDGs this year through blended finance solutions. This is three times what we did at the last THK Forum in 2018," added the Coordinating Minister for Marves.

But in addition, Indonesia is still experiencing financial gaps, especially in climate-related financing. Coordinating Minister Marves said during the 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFFC), developed countries have committed to the common goal of mobilizing USD 100 billion per year by 2020 for climate action in developing countries. In addition, around USD 3.3-4.5 trillion per year needs to be mobilized to achieve the 2030 SDGs Agenda.

"The Indonesian government has identified a fair and affordable transition from coal to clean energy as a national priority and has included an energy transition driven by sustainable financing mechanisms. In line with its global climate change mitigation goals, Indonesia has increased its NDC target by September 2022 and is committed to achieve net zero emissions by 2060 or sooner," said the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs.

According to a release received by Voice of Indonesia on Sunday (13/11/22), Indonesia is currently finalizing cooperation negotiations with the International Partners Group led by the United States-Japan for the Equitable Energy Transition Partnership program.

"We are ready to implement programs towards phased-down including early retirement of coal-fired power plants for significant greenhouse gas reductions for more ambitious NDC targets. I am proud of the work that has been done to finance the transition to a clean energy system. This will require international funding to move faster," explained the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs.

In addition, Indonesia has proven an increase in economic growth up 5.72 percent year-on-year in the third quarter. The Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs expressed his pride at the existence of blended finance solutions for Indonesia's nature which is included as the first sustainable landscape bond in the world and a new fund for biodiversity.

"We've also developed carbon finance regulations because we have rainforests, peatlands, mangroves and coral reefs that are incredible and need protection and we need to find ways to pay for it. I was delighted to see so many business and financial leaders attend today's hearing "Right now a more sustainable world is the best way to encourage growth and build resilience to economic shocks," concluded the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs//VOI