VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Vice President Ma'ruf Amin and Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister, Lawrence Wong, discussed strengthening economic cooperation between the two countries during a meeting at the Parliament of Singapore on Tuesday.

"This economic partnership must continue to be improved," Amin said, highlighting that Singapore is the largest foreign investor in Indonesia, with US$6.7 billion in investment realized as of June 2022.

Indonesia's total trade with Singapore increased 36 percent in August 2022 compared to the same period last year, he noted.

During the meeting, Amin said that the sharia economy has great potential to strengthen the economies of both countries. According to him, the sharia economy can help restore the economy amid the threat of recession, especially given the economic performance seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Sharia transactions use a profit-sharing business model that gives a sense of security. There is affordable waqf, and its potential to become a productive asset. We must develop this economic potential together," he stated.

Furthermore, the Vice President pointed out that the demand for Muslim tourism and halal products is increasing in many countries. For this reason, he said, as a neighboring country and a hub for tourists to enter Indonesia, Singapore's role is highly expected in strengthening this cooperation.

"I look forward to strengthening Indonesia-Singapore collaboration to encourage the progress of Muslim tourism," he said.

Meanwhile, DPM Wong expressed his appreciation for the cooperation that has been well-established and welcomed future plans for cooperation.

"I believe that the cooperation between Indonesia and Singapore will be stronger," he remarked.

At the meeting, VP Amin was accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister Retno L.P. Marsudi; Indonesian Ambassador to Singapore, Suryo Pratomo; head of the Vice Presidential Secretariat, Ahmad Erani Yustika; and Special Staff to the Vice President, Masduki Baidlowi.

Meanwhile, Singapore's director general of Southeast Asia, Catherine Wong; principal private secretary to the DPM, Joshua Lo; deputy director Terrence Teo; and country officer Andrew Leung also attended the meeting. (Antaranesw)

Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Tuesday there is no consensus yet for China to join a trans-Pacific trade pact, although Singapore believed it would be possible for Beijing to meet the trade bloc's conditions.

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) trade pact removes 95% of tariffs between its 11 members - Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

Another five nations have applied to join - Britain, China, Taiwan, Ecaudor and Costa Rica. Members agreed in February that Britain can proceed with its application, as it looks for new trading relationships after leaving the European Union.

Australia has expressed reservations about China, its largest trading partner, meeting the pact's requirements on free trade, and has urged Beijing to lift sanctions imposed on a raft of Australian products during a diplomatic dispute.

Lee told reporters during a visit to Canberra that Singapore, chair of the CPTPP committee, understood Australia's view.

"I think it is good if China is able to join the CPTPP," he said, adding it would be possible through negotiations for Beijing to fully meet the pact's conditions.

"For China to join the CPTPP there has to be consensus among all the existing members... I don't think there is a consensus yet."

In a statement released after a meeting in Singapore this month, trade pact members said Britain's application was progressing, and subsequent applicants would need to show "a demonstrated pattern of complying with their trade commitments".

Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell told Nikkei Asia last week he didn't believe there was any prospect of China joining the pact.

China last year wrote to the Australian parliament, seeking support for its application, describing the strength of Chinese trade with Australia and avoiding mention of billions of dollars in punitive sanctions imposed by Beijing.

The United States formally withdrew from pact negotiations in 2017 under President Donald Trump. (Reuters)

Sensing that Russia has been weakened by its war in Ukraine, some of its closest allies in Central Asia are displaying a newly assertive streak.

The region's five former Soviet republics are increasingly standing up to Moscow, aware of their new-found leverage as Russia looks to their markets and trade routes in a bid to circumvent Western sanctions.

The new dynamic was strikingly illustrated when Russian President Vladimir Putin ran into a seven-minute tirade from the leader of Tajikistan, one of the region's smallest and poorest countries, at a summit in Kazakhstan last week.

"We want respect. Nothing else. Respect," said Emomali Rakhmon, Tajikistan's president since 1994, complaining that Moscow's attitude had not improved since the Soviet era.

Putin listened uncomfortably. A video of the embittered speech surfaced at the weekend and was not part of the official coverage of the Oct. 14 summit, during which he urged his southern neighbours to build new logistics chains after Western sanctions over Ukraine disrupted much of Russia's trade.

Data shows Central Asian nations, including Tajikistan, have already sharply increased foreign trade turnover, likely by re-exporting goods to Russia which it could not buy directly because of sanctions and the exodus of foreign businesses.

But governments in the region do not seem to be willing to go beyond that, at least unless Russia comes to them with serious investments. Rakhmon made it clear he was disappointed with Moscow sending only a deputy minister to an investment conference in Dushanbe last month.

Privately, Tajik officials say Rakhmon felt offended because Russia has for decades treated Tajikistan as its backyard and is only turning to Dushanbe after becoming isolated.

"Central Asian nations, noting Russia's growing interest in the region and the emergence of a certain dependence on it, have taken advantage of the situation to air their grievances and establish more equal relations in which Russia would at least partly give up its 'older brother' role," said Kazakh political analyst Rustam Burnashev.

STRAINED DIPLOMACY

With Putin facing deepening problems in Ukraine, his ability to enforce Moscow's traditional role as a policeman in other post-Soviet conflicts is being tested as never before.

During his trip, he held a separate three-way meeting with Rakhmon and Kyrgyzstan's President Sadyr Japarov to discuss a border dispute which almost led to all-out war between their two countries in September.

The meeting, which began with Rakhmon and Japarov refusing to shake hands, produced no breakthrough, although Putin promised them to find Soviet maps which may clarify where the border was meant to be.

The conflict prompted Japarov to skip an informal meeting of ex-Soviet leaders in Moscow on Putin's birthday, Oct. 7. Kyrgyzstan also put off planned military drills of the Russia-led CSTO military bloc on its territory and refused to participate in a similar exercise in Tajikistan.

Observers noted that the host of the summit, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, had no bilateral meeting with Putin while the latter was in Astana, despite meeting Turkish, Qatari, Azeri and other leaders one-on-one.

Tokayev also complained of personal attacks on national leaders that "poison the atmosphere of cooperation" in the post-Soviet space, a likely reference to frequent criticism of the Kazakh leadership in the Russian media. Kazakh state television showed a selection of street interviews in which respondents said the war in Ukraine cast doubt on whether any post-Soviet unity still existed.

Its report also highlighted what it called provocative behaviour by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, widely regarded as Putin's proxy, who interrupted one of Tokayev's speeches. It showed Tokayev replying with a condescending smile.

Still, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the biggest countries in Central Asia, are careful not to antagonise Moscow because they still see Russia as a regional policeman whose help they may need in a crisis, said Alisher Ilkhamov, a Central Asia consultant based in Britain.

In the long term, however, he said China’s influence as regional "older brother" was set to rise at the expense of Russia’s if the war continued to go badly for Putin:

"For the moment we see Russia is ceding to China this role as major patron for the Central Asian states. The vacuum will not be unfilled – it will be filled step-by-step by China." (Reuters)

Australia and Singapore agreed on Tuesday on a "green economy" deal to boost cooperation on climate investment, financing and technology.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told a news conference in Canberra that the agreement would start with initiatives such as developing a list of environmental goods and services that could be given preferential trade treatment.

"It will support the transition of our countries to net zero emissions as well as create jobs and growth opportunities in green sectors promote the development and commercialisation of green technologies," Lee said.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese cited the A$30 billion ($18.8 billion) Sun Cable project, which aims to export solar power from Northern Australia to Singapore via Indonesia, as an example of what the agreement aims to achieve.

"A project like Sun Cable which has the potential to export clean energy to Singapore is the ultimate win-win," Albanese said.

Lee, asked about U.S. export controls targeting the Chinese semiconductor industry, told the news conference the issue was "very serious" and raised concerns about economic decoupling.

"We do worry that valid national security considerations may trigger off further consequences and may result in less economic cooperation, less interdependency, less trust and possibly ultimately a less stable world," he said.

The leaders also discussed a major cybersecurity breach at Optus, an Australian telecom owned by Singapore-listed Singtel (STEL.SI). Lee said Singaporean cybersecurity agencies had contacted their Australian counterparts and offered assistance.

Lee also said the Singaporean military was ready to help with disaster relief in flood-stricken southeast Australia. (Reuters)