VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The 7th Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR) which will be held in Nusa Dua, Bali, will be officially opened by President Joko Widodo, Wednesday (25/05/2022).

The Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi, said that the 7th GPDRR was an important forum for Indonesia, which received international recognition for its success in handling disasters.

"First, of course, this shows the world's trust in Indonesia's leadership as a champion of disaster issues," said the Indonesian Foreign Minister when met on the sidelines of the 7th GPDRR opening dress rehearsal at Nusa Dua Hall, Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center (BNDCC), Tuesday (24/05/2022) night.

In addition, Indonesia will also take advantage of the three-year meeting on disasters, to share experiences in disaster management in the country.

"In disaster management we are considered good and of course when we are able to handle disasters. We share our experiences with other parties, whether the easiest is in the field of "capacity building". So, "capacity building" "Cooperation in the context of capacity building will be very prominent in this meeting," explained Retno Marsudi.

Retno Marsudi explained that the 7th GPDRR is the right place for collaboration at the national, regional and regional levels in disaster management.

"And, in handling this disaster, we also see here and there a lot of local wisdom that helps our efforts in disaster management," he said.

The presence of delegates from various levels, he said, showed the importance of the world to cooperate and collaborate for disaster risk reduction.

"I mentioned that multi-stakeholder participation was reflected in the participation present at this meeting. For example, from NGOs 24%, from government 20%, academics 11%, from business circles 7%. Once again I encourage world countries to continue to cooperate and collaboration for disaster management and transforming disaster risk into disaster resilience," said the Indonesian Foreign Minister.

Confirmed separately, Spokesperson for the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, Wiku Adisasmito, said that intensive coordination with the United Nations made Indonesia finally trusted to host the 7th GPDRR.

"The challenge is there but we have been preparing for a long time and discussing with the UN (UN) and they are involved. We do a "screening" of travelers to Indonesia, all are followed, even testing is followed and we can follow what the test results are like. We always report and they ( The UN) believes that we also believe," explained Wiku.

The 7th GPDRR itself is a large international event held by Indonesia after the outbreak of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19.

Thus, the success of implementing health protocols in this week's event will become a benchmark for similar implementations by Indonesia in the future.

"The preparations are good and everything is controlled by them (the UN), even their security here ensures everything. This is a form of international trust in Indonesia, that it is not just holding a big event but holding a big international event after the Omicron. Especially for Indonesia, this is The first big event is the capital for the next international event. Including, we still have G20 events that are still ongoing and all of that must be maintained," he concluded.

The 7th GPDRR with Indonesia as the host was attended by more than 6,000 participants from 138 countries.

Around 70% of participants will physically attend this event in Nusa Dua, Bali.

GPDRR itself is a triennial event of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR).

According to the plan, the meeting will be attended by the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, Amina J. Mohammad and the President of the 76th United Nations General Assembly (SMU), Abdullah Sahid. (Reuters)

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said that until now the world is still facing a situation with global uncertainty and continues to strive to restore the economy.

For this reason, the Head of State asked the Regional Heads and State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) to use the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN), Regional Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBD), and BUMN budget to purchase imported goods.

"This is people's money, APBN, APBD, in BUMN, this is people's money. Don't buy imported goods. It would be a big mistake for us to do that," said the President while giving a briefing at the Affirmation Action Evaluation event to Increase Purchasing and Utilization of Domestic Products In the framework of the Proudly Made in Indonesia National Movement, at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC), Tuesday (24/5/2022).

The President also explicitly instructed his staff to use domestic products and not to buy imported goods.

The Head of State encourages the Governor, Regent, Mayor to the Regional Secretary, so that local products can be immediately included in the electronic catalog launched by the Government Goods/Services Procurement Policy Institute (LKPP).

"There are only 46 local governments that have local e-catalogs from 514 regencies, cities and 34 provinces. Only 46 local governments, even though to build this local e-catalog the requirements are not like before. It used to be complicated, now it's very simple," said the Head of State.

In addition, the President also encourages the improvement of the quality of domestic products so that they are immediately included in the local e-catalog which is expected to stimulate the regional economy.

"Later, more and more local products, all of the regional superior products will enter the e-catalog. And that will spur the regional economy and I make sure that it will open up a lot of job opportunities in the region without us realizing it," said the Head of State.

Furthermore, the President emphasized his staff to be able to realize the commitment to purchase and use these domestic products.

"How much is the commitment? Which has been realized? This is the platform application that we want to build, so that once again, people's money should not be bought for imported products," he said. (Reuters)

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit eight Pacific Island countries from May 26 to June 4 including the Solomon Islands, a ministry spokesman said on Tuesday.

The other seven countries are Kiribati, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste, spokesman Wang Wenbin told a regular press briefing.(Reuters)

Billed a COVID-19 success story as its economy boomed through the pandemic, Taiwan is now battling a record wave of infections as it eases restrictions that had kept outbreaks at bay to start life with the virus.

For the whole of 2021, Taiwan reported less than 15,000 locally transmitted cases. Now, it's registering around 80,000 cases a day - a startling reversal after the effectiveness of its long-standing zero-COVID policy won it international praise.

"We could no longer achieve the goal of zero COVID because it was too contagious," former vice president Chen Chien-jen, an epidemiologist, said in a video released by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party on Sunday. Most cases in Taiwan are of the less severe Omicron variant, with more than 99.7% of cases exhibiting mild or no symptoms, he said.

"This is a crisis but also an opportunity, allowing us to walk out of the shadow of COVID-19 quickly," Chen said.

Despite a peak of infection forecast for this week, the government is determined to end a policy that included largely closing its borders. It has relaxed restrictions, such as shortening mandatory quarantines, in what it calls the "new Taiwan model" - gradually living with the virus and avoiding shutting down the economy.

Unlike some countries where new case spikes overwhelmed medical systems and disrupted everyday life, Taiwan hospital beds earmarked for COVID patients are at 56% occupancy. Shops, restaurants and gyms remain open, and gatherings continue, with mandatory mask-wearing.

Still, the island of 23.5 million people is recording 40 to 50 deaths a day, bringing its year-to-date total to 625 deaths. Deaths stood at 838 from 2020 through to end-2021.

'NO REAL CHOICE'

Taiwan's approach stands in contrast with China, where strict measures to control outbreaks have led to the prolonged lockdown of Shanghai - a city of 25 million people - and movement curbs in numerous cities including Beijing. 

Former vice president Chen said Taiwan would be ready to reopen to tourists when 75-80% of the population had received a third vaccination shot. The rate currently stands at 64%.

Taiwan is focusing on eliminating serious illness while easing disruptions, allowing milder cases to see doctors online with home delivery of oral antiviral products.

Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said on Monday that Taiwan aims to keep the death rate below 0.1%. The current rate is around 0.06% and rising slowly.

Opposition parties said the government was ill-prepared, citing an initial shortage of home rapid test kits when cases started spiking last month, and criticised it for moving too slowly to secure vaccines for children under 12.

The surge in cases is now sparking new precautions. Starting this week, classes in Taipei schools were moved online while subway ridership has fallen to about half average levels.

"Taiwan didn't really have a choice. Naturally, we need to move on to coexist with the virus," said Shih Hsin-ru, who leads the Research Center for Emerging Viral Infections at Taiwan's Chang Gung University.

She said the government was not well prepared for the shift away from the zero COVID approach, pointing to the initial shortage of resources, from vaccines to antivirals. But things are looking better after what she described as a "scramble" by the government.

"We are slowly getting back on track," she said. "We are likely to see less impact compared to neighbouring countries." (Reuters)