VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesia's Coordinating Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartarto engaged in a bilateral dialog with Saudi Minister of Economy and Planning, Faisal Al-Ibrahim, in Davos, Switzerland, on Sunday (May 22).

"Some issues discussed during the bilateral meeting pertain to the trade sector between both countries and the cooperation plan in the investment sector," Hartarto noted in his statement on Monday.

During the meeting, the coordinating minister expressed optimism that Indonesia would be a strategic partner for Saudi Arabia through synergy on Saudi's Vision 2030 and the Golden Indonesian 2045 Vision.

He also informed the Saudi minister about Indonesia's G20 Presidency and Indonesia's membership in the Global Crisis Response Group (GCRC).

He then expressed hope that the Saudi government would collaborate to achieve goals set by the global community.

Meanwhile, responding to Hartarto's statement, Al-Ibrahim spoke of Saudi's economic dependence on oil and gas to the coordinating minister as well as the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict that is causal to the volatility of the energy and metal prices and investment at the global level.

Al-Ibrahim noted that the Saudi authority has anticipated possible effects of the conflict by revving up production and oil refinery capacities in the country.

The economic and planning minister then expressed optimism that G20 would play its role to maintain global security, especially to ensure food security.

During the bilateral discussion, Hartarto and Al-Ibrahim also discussed developments pertaining to the oil industry, such as the investment of carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) technology and blue hydrogen as well as progress in the development of the new capital Nusantara.

Al-Ibrahim reiterated Saudi's complete support for Indonesia's G20 Presidency, to which Hartarto responded by expressing hope for Saudi's participation during G20's Development Ministers meeting.  (Antaranews)

Indonesia's success to be placed in the top three in the 2021 SEA Games met the president's expectations and demonstrated the effectiveness of the National Sports Grand Design (DBON), the youth and sports minister stated.

"Indonesia's success to be placed in the top three in the SEA Games in Vietnam is due to the hard work of all parties, particularly our athletes. This has also demonstrated that our National Sports Grand Design has been on the right track," the minister, Zainudin Amali, noted in his statement on Sunday.

According to the organizer's data, Indonesia is placed third, with 69 gold medals, 91 silver medals, and 81 bronze medals. The Games' host, Vietnam, is placed first, with 205 gold medals, 125 silver medals, and 116 bronze medals, while Thailand is in second place, with 92 gold medals, 103 silver medals, and 136 bronze medals.

Apart from expressing his gratitude, the minister also thanked the Indonesian athletes for their efforts put in the games as well as the Indonesian Ambassador in Vietnam, the chef de mission team, Indonesia's NOC, Indonesia's National Sports Committee (KONI), and other stakeholders.

"When compared with the last 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines, there are differences in the number of athletes that we send now. While we sent some 800 athletes to participate in the Philippines' (SEA Games), we only sent half of the number for the games this year. Praise be to God, the medals we bagged have satisfied our expectation, and (our national team) is also in the top three," Amali remarked.

He noted that the authority will employ the same method and system to select the athletes for future international competitions, particularly for the Asian Games in Hangzhou and SEA Games in Cambodia, both in 2023.

"Our future will be more challenging. As our main goal will be the Olympics, we need to reform our national sports paradigm from now," the minister remarked.

Amali then expressed confidence that if the development of national sports continues in a positive trend, then Indonesia's contingent in the 2044 Olympics will be placed in the top five.  (Antaranews)

Commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) General Andika Perkasa met with Chairperson of the Nahdlatul Ulama Executive Board (PBNU), K.H. Yahya Cholil Staquf, here on Monday.

"This morning, I decided to pay a visit to PBNU because I have spent my time on (gaining an understanding of) the internal aspect of the military. As I have understood the internal aspect (of the military), I will then redirect my focus to the external aspect, and PBNU is among the public organizations that I must visit," Perkasa noted during his visit to the PBNU Office.

The TNI commander arrived at the PBNU Office at 9 a.m. local time (UTC +7), and during the hour-long visit, both leaders discussed the Defense Ministry's national defense training programme.

"What can we do together to make our country stronger. There will be follow-up action and cooperation (from this meeting) after I deliberate the matter with the military top brass while considering this year's programme and budget," the general noted.

Meanwhile, Staquf said that during the discussion, he and Perkasa reaffirmed their commitment to advancing the national defense training programme.

"We held an intense discussion on the development of the national defense programme. We will develop (the programme) together between the NU and the military. I feel that we have engaged in a heart-to-heart discussion," the PBNU chairperson stated.

He admitted that during the discussion, a positive impression of Perkasa made him assume that the general belonged to the NU community.

"(During the discussion), I even assume that Perkasa belongs to the NU, just like someone who met their pair. I am thankful (for the meeting), and we hope we could produce something that will benefit the nation and the country," he remarked.

Staquf then expressed optimism that NU and the military will have greater synergy to maintain the unity of the Indonesian nation and the social conduciveness.

"(Our synergy) will also bolster our harmony for the diversity of our nation," he remarked.  (antaranews)

Sri Lanka appointed nine new cabinet members on Friday, among them ministers for the critical portfolios of health, trade and tourism, as the island nation battles its worst economic crisis in history.

"Nine cabinet ministers of the new all-party government took their oaths before President Gotabaya Rajapaksa," a presidential news statement said.

Veteran politician Ranil Wickremesinghe took over as prime minister this month to form a new cabinet after the president's elder brother, Mahinda Rajapaksa, resigned from the job. (Reuters)