VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

State Secretary Minister Pratikno spoke of President Joko Widodo's (Jokowi's) directives to ministers to stay vigilant and respond quickly as a precautionary measure against the new variants: Coronavirus, Omicron, or variant B.1.1.529.

"Ministers must be alerted and always follow the dynamics on the field and react quickly to any possible occasion," Pratikno noted at the State Palace on Wednesday.

On Wednesday morning, Jokowi had summoned several ministers, including Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Affairs Airlangga Hartarto, Minister of Foreign Affairs represented by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mahendra Siregar, and other relevant ministers to discuss the Omicron variant.

The head of state also urged the ministers to study the cases of Omicron currently emerging in other countries, Pratikno stated.

“The point is that we must always remain vigilant and on alert according to our existing capacity. Further explanations will be provided by the relevant ministers," Pratikno remarked.

Jokowi also urged his staff to continue to expedite COVID-19 vaccination for the public and ensure the implementation of health protocols in the community.

In addition, the head of state requested hospitals to always be ready for a spike in COVID-19 cases, Pratikno stated.

"Hence, if there is an increase in the number of cases, the hospital is always on standby," he stated.

Earlier, the government had implemented a policy as a precautionary measure against the spread of imported cases and new variants of the coronavirus.

The policy temporarily suspends foreign citizens, with a travel history in the last 14 days to South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia and Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, Indonesian citizens, with a history of traveling to these countries in the last 14 days, are still allowed to return to Indonesia, with the obligation to undergo quarantine for 14 days.

Foreigners and Indonesian citizens from other countries not mentioned above are required to undergo quarantine for 7x24 hours.  (Antaranews)

Indonesia and the Republic of Seychelles are exploring opportunities for strategic cooperation and investment based on the blue economy, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) Minister Sakti Wahyu Trenggono has informed.

"I appreciate the Seychelles government's support and cooperation, which encourages public interest and participation in efforts to accelerate a more inclusive, sustainable economic transformation and strategic partnerships in exploring pilot activities or other investments based on the blue economy," Trenggono said in a statement issued in Jakarta on Wednesday.

As a blue economy pioneer country, Seychelles, through its sovereign blue bond program, has realized the fishery potential of an area can be a guarantee for investors, especially for the development of marine tourism, he noted.

The Indonesian government, especially KKP, which manages marine areas, continues to strive to achieve ecological and economic balance as well as technological innovation by applying the blue economy concept, he remarked.

"We have carried out various breakthrough programs by applying the blue economy principle, namely the implementation of measurable fishing for ecological sustainability, increasing fishermen's welfare and also increasing non-tax revenue; developing the cultivation of four leading commodities in the global market, namely shrimp, lobster, crab, and seaweed; as well as the development of aquaculture villages based on local wisdom in freshwaters, brackish waters, and the sea," he explained.

According to the minister, in addition to supporting national food security, the programs will have a multiplier effect on national development.

The policy is also expected to encourage investment opportunities in primary and secondary activities, one of which is managing marine tourism by not forgetting the importance of preserving the ecology, he said.

One of the cooperative efforts by Indonesia and Seychelles was the 'Indonesia-Seychelles Blue Economy Workshop: Opportunities for Collaboration and Investment', held at the KKP Headquarters in Jakarta on Tuesday (November 30, 2021).

According to the Special Envoy of the President of Seychelles to ASEAN, Nico Barito, as an archipelagic country, Seychelles pays very serious attention to the issue of saving the environment, especially marine resources.

Therefore, he proposed bilateral collaboration in the marine sector, especially in small islands and sustainable marine tourism, responsible fisheries, conservation, and monitoring of biodiversity and islands to achieve economic growth as well as environmental preservation.

“In building a blue economy, we are focusing on quality over quantity. As in tourism development, it is necessary to apply the concept of development that can minimize its negative impact, namely through the concept of sustainable tourism. Communities, tourists, and host communities as well as local governments must practice the concept of sustainability. In the fishing zone, it is also necessary to set a quota of fish that can be caught for industry, traditional fishermen, and quotas for hobbies and tourism to avoid overfishing," he informed.

He also expressed the wish for collaboration in investment related to Seychelles' best practices in the blue economy and the preparation of policy recommendations to achieve blue economy coherence; exploration of facilities and infrastructure in setting priorities for coastal management, including monitoring, research, coastal protection, and risk-based spatial planning; as well as increasing the capacity of marine and fisheries human resources.

Meanwhile, Indonesia proposed cooperation in the development of tourism destinations such as Maratua Island in Kalimantan and other potential locations through the expansion of world-class international hotel networks; active synergy in attracting foreign investment through guaranteed Indonesian marine wealth (Blue Bonds) as an effort to build a sustainable Indonesian marine and fisheries sector; develop marine and fisheries human resources; as well as benchmark the development of marine tourism with the development of marine tourism training modules at Indonesian tourist sites.

Seychelles was the first country to launch sovereign blue bonds on the sidelines of the Our Ocean Conference on October 28, 2018, in Bali.

The export value of Indonesian fishery products to Seychelles in 2020 was recorded at US$546,428 an increase of about 733 percent from the previous year when it was pegged at US$74,449. (Antaranews)

UK – Indonesia Tech Hub and Endeavor network in the Asia Pacific region teamed up to conduct a webinar focusing on the challenges facing women on Friday, December 3, 2021.

Dubbed EndeavHER: “Having-It-All” - The Art of Maintaining Health for Women Leaders, the webinar will discuss and share experiences of how female executives can rise to the challenge of managing their physical and mental health, and how their approach influences the way they lead their businesses.

A report by Endeavor Insight with support from Google for Startups draws lessons from successful women founders to better understand pathways they took to scale their businesses, and strategies for overcoming some of the most common challenges that women entrepreneurs face.

The report found several tangible steps that can be taken to better support women founders, including curated programs and events to increase female founders access to high-quality female mentors, as well as connecting female founders so they have strong peer support networks.

The UK is aiming to provide just this through the recently launched Nurture to Scale programme, which will support the growth of start-up entrepreneurs in Indonesia by providing them with wide access to resources, insights, successful founders, key industry leaders and mentors - all in order to scale-up their businesses.

EndeavHER, as an Endeavor signature programme to support and elevate female founders accelerate the growth of their companies, is one of the most exciting events within the Nurture to Scale programme, with a goal to inspire the next wave of female entrepreneurs in the region and globally.

Notable speakers are women founders and entrepreneurs from five countries, who lead companies in variety of industries namely Levana Sani, from Indonesia, Co-founder of Nalagenetics, who help people to make better health decisions by giving them access to personalized prescriptions; Amina Sugimoto, from Japan, Co-founder & CEO of Fermata, who help transform taboos into triumphs with technologies that can clarify and inform women about their own bodies; Amy Zheng, from Malaysia, Co-founder & CEO of Amazin’Graze, one of Southeast Asia's early homegrown health food brands with a mission to change the way people eat; Denise Keller, from Singapore, an international travel host, director and producer best known for her work as host for Discovery Channel, TLC and MTV; Denise Sandquist, from Vietnam, Co-founder & CEO Fika, a female-focused dating app that uses state-of-the-art AI.

“Through this event, women will inspire women to achieve their full potential. Dispersed over a wide geographic area, it is even more essential that Indonesia’s female entrepreneurs are connected and can access role models and support networks," Owen Jenkins, British Ambassador to Indonesia and Timor Leste said in a release on Thursday.

"This event is part of our efforts to deliver exactly that. The UK is delighted to support Indonesia’s women and their entrepreneurial talents participating in Indonesia’s tech sector through our  UK – Indonesia Tech Hub," he said.

The online event will also include Nurture to Scale’s Virtual World, a virtual exhibition that enables people to engage and connect with 35 of the most promising start-ups in Indonesia, as well as watch webinars in a virtual auditorium

Registration for the program is available at bit.ly/endeavherapac04 and the webinar will be accessible through the www.nurturetoscale.org website. (VOI)

The Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy/Head of the Tourism and Creative Economy Agency, Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno, supports the development of the creative economy sector in West Detusoko Village, Ende Regency, East Nusa Tenggara.

His party provides support in the form of tools to make decorative lights to musical equipment to local creative and creative actors. This is done as an effort to increase the enthusiasm and creativity of the community and open up job creation in the West Detusoko Village.

The assistance was given by the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy on the sidelines of his visit to the West Detusoko Tourism Village, Wednesday (1/12/2021). West Detusoko Village itself is a pilot village that is included in the top 50 best tourist villages in the 2021 Indonesian Tourism Village Award (ADWI) event.

“I saw earlier that one of the creative economy actors needed help. Alhamdulillah, we immediately moved quickly. Because I'm used to solving problems by presenting solutions that are really needed. So today we present these tools and also the assistance of musical instruments for the studio so that the West Detusoko Tourism Village is more advanced. The hope is that the economy will rise and jobs will be created here,” he said.

Detusoko Tourism Village is also known as the Sao Ria Nuarini Traditional Village. Detusoko Barat is included in one of the villages supporting Lake Kelimutu and is the main door to Kelimutu National Park. No doubt, if Detusoko Barat Village has extraordinary natural and cultural potential. It takes 45 minutes to reach this village from downtown Ende.

Located at an altitude of 800 meters above sea level, West Detusoko presents a beautiful topography. There are terraced rice fields which are not uniform in size and have been around for a long time. According to the stories of the villagers, the existing rice fields are inherited from generation to generation and are owned by almost all the families who inhabit Detusoko Barat Village. In the middle of the rice fields there is the colorful Lowaria River Bridge.

In addition to the rice fields, there is also the Ae Oka Detusoko hot spring pool. This pool is a hot spring located 1 km from the Detusoko terminal. This hot water contains sulfur and is believed to cure various skin diseases.

West Detusoko Village also has a variety of distinctive arts and culture. Among them are Mega Dance, a welcoming dance. Then, Sanggualu Dance which is a dance passed down from generation to generation by the ancestors. This dance is performed by young people by combining traditional games from bamboo sticks.

As mentioned by the Minister, Detusoko Barat Village has a studio called Sanggar Dau Dole Pokdariwis Nira Neni, as a place to preserve traditional dances, music and local Lio Ende songs.

What's interesting about Detusoko Barat Village is the traditional ritual performed by the Lio Ende Tribe once a year. This ritual is called Nggua Uwi, to show gratitude for life, harvest, and salvation.

One of the crops that become the main commodity is candlenut. Candlenut thrives in West Detusoko Village. Apart from being used for candlenut oil, the pecan fruit is also used by village children as the main tool for their game (substitute for marbles).

There are also local culinary products that have been packaged and can be used as souvenirs for West Detusoko. Among them, Detusoko Coffee, processed chili sauce, Red Rice, Black Rice, Peanut Butter, Various Herbal Drinks, and Dried Mango. Meanwhile, for craft products, there are bracelets, rings, earrings, perfume made from coffee, and decorative lights.

On that occasion, Deputy Minister of Villages for Development of Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration, Budi Arie Setiadi, said that the Tourism Village Award was part of a joint effort to support the development of creative villages in Indonesia.

“I hope that Detusoko village can be built and encouraged by young people. And what is certain is that in developing a village, cooperation is needed by all parties. Hopefully West Detusoko Village can be an inspiration, can develop from year to year, and can become an icon for the progress of villages in Indonesia," he said. (VOI)