The governments of Indonesia and Singapore have agreed to strengthen cooperation in efforts to overcome the impacts of climate change and achieve sustainable development at the recently concluded 2nd Working Level Meeting.

The meeting, which was held from February 21–22, 2022, was a follow-up to a meeting held on January 24, in Bintan.

Deputy for Coordination of Environmental and Forestry Management at the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment Nani Hendiarti, and Deputy Secretary of the Singapore Prime Minister's Office Strategy Group Cindy Khoo led the meeting, which covered four main topics.

The topics were carbon pricing and markets, nature-based solutions and ecosystem-based approach, clean technology and solutions, and green and blended finance, Hendiarti informed in a statement received in Jakarta on Wednesday.

"We are committed to working together with Singapore to tackle climate change and achieve sustainable development and believe that this cooperation will provide many benefits for both countries," she remarked.

The meeting is expected to produce a concrete agreement, she added.

"I hope our discussion this time can be more in-depth regarding the forms of cooperation that can be implemented in the near future through pilot project activities on the four topics," she said.

Khoo also agreed that Indonesia and Singapore should quickly develop concrete projects revolving around the four issues.

"We already know the issues that we want to discuss. Now what is more important is how we do it. Starting from the agenda or timeline of each project," she said.

Singapore is committed to controlling climate change by transforming industry, economy, and society, adopting low-carbon technologies, and promoting effective international collaboration between countries, she added.

At the end of the session, the two countries agreed on 11 activities and timelines for cooperation on the four topics discussed, which will be included in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two countries, Hendiarti said.

The MoU is expected to be signed in March 2022, she added. (antaranews)

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi called for close cooperation for dealing with human trafficking while leading an international meeting in Paris on Monday.

The Foreign Ministers' Meeting of the Bali Process Steering Group (SGMM) was initiated by Marsudi, the Foreign Ministry said in a written statement released on Monday.

The Australian Foreign Minister served as co-chair and the foreign ministers of Thailand and New Zealand as members of the Bali Process Steering Group at the meeting, which was also attended by senior officials from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

"Our main task is to increase the role of the Bali Process through new and concrete steps for handling a variety of unique and complex migration cases in the region amidst the (COVID-19) pandemic and the increasing challenges to regional stability,” Marsudi said.

According to the Foreign Ministry, the meeting also discussed the significance of reviving and revitalizing the Bali Process, the plan to commemorate 20 years of the Bali Process this year, and the plan to hold the eighth Bali Process Ministerial Conference (BPMC) at the end of 2022.

All the steps to be taken will hopefully strengthen the Bali Process to thwart human smuggling, human trafficking, and other transnational crimes, Marsudi said at the meeting.

She also called for close cooperation under the Bali Process mechanism to address regular migration issues collectively and proportionally in the region, including during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has increasingly added to the challenge of handling regular migrants.

She noted that the pandemic has raised the risk of human smuggling and trafficking, particularly the exploitation of children and women.

To that end, she said that efforts to handle regular migrants must constantly be made to enable the voluntary, safe, dignified, and sustainable return of regular migrants.

She reiterated the significance of involving the business sector in helping ensure transparent supply chains, ethical recruitment, and compensation for workers, particularly in view of the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on migrant workers.

"Looking ahead, the Bali Process must serve as an adaptive and responsive regional mechanism to face the challenge to regular migration in the region. For this part, we need to increase capacity, build self-confidence and coordinate more closely various mechanisms in the Bali Process," she said.

The Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime (Bali Process) is the only regional consultation process addressing regular migration issues in the region, according to the Foreign Ministry.

In the 20 years of its existence, it has contributed not only to building dialogue on regular migration but also developing regional guidance and capacity, it added.

The Bali Process was set up by Indonesia and Australia in 2002. Its members comprise 45 countries and entities and four international organizations—UNHCR, IOM, UNODC, and ILO. (antaranews)

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has said his government is targeting to put at least two million electric vehicles on the road by 2025.

"The target is two million electric vehicles to be used by Indonesians and will continue to the export market," he remarked while launching an electric vehicle ecosystem at MT Haryono gas station, Tebet, South Jakarta on Tuesday.

Indonesia is very serious about transitioning to the use of new renewable energy, he said. The use of electric vehicles is one of the efforts to accelerate this transition, he added.

He then lauded business players who are contributing to developing the electric vehicle ecosystem, both in the upstream and downstream sectors.

Indonesia can become an electric vehicle manufacturer and leader with the support of the electric vehicle ecosystem, from upstream to downstream, Widodo affirmed.

To support the development of the electric vehicle industry, it is hoped that electric battery factories with a large production capacity can be completed soon in Indonesia, the President said.

"The production capacity (of electric vehicles) will be increased, maybe in collaboration with companies from Taiwan, such as Gogoro, so that the (Indonesian) electric vehicle ecosystem can be made ready to compete with other countries," he explained.

Moreover, the electric vehicle ecosystem is one of the main foundations for environmental preservation because such vehicles do not cause pollution, Widodo said. In addition, electric vehicles will enjoy robust demand since their energy source is readily available, he added.

"I have witnessed how the vehicle is charged, which takes a short time. I think this kind of management is desired by vehicle users," he said.

Tuesday’s launch event was attended by several business leaders supporting electric vehicle ecosystem development, such as state oil and gas firm PT Pertamina, Electrum, Gojek, Goto, Indonesia Battery Corporation (IBC), and Gesits. (Antaranews)

Indonesia and South Korea have agreed to deepen bilateral cooperation by signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on critical mineral development.

The latest cooperation is a follow-up to the meeting of the 12th Indonesia-Korea Energy Forum (IKEF), Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Arifin Tasrif, informed here on Tuesday.

"Through this MoU, the two countries can exchange information and human resources in the sector of critical minerals and support project collaboration between their private sectors," Tasrif said.

Cooperation on energy and mineral has been established between the two countries since 2002, and they have enjoyed good relations both at the government and private-sector levels, he noted.

The agreement on critical minerals was signed by the ministry's director general of minerals and coal, Ridwan Djamaluddin, and the director general for resources industry policy of the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), he informed.

Furthermore, the government-to-government (G to G) model was first initiated by South Korea at the 12th Indonesia-Korea Energy Forum, he said.

On January 19, 2022, South Korea had again conveyed the need for an agreement on minerals and proposed the draft MoU on critical minerals, he added.

Furthermore, the urgent need for such an agreement between the two countries was also stressed through the Joint Statement for Cooperation on Establishing Cooperative Partnership for Critical Minerals between Korea Mine Rehabilitation and Mineral Resources Corporation (KOMIR) and state-owned mining industry holding Mind ID.

Earlier, bilateral cooperation in mineral and coal sub-sectors had been established for the acid mine water project in Kutai Kartanegara district, East Kalimantan for 2014–2016. The project was valued at US$3.2 million.

The two countries have also extended their cooperation to support the mercury-polluted soil remediation program in Kalimantan by five years (2020–2025). The program is valued at US$4.6 million. (Antaranews)