VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Mar. 3 - The US Embassy, on March 1, hosted eminent guests from the Indonesian, Australian, and U.S. Navies, Armed Forces, and Governments for a day of remembrance of shared history to commemorate the Battle of Sunda Strait.

After the national anthems of Indonesia, Australia, and the United States were played, the U.S. Naval Attaché, the Australian Naval Attaché, a representative from the Indonesian Ministry of Defense, and the Chargé d’Affaires, a.i. of the U.S. Mission to Indonesia, gave their remarks.

The ceremony, organized on the grounds of the US Embassy, wrapped up with all representatives placing their respective wreaths in the water, a time-honored naval tradition, according to a written statement issued by the US Embassy in Jakarta and received here on Wednesday.

This yearly event marks the sinking of the HMAS Perth I and USS Houston (CA-30) on March 1, 1942.

A total of 696 men from the US and 353 Australian sailors and marines were lost in the waters of Banten Bay just after midnight on March 1, 1942 -- scores of them battling till the very end.

The 368 Houston sailors that survived the sinking of their ship continued to resist while in captivity in Java, Singapore, Myanmar, Thailand, and Japan -- until the end of World War II -- when 291 Houston sailors returned home as heroes.

Through this commemoration, the U.S. Embassy recalls the ships and their valiant crew members and looks to the future as it works with Indonesian friends to convert the site of the USS Houston Banten Bay into a maritime conservation area.

Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy Heather Variava expressed gratitude to the Indonesian National Government and Banten Government officials for their commitment to safeguarding the sites as a marine conservation area.

"We are especially grateful for your continued support and cooperation in designating the site of the USS Houston, a Maritime Conservation Zone, and remain committed to working with you in pursuit of that goal," Variava affirmed.  (Antaranews)

Mar. 3 - The Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack that killed three female media workers in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday evening.

The militant group, which has a presence in Afghanistan, said its fighters had targeted the three female employees of a television station in the eastern city of Jalalabad, according to SITE Intelligence group.

Three women who worked for Enikas TV aged between 18 and 20 had died and a fourth was critically injured after being shot on their way home from work, Afghan officials had said. (Reuters)

Mar. 3 - The once-brash U.S. shale industry, which spent profusely in recent years to grab market share, is now focused on preserving cash, putting it at a disadvantage to low-cost OPEC producers as the global economy begins to gear up again.

Prior to the pandemic-induced downturn, OPEC countries led by Saudi Arabia restrained their production, eager to bolster prices to fund national budgets dependent on oil revenue. Shale drillers took advantage, boosting U.S. output to a record 13 million barrels a day.

But attendees of the year’s top energy conference made clear that even with a buoyant, $60-per-barrel oil price, shale will not come roaring back from the Covid-19 pandemic as it did from the 2016 downturn.

By contrast, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, known as OPEC+, has more than 7 million barrels of daily oil output sitting in reserve. This positions them to boost production much more easily than shale players for the first time in years.

The concern about free-wheeling shale companies taking advantage of OPEC’s output curbs led to a brief supply war in March 2020. Russia balked at a three-year agreement to extend production cuts, and Saudi Arabia responded by flooding the markets with oil, leading U.S. futures prices to slump to negative-$40 a barrel.

“Let’s face it. OPEC has had a very difficult time managing to accommodate the U.S. shale players and their ability to grow at low prices,” said IHS Markit analyst Raoul LeBlanc, adding that the key debate within OPEC is what oil price is just low enough to avoid a massive U.S. response.

The pandemic destroyed a fifth of global fuel demand, and numerous shale companies declared bankruptcy, while others arranged mergers to offload debt. Frustrated investors sent energy-related stocks slumping throughout 2020.

While shale executives expressed concern about reopening the wells too quickly, OPEC nations are expected to ease supply curbs at their meeting later this week, without having to look over their shoulder at shale.

“The worst thing that could happen is that U.S. producers start growing rapidly again,” said ConocoPhillips Chief Executive Ryan Lance.

The market widely expects OPEC to ease production cuts, which were the deepest ever, by around 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd), with OPEC’s leader, Saudi Arabia, ending its voluntary production cut of 1 million bpd. (Reuters)

Mar. 3 - Indonesia's halal industry is eyeing the vast market of middle-class Muslims, with high awareness of the halal issue, Vice President Ma'ruf Amin stated.

"Middle-class Muslims, with high halal awareness, hold prospects for growth of the halal industry, including halal food, halal fashion, halal healthcare, halal travel, and others," Amin stated here on Wednesday during a national webinar organized by the Sunan Ampel Islamic University (UIN) Surabaya.

With the largest Muslim population in the world, Indonesia is a potential market for the sharia economy and finance, the vice president noted.

However, the country had yet to reap the benefits of this potential and continues to be the largest consumer of world halal products, he remarked.

"To meet the domestic demand for halal food, we have to import, let alone become a global player," he noted

In 2018, Indonesia had spent US$173 billion to buy halal food and beverages, or equal to 12.6 percent of the world's halal product market share.

The vice president has appealed to all stakeholders in the halal industry to boost productivity and make Indonesia among the largest halal producers in the world.

Amin envisages that the world halal market would continue to increase, with the global Muslim population expected to reach 2.2 billion in 2030.

"It is time for Indonesia to build and strengthen its halal industry; with the short-term target to meet the domestic halal demand and for the longer term to become a global player through increased exports," he stated. (Antaranews)