VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Feb. 10 - Indonesia-China relations got closer and reached their highest level in several cooperation sectors despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia, Xiao Qian, said.

"In 2020, China-Indonesia relations passed through an extraordinary year. Under the attention and promotion of their state leaders, governments and peoples, the two states have helped and supported each other to solve common difficulties," he said during a press briefing here on Tuesday.

The close relations were reflected in communications between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who held telephone conversations thrice and wrote a letter to each other when the two countries marked 70 years of diplomatic relations in 2020, he added.

In addition, ministers from the two countries paid reciprocal visits, he said. Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe and Foreign Minister Wang Yi who visited Indonesia, while Indonesian Coordinating Minister of Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, and State-Owned Enterprises Minister, Erick Thohir, paid visits to China, he noted.

"The high-level exchange between the two nations is getting closer and mutual trust continues to deepen," Qian said.

He said Indonesia and China have worked hand in hand to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

"In times of crisis, when China fought against the pandemic, the Indonesian government provided medical supplies to help China. Soon after the pandemic spread in Indonesia, China offered medical assistance and shared diagnosis and treatment experiences without reservation," he elaborated.

In the meantime, pharmaceutical companies from the two countries conducted the third phase of clinical trials of the COVID-19 vaccine and promoted cooperation in the joint procurement, research, development and production of vaccines, he said.

Economic cooperation between the two nations also made fresh progress with China maintaining its position as Indonesia's biggest trade partner and second largest foreign investor, he added.

"In 2020, bilateral trade between China and Indonesia reached US$78.37 billion, with China's imports from Indonesia reaching US$37.37 billion, or up 10.13 percent compared to a year earlier," he said.

China's foreign direct investment in Indonesia also spiked 72.9 percent from a year ago to reach US$1.83 billion, he added. (Antaranews)

Feb. 10 - The National Police's counterterrorism squad, Densus 88, is still conducting an in-depth investigation into the involvement of five suspected terrorists arrested in Aceh province with ISIS, a spokesperson said.

"Densus investigators are still studying profoundly the involvement of each suspect and investigating whether another party is involved," chief of Aceh Provincial Police's public relations service, Senior Commissioner Winardy, said on Tuesday.

The five suspects are being held in custody at the Aceh Provincial Police Station in Banda Aceh until the police receive an order to shift them to Jakarta, he informed.

Based on the preliminary investigation, the suspected terrorists have links with the ISIS network, and they were planning an explosion targeting police and military personnel and state assets in the province, he said.

"It is likely that another party has been involved in the movement. This all will depend on the result of the investigation by Densus," Winardy said.

Densus 88 arrested the five suspected terrorists from different parts of Banda Aceh, Aceh Besar, and Langsa.

"Three suspected terrorists were arrested in Aceh Besar district and Simpang Tujuh market, and the others in Ulee Kareng, Banda Aceh and other areas," he said. (Antaranews)

Feb. 9 - South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun on Tuesday called on restaurant and other business owners in the greater Seoul area to cooperate with social distancing rules to head off a spread of COVID-19 during the Lunar New Year holiday.

The country has been trying clamp down the number of infections by imposing strident social distancing measures, including a ban on indoor restaurant dining after 9 p.m., though it eased that curfew on more than half a million restaurants and other businesses outside the capital Seoul after a backlash.

Business owners and self-employed people in Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and port city of Incheon, home to over 25 million, have strongly criticised the government for unfair treatment, prompting some businesses to open their stores in protest.

“I understand the frustration, but we have made the decision after comprehensive consideration of social acceptance and different opinions,” Chung told an government meeting.

The Lunar New Year holiday starts on Feb. 11, and tens of millions of Koreans usually travel across the country to family gatherings.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 303 daily new coronavirus cases as of Monday, bringing total infections to 81,487, with a death toll of 1,482.

The KDCA held a COVID-19 vaccination dry run at the National Medical Center in Seoul on Tuesday, as the country gears up to kick off inoculation later this month.

The mock drill comes after last week’s three-day vaccination preparedness drill at an airport, which mobilised special freezers and ran through scenarios such as a terror attack, theft and transport faults.

Tuesday’s training focused on indoor handling of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines: unpacking, thawing, and mixing with diluents before administration, the KDCA said in a statement.

The practice session involved screening and processing unscheduled arrivals of recipients, as well as practising transporting a recipient who developed an allergic reaction to a local hospital.

The KDCA said it would conduct similar exercises with other brands of vaccines it has secured, including Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson. (Reuters)

Feb. 9 - Vice President Ma'ruf Amin drew attention to the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic had hindered the implementation of the One Million Houses for the Low-Income Communities (MBR) Program in 2020.

"In 2020, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the One Million Houses Program had failed to meet the target of 1,000,000 units, albeit only reaching 965,217 units, of which approximately 80 percent were allocated to people from the low-income group," Amin noted in his remarks at the Sixth National Conference (Munas) VI of the Association of Indonesian Housing and Settlement Developers (Apersi) held online on Tuesday.

However, Amin was content with 96.5 percent of the target being achieved and not being too disappointing.

In fact, the target of allocating houses for people from the low-income bracket exceeded the target of 70 percent of the total houses, to 80 percent.

"If viewed from the aspect of the home distribution target for the low-income community, the realization was 80 percent, as compared to 70 percent initially set for the One Million Houses Program in 2020," the vice president pointed out.

Under the One Million Houses Program, initiated in 2015, until now, as many as 5.4 million units were built, 70 percent of which were designated for housing for people from the low-income group.

Speaking in connection with the high housing backlog that reaches 11.04 million units, the vice president is optimistic that all relevant parties and stakeholders would expedite the construction of houses for low-income families.

On the basis of data of the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) in 2019, the number of Indonesia’s families that owned a house reached 80.07 percent, while the rest lived by renting a house, staying with relatives, or leading a nomadic existence. (Antaranews)