VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) on Thursday reviewed the prices of food commodities at Johar Market in Karawang, West Java.

Based on his review, he said that food prices in the market are stable.

In fact, the price of eggs in the market, which is usually above Rp30 thousand per kilogram, has now fallen to Rp26 thousand, he observed.

"We have checked and everything is good, only one (commodity) rice that prices have not gone down," he told reporters after inspecting the State Logistics Agency's (Bulog's) warehouse in Purwosari, West Java.

To check the spiraling price of rice, which has been triggered by a decline in production due to the El Nino phenomenon, the President has instructed Bulog to carry out market operations.

He has also asked that the operations be carried out in all places, from retail to wholesale.

"I have instructed the head of Bulog to carry out market operations not only in retail, not only at a wholesale market in Cipinang, but all places. Ask whatever (price) you give, but you have to pay," said the President.

Meanwhile, one of the rice merchants at Johar market, Halid Hamzah said that currently, the price of rice is increasing. According to him, the average price of rice has increased by Rp 2 thousand per kilogram.

"The average increase per kilogram has been almost Rp2 thousand, from the cheapest of Rp10 thousand to Rp12 thousand per kilogram. There has been an increase of Rp2 thousand per kilogram," he said. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - The Indonesian and South Korean governments have launched the Green Digital Economy platform (GDEP) to support transformation and boost digital innovation in agricultural technology, climate technology, and carbon trading.

The platform was launched in Seoul, South Korea, on September 13, 2023. The launch was attended by Presidential chief of staff, Moeldoko; founder of HumanX / DQ Institute, Yuhyun Park; and chairperson of the Presidential Commission for Carbon Neutrality and Growth, Kim Sang-Hyup.

“This GDEP initiative will be significant for our future, which depends on two things: green and digital," Moeldoko said in a statement issued on Thursday.

The launch was in the context of the 24th ASEAN-Republic of Korea Summit, which was held on September 6 and resulted in an agreement to promote green and digital economy, science, technology and innovation, as well as carbon neutrality in the region, he informed.

Moeldoko said that GDEP is an innovation and business collaboration platform that will seek to align the digital economy and sustainability by pioneering a 'cross economy' model, which goes beyond the traditional circular economy framework.

With GDEP, Indonesia will be able to empower 62 million Indonesian farmers with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital transformation. The platform can also be aligned with the meta-farming concept designed by the Indonesian Farmers' Movement to produce 10 million digital farmers by the end of 2024, he added.

Furthermore, he emphasized the importance of sustainability and the digital economy, especially for overcoming food security.

He informed that North Kalimantan province has been designated as a pilot location for the project and will play an important role as a national and global center for knowledge dissemination. Through GDEP, farmers will get digital literacy and skills training as well as gain access to the latest practices and technologies, including meta-farming.

In addition, Park said that the platform aims to generate larger economic benefits for farmers by integrating digitalization and carbon trading, thereby significantly expanding their sources of income.

According to him, GDEP will engage a broader network of multi-stakeholders in both countries for innovation and sustainable growth in the agriculture sector. Investment in the platform is expected to exceed US$1 billion. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - National Development Planning Minister and head of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) Suharso Monoarfa is targeting to lower Indonesia's logistics costs to nine percent of the national gross domestic product (GDP) by 2045.

The minister noted that based on a study conducted by Bappenas, Indonesia's current domestic and export logistics costs account for 14.29 percent and 8.98 percent of the GDP, respectively.

"We aim to lower logistics costs to reach at least nine percent of the GDP by 2045," he said at an event themed "New Era of Logistics Costs for Golden Indonesia 2045" held in Jakarta on Thursday.

The Bappenas head further said that his agency has made calculations on national logistics costs using the input-output method.

Based on the calculations, the government needs to take three aspects into account to manage logistics costs, namely transportation costs, warehouse and inventory costs, as well as administrative costs, he informed.

Minister Monoarfa then appealed to the relevant ministries, institutions, academics, associations, and development partners to provide constructive input on the matter.

Furthermore, he informed that in the future, Bappenas will calculate logistics costs and collaborate with the Economic Affairs Coordinating Ministry, Statistics Indonesia (BPS), and logistics service providers to lower them.

He also expressed the hope that the government will be successful in making Indonesia's logistics costs even more competitive.

At the event, he underscored the importance of logistics as Indonesia's economic lifeline and in guiding the nation to realize the vision of Golden Indonesia 2045.

Meanwhile, on the same occasion, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said a logistical system constitutes one of the crucial keys to accelerating national economic growth.

The minister affirmed that the government is committed to bolstering national logistics performance by formulating and implementing several policies.

For example, the government is striving to ensure the concrete implementation of the National Logistics Ecosystem (NLE) policy as a form of information system synergy and collaboration between agencies and business actors to create a more efficient national logistics system, he said.

He informed that the results of an evaluation of the NLE implementation showed that the policy has led the Quarantine Customs Single Submission (SSm QC) system to cut total inspection time by 22.37 percent and save Rp191.32 billion in costs. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - Chairperson of the executive board of the Indonesian Athletics Association (PB PASI) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan has assured that the preparation of the Indonesian athletics team for the upcoming 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, has gone well.

"Now, we are (participating in a) TC (training camp) with 30 people in Tianjin, China. The training is better (there) because they are concentrated," he informed the press here on Thursday.

He said the training camp in Tianjin is one of the training programs for preparing Indonesian athletes for the competition. The association is still waiting for the construction of the National Athletics Training Center in Pangalengan, West Java, to be fully completed.

He informed that the training center, which can accommodate 100 athletes, is being built in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing and is targeted to be completed next year.

Pandjaitan, who is also serving as Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs, said that the association will send 15 athletes to compete in the games, which will be held in October.

One of the athletes whose name has been confirmed so far is sprinter Lalu Muhammad Zohri.

Regarding the medal target for the 2022 Asian Games, he affirmed that he has not set a specific target.

Nevertheless, he did not deny that a gold would be ideal. He said that the achievements of the Indonesian athletics team at the 2023 Cambodia SEA Games were very good.

"Hopefully, we can win gold," he remarked.

The 2022 Asian Games, which were originally scheduled for September 2022, were postponed to 2023.

Earlier, Youth and Sports Minister Dito Ariotedjo announced that Indonesia will send 415 athletes to compete in the Asian Games. (Antaranews)