VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta - The Indonesian Migrant Worker Protection Agency (BP2MI) and Saudi Arabian Health Ministry's Deputyship of Human Resources have signed an agreement on the protection of Indonesian health workers.

The cooperation aims to increase protection for the Indonesian health workers in Saudi Arabia by establishing a safe and orderly recruitment and placement mechanism.

Secretary of BP2MI, Rinardi, said the government-to-government (G-to-G) program is the fourth cooperation arrangement carried out by the Indonesian government after earlier building relations with three other countries: Japan, Germany, and South Korea.

"This is an important milestone in creating better employment cooperation for Indonesia and Saudi Arabia in the health sector," he noted in Bali on Friday.

He said that the cooperation focuses on improving patient services and contributing to the welfare of Indonesian migrant workers, especially in the health sector.

In order to achieve the goal, the two parties agreed on several important points, firstly reaffirming their G-G joint commitment as the only mechanism recognized by the two governments for the placement and recruitment of Indonesian health workers in Saudi Arabia in two work sectors as agreed in the implementation arrangements.

"Secondly, commit to holding regular meetings to monitor and evaluate the implementation and discuss the problems faced by Indonesian health workers in Saudi Arabia, such as issues of job qualifications, working hours, prometric tests, and other matters that become a mutual concern," Rinardi remarked.

On the third point, both parties recognize the importance of work contracts as the legal basis for Indonesian health workers working in Saudi Arabia and are committed to involving related stakeholders in their respective countries for the implementation of this regulation, he remarked.

"This is not only a signing agreement but also an implementation of the agreement since both countries have mutual benefits. Saudi Arabia is able to have professional and quality health workers, while Indonesia has the benefit of placing our health workers in Saudi Arabia," he elaborated.

Meanwhile, Director General of Health Workers of the Indonesian Health Ministry, Arianti Anaya, stated that the G-G cooperation was able to produce professional nurses every year.

She noted that Saudi Arabia has a significant labor market to explore, with an annual demand reaching one thousand health workers.

"Saudi Arabia has requested around one thousand health workers to be placed in various hospitals in Saudi Arabia. We will fulfill this request," she stated.

She said that his ministry has 38 polytechnics that are ready to produce several nurses and are currently opening international classes for nurses to increase their competence in the international labor market.

"From the beginning, these prospective nurses have been accustomed to learning in the international class. We hope we can send them to the foreign labor market," Anaya remarked. (Antaranews)

VOInews, Jakarta: During Indonesia's chairmanship of ASEAN in 2023, Indonesia's initiative to accelerate the Code of Conduct (COC) negotiation process in the South China Sea (LTS) was successfully agreed upon by all ASEAN countries and China.

"In addition to accelerating negotiations, Indonesia's initiative in the form of Guidelines can be a practical guideline that also contains substantive material to keep the COC effective and actionable," the Foreign Ministry's Director of ASEAN Security Political Cooperation, Rolliansyah Soemirat, said in a statement received by Indonesia Window here on Friday (1/9/2023).

The first-of-its-kind guidelines summarize ASEAN-RRT aspirations to complete the COC in three years or less, through intensive discussion of pending issues and other proposed working methods to make negotiations faster and more effective.

"Given the complexity of the elements in the COC, the parties involved have been very cautious so a breakthrough is needed to accelerate the process," Rolliansyah said.

The COC is expected to be a code of conduct that reflects international norms, principles and rules that are in line with and refer to international law, especially UNCLOS with the aim of achieving a stable, safe and peaceful LTS region.

Indonesia always supports confidence building measures (CBMs) and reducing tensions to support prosperity in the region, and continues to ensure ASEAN centrality in LTS issues.

During Indonesia's Chairmanship of ASEAN, the COC negotiations have successfully completed the second reading or second round of negotiations. This shows a positive development that is expected to continue to be a momentum to accelerate the agreement of the code of conduct.

Indonesia has hosted the COC negotiations between ASEAN and China last March. At the end of 2023, Indonesia plans to host another round of COC negotiations as a contribution to accelerating the process.

In addition to the COC negotiations, Indonesia will continue to promote practical maritime cooperation between ASEAN and the PRC for the LTS region that can enhance mutual trust, in order to support and maintain peace, security and stability in the region. (VOI/Andy)

VOINews, Jakarta - Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi on Thursday called on Japan to ensure transparency in releasing the treated radioactive water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean and continuously monitor the process.

"There are two key aspects to the Fukushima power plant. The first one is regarding the transparency of the (water-dumping) process, the second is the need for monitoring," she remarked following a working meeting with the House of Representatives in Jakarta.

She requested that the Japanese government coordinate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in addressing the radioactive water issue.

"Everything must be carried in coordination with the IAEA. In short, Indonesia emphasizes on the importance of transparency and coordinated monitoring," Marsudi pointed out.

Earlier, on Sunday (August 27), the IAEA independently took a sample on the released water and vowed to continue to monitor Japan's initiative to release the water from the wrecked Fukushima plant to an open sea.

"We will continue independent sampling and monitoring until completion," Director General of IAEA Rafael Grossi stated as quoted from a post on his social media account.

Grossi revealed that based on the latest sampling activity at the power plant, the IAEA confirmed that the tritium levels in the discharged filtered water were still far below the operational limits.

Japan began releasing nuclear-contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi power plant into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday (August 24). The dumping process is expected to take three decades or longer to complete.

The process is being carried out by the power plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), to prevent the tanks at the power plant that had been containing the water from being overloaded in 2024.

This decision has sparked protests from domestic and foreign actors, especially from countries that consider the water as a threat to their security. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto has clarified that he has not issued any joint statement with the US Secretary of Defense regarding China's claims in the South China Sea.

"Yes, it is a statement, but there was no joint statement, nor was there a press conference," he said in Jakarta on Thursday.

He met with his US counterpart, Lloyd J. Austin III, last week during a working visit to the United States.

During the visit, Subianto witnessed the signing of a cooperation agreement between Indonesian and US defense industries on the purchasing of F-15EX fighter jets and Sikorsky S-70M Black Hawk helicopters.

At the meeting, he and the US Defense Secretary discussed bilateral relations in the defense sector and sought to expand their coverage. They also discussed security issues in the region.

After the meeting, on August 24, 2023, the US Department of Defense issued a joint press statement stating that the two ministers shared the view that China's expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea are inconsistent with international law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

According to the statement, Austin and Subianto also jointly condemned the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine and demanded its complete and unconditional withdrawal from Ukrainian territory.

No joint statement was issued following last week's meeting, Subianto reiterated.

"The important thing is, I can underline here that we (Indonesia) have very good relations with China. We build mutual respect and understanding. I conveyed that in the US. We are close friends with China, we respect America, and we seek friendship with Russia. Indonesia's position is clear that we are non-aligned. We befriend all countries," he said.

The minister then disclosed his plans to visit Moscow in Russia and Beijing in China this year.

"I will visit Moscow, I also have an invitation to visit Beijing in October. Insya Allah (God willing), I was invited. We want to befriend all countries. If possible, we can become a bridge for all," Subianto added. (antaranews)