VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) spoke words of motivation to 51 Indonesian athletes who are competing at the 2023 FISU World University Games in Chengdu city, China.

"I am glad that we can continue participating at the FISU University Games," the President remarked while meeting with the athletes at Shangri-La Hotel, Chengdu city, on Friday.

He told them that they are representing Indonesia at the sports event.

"I would like to dearly ask you all to maintain your condition so you can compete in your prime form," he told the athletes.

He also expressed the hope that all athletes will give their best to achieve the expected results, adding: "You have to demonstrate a strong fighting spirit, so you can achieve the optimal achievements."

During the meeting, President Widodo was accompanied by Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Cultural Affairs, Muhadjir Effendy; Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan; Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi; Minister of Health, Budi Gunadi Sadikin; and Indonesian Ambassador to China, Djauhari Oratmangun.

The President and First Lady Iriana are scheduled to attend the opening ceremony of the 2023 FISU World University Games at Dong'an Lake Sports Stadium before returning to Jakarta.

The 2023 World University Games, which are being held from late July to early August, have brought together university students from around the globe to compete in a total of 18 sports branches, including badminton, archery, athletics, artistic gymnastics, and basketball.

This year, Indonesia has fielded 51 athletes from 31 higher educational institutions to compete in 8 sports branches.

The international multi-sports event, which is also known as the Universiade, is a biennial student-level summer Olympics organized by the International University Sports Federation (FISU).

Initially, Chengdu was slated to host the 31st edition of the event in 2021, but the event was postponed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - Indonesia has generated nine memoranda of understanding (MoUs) for cooperation with the private health sector in China on the sidelines of Indonesian President Joko Widodo's (Jokowi's) working visit to the country.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi in a video press statement regarding the results of President Jokowi's working visit to China on Thursday said that Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has held meetings with over 30 Chinese health business people.

"Minister Sadikin's meeting resulted in nine MoUs for the private sector, including those related to technology transfer for vaccine production, including halal vaccines," Minister Marsudi revealed.

She noted that the other MoUs produced also included cooperation in the production of diagnostic tools and management of health information systems.

She stated that Minister Sadikin's meeting with Chinese health sector businesses was also aimed at facilitating matchmaking between businesses in the Indonesia-China Health Care and Bio-Tech Investment Forum.

Moreover, she stated that the Indonesian government had also signed an action plan for implementing the MoU on health cooperation with China.

"This is a follow-up to the MoU that was signed last year," she remarked.

Meanwhile, at a bilateral meeting between President Jokowi and President Xi Jinping, the two leaders pushed to strengthen cooperation on genomic vaccines and biotechnology to deal with the possibility of a new pandemic in future.

"Including through the development of a national gene bank and biotechnology center in Indonesia," Minister Marsudi remarked.

President Jokowi paid a working visit to Chengdu, China, on July 27-28, to fulfill President Jinping's invitation, in line with the 10 years of Indonesia-China comprehensive strategic partnership.

Accompanying President Jokowi on this working visit were Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Muhadjir Effendy, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi, Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin, Minister of Investment and Head of the Investment Coordinating Board Bahlil Lahadalia, Head of the New Capital City (IKN) Nusantara Authority Bambang Susantono, and Indonesian Ambassador to China Djauhari Oratmangun. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo (Jokowi) is scheduled to attend the opening ceremony of the World Student Sports Festival, or FISU Universiade in Chengdu, China, Friday.

The visit was part of the series of the second-day working visits to the country.

As quoted from the official statement from the Press Bureau of the Presidential Secretariat, the head of state is scheduled to start the second day of activities with an agenda meeting with several Chinese businessmen at the Shangri-La Hotel in Chengdu.

Meanwhile, First Lady Iriana Joko Widodo is scheduled to visit a panda breeding site at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.

In the afternoon, the President and the First Lady are scheduled to meet an invitation to a luncheon from Chinese President Xi Jinping and Madam Peng Liyuan that is planned to be attended by several leaders from other countries.

President Jokowi is then scheduled to meet student athletes, who are part of the Indonesian contingent for the Chengdu Universiade.

In the evening, President Jokowi and the First Lady will attend the opening ceremony of the Chengdu Universiade at the Dong'an Lake Sports Stadium before ending their working visit in China and returning to Jakarta.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian contingent is strengthened by 51 student athletes from 31 tertiary educational institutions to compete at the Chengdu Universiade on July 25-August 9, 2023.

Indonesia took part in eight of the 31 sports contested at the event, including athletics, badminton, rowing, judo, swimming, taekwondo, tennis, and wushu.

The Universiade is a biannual student-level summer Olympics organized by the International Student Sports Federation (FISU).

Chengdu was actually the host for the 2021 Universiade that had to be deferred to 2022 due to the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on account of the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, on May 6, 2022, FISU again issued a postponement of the Universiade Chengdu schedule since the COVID-19 pandemic situation at that time had worsened again.

This year's Universiade Chengdu replaces a similar edition for 2023 that was originally held in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Yekaterinburg's hosting rights were revoked as a sanction for Russia's invasion of Ukraine. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - The Indonesian embassy in Yangon had picked up 26 Indonesian citizens (WNIs) who reportedly fell victim to job scams from conflict-ridden Myawaddy in Myanmar on July 25.

According to a statement received from the embassy here Thursday, the WNIs comprise five women and 21 men, and belong to several regions of Indonesia, including Medan, Mataram, Batam, Jakarta, Singkawang, Palembang, and Lhokseumawe.

The Indonesian embassy in Yangon, in cooperation with Myanmar's immigration authorities, picked upthe job scam victims and brought them out of the region.

The WNIs were picked up by bus from the police office of Myawaddy and handed over to the Indonesian embassy at an immigration office in Myanmar's Hlegu township.

The embassy informed that the WNIs worked in online scam companies, which mostly operated out of the Myawaddy region.

The majority of the WNIs entered Myanmar from the Thai border town of Mae Sot. This is the area where clashes between Myanmar’s army and armed resistance groups have intensified.

One Indonesian citizen had entered Myanmar legally on a business visa, but had overstayed the visa since December 2022.

The Indonesian embassy in Yangon had requested deportation permits for the WNIs from the Myanmar authorities. The deportation permits were issued without any prosecution for penalties or fines for immigration violations.

The Myanmar authorities stated that nine of the 26 Indonesian citizens were victims of human trafficking. The authorities are still conducting an investigation into 17 other citizens at the Indonesian embassy in Yangon.

The embassy has coordinated with the Directorate for the Protection of Indonesian Citizens of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ensure their return to Indonesia.

The embassy in Yangon will accommodate the 26 Indonesian citizens while waiting for their repatriation to Indonesia.  (Antaranews)