VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta - The Health Ministry has made Wolbachia technology and dengue vaccines the main topics for discussion at the 2023 ASEAN Dengue Day (ADD) in an effort to intervene in cases of dengue fever.

"We must carry out new innovations. Our national strategy allows for the implementation of Wolbachia technology," said Maxi Rein Rondonuwu, the ministry's Director-General of Disease Prevention and Control (P2P), while opening the event in Bogor, West Java, on Tuesday.

According to the World Mosquito Program (WMP) website, Wolbachia is an extremely common bacteria that occurs naturally in 50 percent of insect species, including some mosquitoes, fruit flies, moths, dragonflies, and butterflies.

When Aedes aegypti mosquitoes carry Wolbachia, the bacteria compete with viruses like dengue, Zika, chikungunya, and yellow fever.

This makes it harder for viruses to reproduce inside the mosquitoes, and as a result, the mosquitoes are much less likely to spread viruses from person to person.

WMP breeds Wolbachia mosquitoes and, in partnership with local communities, releases the mosquitoes into areas affected by mosquito-borne diseases.

Based on the results of trials conducted in Yogyakarta since 2017, Wolbachia has been shown to immobilize the dengue virus in the body of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, thereby preventing the virus from infecting humans, Rondonuwu added.

"Yogyakarta has implemented it, and it was successful. We will develop it in stages starting with provincial capitals," he informed.

He said that the technology developed by WMP in Yogyakarta will be expanded to West Jakarta and Bandung City. The similar program is also running in Semarang, Bontang, Kupang, and Bali.

He also urged the participants attending the event to discuss the government's plan to implement dengue vaccination as a national program.

The vaccine is currently still in the development stage after obtaining a distribution permit and technical guidance from the Indonesian Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM).

"We are still studying to make dengue vaccination a routine government program, starting with an introduction to the community and further study," he disclosed.

The technical study of the dengue vaccine involved the Indonesia Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (ITAGI), BPOM, and other experts for suggestions regarding the safety and efficacy of the vaccine as a national program.

This year's event with the theme of "Realizing a Dengue-Free Indonesia" was attended by around 1,000 participants from central and regional governments, professional organizations, experts, and community leaders. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi has said that mobility is a key word for building a resilient and sustainable future.

"It is (also) a key word for understanding complex international affairs," Hayashi observed during a symposium on "Mobility among ASEAN and Japan: Its Future and How We Shape It," which was held by the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) and the Japan Foundation here on Tuesday.

In his remarks, Hayashi said that the foundation for the current strong relations between Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is trust and respect.

This trust and respect have been forged through various kinds of mobility carried out between people on both sides, he added.

The Japan Foundation, he said, has contributed to strengthening relations between the people of Japan and ASEAN by promoting cultural and intellectual exchanges and supporting language and educational projects carried out by Japan.

In order to strengthen the relationship among the younger generation, Japan, through the Japan Foundation, and BRIN, under Indonesia's ASEAN chairmanship this year, have organized a symposium to address problems arising from people's mobility between ASEAN and Japan.

In addition to building a resilient and sustainable future, mobility also has an important role in creating lasting friendships and has provided a golden opportunity at the moment of the 50th anniversary of ASEAN and Japan relations, said Hayashi.

"This is important to facilitate the delivery of ideas and wisdom in addition to the movement of people and goods," he added.

Therefore, he said he hoped that the study symposium on people's mobility would lay the foundation for this development.

In the meantime, minister and deputy head of mission of Japan to ASEAN, Yasunori Kodama, said that mobility is an important pillar to strengthen cooperation between ASEAN and Japan.

"Connectivity is also important for Indonesia, in its chairmanship of ASEAN, to mainstream ASEAN issues and ASEAN's role as a center of growth," he added.

Increased mobility or connectivity between the people of ASEAN and Japan could further enhance social and economic relations on both sides, he continued.

Hence, Japan has made several efforts to improve connectivity, including through a student and youth exchange program called JENESYS (Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths). At least 36 thousand ASEAN youths have been invited to Japan since its inception in 2007.

Since 2018, Japan has also implemented an exchange program under which it has targeted to invite one thousand high school students from ASEAN and learn about its science, technology, and culture.

These efforts, said Kodama, have been made to strengthen relations between the people of ASEAN and Japan, as well as to support one of the pillars of cooperation of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP), which includes connectivity between people.

"So this supports the implementation of AOIP, which will be one of the core of our future cooperation and friendship," he added. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - ASEAN has the potential to become a global solar panel manufacturing hub given its rapid economic growth and high electricity demand, according to the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR).

"We believe Southeast Asia has the potential to become a solar panel manufacturing hub to supply domestic and global demand," executive director of IESR, Fabby Tumiwa, said at the Indosolar Expo 2023 in Jakarta on Tuesday.

With the large potential of solar power sources and declining installation costs as well as favorable policies in a number of countries, ASEAN could surpass other regions in the development of solar panel manufacturing, Tumiwa expounded.

The region's solar panel capacity is expected to grow from 25 GW in 2021 to 107–142 GW by 2030.

However, he added, the growth rate is still not enough to achieve the target of limiting the rise in Earth's temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

"Based on IRENA (International Renewable Energy Agency) calculations, solar panels' capacity must reach at least 241 GW by 2030 and the total installed capacity of solar panels must reach 2,100–2,400 GW by 2050 to be in line with the 1.5-degree temperature reduction target," he said.

According to Tumiwa, ASEAN has enough space on land, on the roofs of buildings, and on the surface of the waters for solar panel installations.

ASEAN also has the potential to install 820 GW of floating solar panels to supply 30 percent of the required capacity by 2050 to help reduce warming.

Currently, 7 ASEAN countries have built solar panel facilities with a total capacity of around 70 GW. The countries are Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia, and Singapore.

"All of these countries have factories to produce solar modules. Indonesia also has one but the capacity is only 1.6 GW; Vietnam has the biggest (capacity) of 34 GW," he added.

Tumiwa said the capacity of the solar panel industry has reached half of the industry's total installed capacity in ASEAN as the region has a complete supply chain starting from polysilicon, ingots, wafers, solar cells, and other components.

Indonesia, on the other hand, has a comparative advantage to develop the industry domestically.

"That's why Indonesia also needs to build from its upstream industry, from polysilicon, an important raw material for solar panels," he said. (Antaranews)

VOInews, Jakarta: Indonesian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Pahala Nugraha encouraged the strengthening of cooperation between Indonesia and Australia in the downstream and industrial supply chain sectors, joint production of electric vehicle batteries, climate change and food security.

"Both countries have the potential to cooperate in the production of electric vehicle (EV) batteries by utilizing Indonesia's nickel reserves and Australia's lithium," said Deputy Minister Pahala when meeting Australian Minister of Industry and Science Ed Husic on Tuesday (25/7) in Jakarta, as quoted from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' official statement.

The Deputy Minister encouraged the implementation of the cooperation between the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) and the Western Australian Government signed during the Annual Leaders Meeting in Sydney on July 4, 2023. The agreement is intended to build a high value-added critical mineral and electric vehicle battery industry.

The Deputy Minister also said that the cooperation is in line with the priority of industrial downstreaming to make Indonesia an important part of the global supply chain. Several Indonesian SOEs have also made investments in Australia, including the cooperation between Mind ID and BCI Minerals which was also signed during President Joko Widodo's visit for the Annual Leaders' Meeting in early July.

"I hope that Indonesia can also become a hub that connects Australia with other countries, so that Indonesia can be part of the future industrial supply chain," the Deputy Minister explained.

The meeting also discussed the implementation of climate and food security cooperation projects between the two countries. In the field of climate change, the Deputy Foreign Minister encouraged the realization of carbon capture and storage cooperation in Arun, Aceh, as well as the production and distribution of blue hydrogen.

He also encouraged cooperation in the field of food security, including livestock and sugar. One of the collaborations that can be developed is research on bioethanol development.

Meanwhile, Australia's Minister for Industry and Science, Ed Husic, said that Australia and Indonesia have the same ambition, which is to reduce emissions, increase employment, and become a powerhouse in battery manufacturing. According to him, Australia is also exploring other more efficient battery technologies, not only for electric vehicles but also for long-term commercial industries.

The meeting with Australian Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic, was the first meeting at the Ministerial level conducted by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs since taking office. In line with the focus of the tasks assigned to the Deputy Foreign Minister, the meeting discussed a lot about increasing strategic economic cooperation between the two countries. (VOI/Andy)