VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta (VOI News) - Economic cooperation between Indonesia and Ethiopia has been very well and continues to increase from year to year. Currently, there are 5 Indonesian companies investing in Ethiopia. This has made Ethiopia as the second largest country that receives Indonesian investment in Africa after Nigeria. However, the COVID-19 outbreak affected both the short-term and long-term economic cooperation of the two countries. This was conveyed by the Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to Ethiopia concurrently Djibouti and the African Union, Al Busyra Basnur, in a special interview with Voice of Indonesia by telephone, in Jakarta, Tuesday (05/05/2020). He gave an example of the visit of 50 Ethiopian businessmen to Indonesia, which was originally planned on March 30, 2020, was postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

"The planned visit of around 50 Ethiopian businessmen to Indonesia on 30 March, and even the business delegation scheduled to be led by a high ranking official, namely the State Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I myself have coordinated with the Indonesian central government regarding various activities that would be carried out in Indonesia. But, unfortunately, we must postpone this plan," Al Busyra Basnur said.

Ambassador Al Busyra Basnur added the first case of COVID-19 in Ethiopia was on March 13, 2020. Until May 3, 2020, in Ethiopia, there have been 135 confirmed cases, 3 deaths, and 75 recovered cases. Al Busyra said that some of the COVID-19 cases in Ethiopia are from foreign nationals and Ethiopian citizens who traveled from areas affected by COVID-19. According to Al Busyra Basnur, all 163 Indonesians in Ethiopia and 6 Indonesians in Djibouti are in a healthy condition and are not exposed to COVID-19. (VOI / ADVENT / AHM)

Bogor (VOI News) - Indonesian President Joko Widodo attended the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Virtual Summit on Monday (05/04/2020) at the Presidential Palace, which specifically discussed the handling of Covid-19. This summit was held to coincide with the commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the Dasasila Bandung in 2020 and the 60th anniversary of the founding of the NAM in 2021. After accompanying the President, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said that the NAM Virtual Summit produced a declaration that raised concerns about the spread and impact of Covid-19. The NAM Summit Declaration also acknowledged that the most affected by Covid-19 were poor and vulnerable countries. According to Retno, this will result in a setback in the development that has been carried out by developing countries and will make it difficult to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

"In addition, the declaration also emphasized support for multilateralism and WHO in handling Covid-19. Related to this declaration also welcomed the resolution of the UN General Assembly number 74/270 related to the global solidarity to fight Covid-19, one of the initiators was Indonesia. The declaration also emphasized the importance of solidarity and cooperation including in ensuring the availability of drugs and medical equipment and preventing Covid-19's negative impact on the economy,” Retno LP Marsudi said.

Retno Marsudi further said that the Declaration on the results of the GNB Virtual Summit also raised the importance of information exchange and best practices related to handling Covid-19. The declaration also mentioned the need to revoke the application of unilateral mechanisms that are considered not in accordance with international law and the UN charter. This is intended so that the handling of Covid-19 can be done effectively. Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi also mentioned the agreement on the formation of a Non-Aligned Movement task force.

"Another thing emphasized in the declaration is the agreement on the formation of the NAM task force. The task of this task force is to compile a database of medical and humanitarian needs of the NAM country to be forwarded to the donor countries and organizations. Retno Marsudi continued.

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi explained that with the agreement on the formation of the Non-Aligned Movement task force, the Declaration of the Non-Aligned Movement Virtual Summit was not only a political statement but also produced concrete ideas in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic. (VOI / Ndy / AHM)

Bogor (VOI News) - President Joko Widodo attended the Non-Aligned Movement Virtual Summit, Monday (04/05) night at the Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java. The Non-Aligned Summit was held under the leadership of Azerbaijan and was followed by 39 countries of the Non-Aligned Movement. The NAM Summit this time raised the theme of United Against Covid-19 or Unity Against Covid-19. In addition to being followed by the Non-Aligned Movement countries, the Summit was also attended by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Director-General of WHO to the Chairperson of the African Union Commission or Chairperson of African Union Committee. During the summit, President Joko Widodo conveyed the importance of strengthening political solidarity among the Non-Aligned Movement countries. Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, after accompanying the President, said that President Joko Widodo reminded NAM countries to focus energy and time to deal with the Covid-19 Pandemic.

“The point is not to get stuck in things that can sharpen differences and weaken cooperation,” said Retno Marsudi.

In addition, President Joko Widodo also said that the political solidarity of the Non-Aligned Movement countries could be translated into concrete forms of cooperation in dealing with a pandemic. According to Reto Marsudi, this concrete collaboration was directed at handling pandemics, including access to medicines and vaccines.

“The priority of developing countries today is fair and timely access to Covid-19 medicines and vaccines at affordable prices. Flexibility is also needed in the application of patent regimes and intellectual property rights. That was also emphasized by the President,” Retno Marsudi added.

Furthermore, President Joko Widodo also stressed the importance of strengthening global partnerships for developing countries. According to Retno, the President underlined the importance of fulfilling commitments on development and humanitarian assistance, including debt relief.

“Debt payment obligations of developing countries can be transferred to financing for handling Covid-19 or called Debt Swap for Covid-19 from official creditors. This is important to say because there are so many developing countries, especially the least developed countries that have difficulties in handling Covid-19,” Retno Marsudi said.

Retno Marsudi added that President Joko Widodo in the Non-Aligned Movement Virtual Summit summit also stressed the importance of developing countries to be a solution for improving global health governance. This is so that developing countries can increase their readiness to prevent and deal with a pandemic in the future. (VOI/Ndy/AHM)