VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Indonesian Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy collaborates with PT. KAI/KA Wisata and ASTINDO to present the "Train Tour Packages Bundling" program in a bid to welcome the momentum of the Eid holiday while realizing the target of domestic tourist movement of 1.5 billion in 2024. Through this initiative, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Sandiaga Uno appreciates PT's full support of KAI/KA Wisata and ASTINDO towards the recovery and revival of the tourism and creative sector. He also hopes that more and more domestic tourists will be interested and start planning their tours during the Eid holiday with KAI and travel agents.

Meanwhile, Commercial Director of PT Kereta Api Indonesia, Hadis Surya Palapa, explained that in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy and ASTINDO, there are two derivative programs from "Train Tour Packages Bundling" namely Nyok Mudik ke Jakarta Aje (Let's Go Home to Jakarta) and Monday-Thursday Tourism. For Nyok Mudik ke Jakarta Aje, there are around 20 routes to Jakarta that can be used by prospective tourists, which are packed with attractive tour packages, including accommodation, culinary delights and tourism attractions. PT. KAI provides discounts for trains of up to 30 percent and is valid during the Eid holiday. Meanwhile, the Monday-Thursday Tourism program offers train tickets with attractive discounts for various destinations every Monday to Thursday departure, specifically for travel agents who bundle their services using trains.

Besides the collaboration program, PT. KAI also presents an independently managed Ramadan Festive program. Taking place on March 20-21, 2024, KAI provides 38,000 seats with rates for executive class costing IDR 300,000, business class IDR 250,000, while economy class IDR 200,000 with a validity period during the Eid momentum. Meanwhile, General Chairperson of ASTINDO, Pauline Suharno, said that if KAI provides its mode of transportation to support the movement of domestic tourists; ASTINDO acts as a provider of thematic tourism packages in the regions. It creates tour packages in cities that are not reached by airports. Tourists can enjoy vacation at promotional prices for hotel discounts, attraction discounts and train ticket discounts.

The Indonesian Ministry of Trade recorded that Indonesian household appliance products have reached potential transactions of USD 8.88 million or around 133 billion rupiah at “ the  Inspired Home Show 2024 “ exhibition. The event was held on 17th–19th March 2024 in McCormick Place, Chicago  United States. Consul General of the Republic of Indonesia Chicago, Listyowati in Jakarta on  Wednesday (20/3)  conveyed that this value has tripled compared to transaction achievements in the previous year's participation. Listyowati in hopes that  the “ Inspired Home Show  2024 “ exhibition  can be utilized optimally to get to know the American market and expand networks, so it builds the good image of quality Indonesian products. Moreover,  recording transactions and even it will  increase the value of exports in the future.

The Indonesian Pavilion presented eight companies exhibiting quality and value-added/environmentally friendly, recycled sustainable products, household equipment and equipment products and products with new innovations.  More than 100 retail companies visited the Indonesian Pavilion during the exhibition. In 2024,  potential buyers are more varied.  Apart from the United States,  the Indonesian Pavilion was visited by buyers including from Canada,  Mexico,  Brazil,  Argentina, Panama,  England,  Germany,  United Arab Emirates,  India,  South Korea,  China, Spain,  Italy,  Netherlands and Peru.

Meanwhile, the Head of Indonesian Trade Promotion Center in Chicago,  Iska Huberta Sinurat explained the most popular products are wooden tableware,  glassware,  home decorations and unique added value,  recycled products,  as well as environmentally friendly products. According to Iska,  at the  exhibition in 2024,  there were many importers, buyers at the Indonesian Pavilion who wanted to move their production centers to Indonesia. The  Indonesian Trade Promotion Center also received requests from other product producers from Indonesia for similar purposes. Based on Global Trade Atlas data -S&P Global,  in 2023 the value of United States imports for household equipment products from the world,  amounted to 455 billion US dollars,  decreased 2.25 percent from 2022.  For this sector,  Indonesia's exports to America were recorded at 7.4 billion US dollars. Iska emphasized,  from this data it can be seen that the opportunity for Indonesian products to meet the American household equipment product market is still wide open//

Five airports in Indonesia successfully got"The Most Enjoyable Airport 2023" award. The award was given by the Airport Council International (ACI) in the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) 2023. In 2022, four new categories were introduced for ASQ Awards, reflecting the evolution of customers' need and airport effort to fulfill the transition from the pandemic. The categories included the Most Dedicated Staff, the Cleanest Airport, the Most Enjoyable Airport, and Easiest Airport Journey.

In the most enjoyable airport category, Indonesia came with five tops airports namely Adi Soemarmo International Airport in Central Java, Sultan Aji Muhammad Sulaiman Sepinggan International Airport in Balikpapan, Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport in Makassar, Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II in Palembang, and Yogyakarta International Airport in Kulon Progo.

Besides, Indonesia also got awards for other categories. Five airports in the country, for example, join the best service category. While six airports were in the cleanest airport category, and five in the easiest airport journey. The award by ACI was based on an airport customer satisfaction survey of airports across the globe involving more than 400 airports participating in 109 countries.

The Indonesian Ambassador to Cambodia, Santo Darmosumarto and the Minister of Health of Cambodia, Professor Chheang Ra in Phnom Penh, Cambodia held a meeting on Thursday (14/3). At the meeting, they discussed the potential for cooperation of both countries particularly in the health sector. According to Ambassador Santo, as two developing countries, Indonesia has great potential to work together with Cambodia in developing the health sectors. As reported by the Indonesian Embassy in Phnom Penh, Ambassador Santo conveyed there were at least three areas that could be the focus of this collaboration. First, developing a cooperation framework through bilateral agreements in the field of health cooperation. Second, mutually increasing human resource capacity through scholarships, internships and other interactions between medical personnel and health workers. Third, increasing trade in health products, including medicines, herbal supplements and medical devices.

Meanwhile, Minister Chheang Ra provided an overview of the Cambodian government's priorities in the health sector, including preventing infectious diseases, handling non-communicable diseases, developing social security, increasing human resources, and developing digital health. Both parties agreed that there are a lot of rooms for Indonesia and Cambodia to work together to deal with this problem.

Ambassador Santo pointed out that exports of Indonesian pharmaceutical products doubled last year compared to the previous year. This makes medicines one of the top five main export products from Indonesia to Cambodia. He further asked for support from the Cambodian Ministry of Health to facilitate sustainable access to Indonesian medicines and supplements for the growing number of Cambodian consumers.

Moreover, Ambassador Santo also explained that the number of Indonesian citizens working in Cambodia is increasing. There are some of them who do not aware of health problems in Cambodia and how to overcome them. Therefore, he also asked for the support of the Cambodian Ministry of Health to provide health education to the Indonesian people living in Cambodia. The request received a positive response from Cambodian Health Minister Chheang Rea.

This year, Indonesia and Cambodia commemorate 65 years of diplomatic relations. Indonesia is Cambodia's sixth largest trading partner. The Indonesian Embassy in Phnom Penh wants to advance this economic relationship through concrete cooperative activities. In this September, the Indonesian Embassy in Phnom Penh is planned to hold a large-scale solo exhibition in Phnom Penh. The exhibition will promote bilateral cooperation in the fields of trade, investment, tourism and education, as well as in the health sector.