VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Garut is one of popular destinations in West Java, Indonesia. Garut offers a strong culture, as well as an impressive creative economy sector. This is the main attraction of this city dubbed as Switzerland van Java. If you visit Garut, it won't be complete without bringing home souvenirs from its unique creative economy products. We recommend some typical Garut souvenirs. First, Vetiver Root Crafts. Vetiver root is often used as a medicine for toothache, rheumatism and to eliminate bad breath. In fact, the leaves and stems can also be used as raw materials for crafts.

Some crafts made from vetiver include bags, wall hangings and woven root dolls in the shape of sheep. You can buy various crafts from Vetiver Root when you come to Garut. The price of Vetiver Root crafts varies from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of rupiah, depending on the type of craft and the level of complexity of the manufacturing process. Visiting Garut without buying dodol is incomplete. Moreover, this fudge-like sweet made from glutinous rice, palm sugar and coconut milk is indeed a culinary icon of Garut, whose popularity has even earned Garut the nickname "City of Dodol". This typical Garut dodol can be easily found throughout Garut. There are various flavors such as sesame dodol, peanut dodol and various fruit dodol such as pineapple, jackfruit, strawberry and even durian flavor.

For the people of Garut, Kuntji's sweet soy sauce, which has been around since the 1960s, is an inseparable part of their culinary delights. The popularity of this sweet soy sauce began when the Tin-Tin company was founded, which is said to have been successful because it started with the tenacity of a married couple, Lie Ma Pan and Tan Soe Ing. As a result of their hard work and tenacity, now the Tin-Tin factory produces not only superior soy sauce, such as Kuntji sweet soy sauce, but also various other types of soy sauce with different trademarks, namely Angsa, Hade, Selera, Sarasa soy sauce, Haremis brand soy sauce, to food vinegar products with the Cabe brand. If you visit Garut, don't miss the opportunity to buy this legendary Kuntji branded sweet soy sauce product.

The Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia Riyadh and the Riyadh Trade Attaché facilitated an online business meeting between Indonesian coffee shop entrepreneurs and Indonesian food and beverage business people in Saudi Arabia. The business meeting was held on February 13, 2024.

Indonesian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, through a release received by Voice of Indonesia on Saturday (2/3) Abdul Aziz Ahmad explained that business meeting facilities were provided to increase market penetration of Indonesian coffee product exports in Saudi Arabia. Through this facility, it is hoped that Indonesia can become one of the coffee business resources in Saudi Arabia which is growing rapidly.

According to Aziz, the coffee shop business in Saudi Arabia is currently experiencing a very rapid increase because the people of Saudi Arabia have roots in the culture of drinking coffee. Riyadh Trade Attaché, Gunawan added, Indonesian coffee has the potential to increase its exports to Saudi Arabia. According to Gunawan, Indonesia as one of the Muslim countries that has cultural closeness to Saudi Arabia, needs to take the opportunity to increase coffee exports by creating a network of Indonesian coffee shops in Saudi Arabia, such as J.CO which has successfully opened 13 branches in the Riyadh area since 2018.

​For Indonesia, Saudi Arabia is the 30th trading partner for coffee commodities. In 2021, Indonesia only supply Saudi Arabia's coffee needs by 0.7 percent. Based on BPS data, Indonesian coffee exports to Saudi Arabia continue to show increase. From these data, it appears that the opportunity to increase the value of Indonesian coffee exports to Saudi Arabia is still wide open.

If you are in Yogyakarta, a trip to the beach is one of the right choices. Gunung Kidul, one of the districts in Yogyakarta, has a row of beautiful beaches that are interesting to visit. One of them is Siung Beach. This white sandy beach is quite famous in Yogyakarta, even abroad. Apart from its beauty, easy access makes many tourists visit Siung Beach.

Siung Beach is in Duwet Hamlet, Purwodadi Village, Tepus District, Gunungkidul, Yogyakarta Special Region. From the center of Yogja City, you will travel around 77 kilometers or around 2 to 3 hours. Arriving at Siung Beach, you will see many giant rocks scattered to the west and east of the beach.

Apart from being a characteristic feature of Siung Beach, the presence of coral rocks also has meaning in the origin of this beach's name. It is said that the shape of this giant rock resembles the teeth of a monkey or Siung Wanara. That's why it is called Siung Beach. Not only that, if you are lucky you can find several long-tailed monkeys around the beach but today they are difficult to find.

Among rock climbing lovers, Siung Beach has become a spot that must be conquered. Having around 250 rock climbing spots with different levels of difficulty, Siung Beach was also awarded "The Best Climbing Rocks Site in Yogyakarta".

So if you love rock climbing, you need to visit this beach. Besides being able to enjoy swimming and playing in the water, you can climb to the expanse of green grass called Pengilon Hill. Here, you can enjoy the view of Siung Beach from a height.

You can even see a group of other beaches in the Gunungkidul area, such as Wediombo Beach and Watu Lumbung Beach. Try to come in the morning to watch the beautiful sunrise panorama. If you want to spend the night, you can camp on the east coast. Siung Beach also provides adequate facilities, such as parking, toilets, places of worship, and several food stalls serving seafood and several typical Yogyakarta menus.

Indonesian Embassy in Canberra / held the Ambassador Goes to Campus activity at Deakin and Monash Universities/ Australia. on Friday (1/3)/ to promote education in Indonesia and explore collaboration between universities in the two countries// Ambassador  Siswo Pramono/ in a press release on Friday said/ the educational cooperation between Indonesia and Australia will accelerate the fulfillment of quality human resources needed/ who are ready to make a positive contribution to the economy and progress of the two countries// Apart from that/ both countries can carry out joint research in overcoming the impacts of climate change// According to him/ this is related to fact that Indonesia currently has a demographic bonus/ which must be utilized well/ and will only happen through quality education//

Meanwhile, Education Attache of the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra/ Mukhamad Najib/ explained/ this event was held to bring together the leadership of an  Indonesian  University, the University  of Lampung, Sumatra,  with the leadership of Deakin and Monash Universities// He hoped/ the three universities could get to know each other and could continue with concrete cooperation// He also highlighted the importance of universities in Australia to recognize the potential of universities in Indonesia which are located outside Java// On this occasion/ Chancellor of the University of Lampung/ Lusmeilia Afriani/ conveyed their campus profile and agenda in terms of internationalization// Meanwhile, the President of Deakin University/ Iain Martin/ said/ he was interested in building collaboration with universities in Indonesia/ especially in the field of research// He also highlighted the importance of establishing relationships between researchers with an interest in the same field// Currently, Monash University has a branch operating in Jakarta/ while Deakin will soon have a branch in Bandung/ West Java//