VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Located in the Royal Palace of Lesotho, Ambassador Salman Al Farisi submitted the Credentials to the King of Lesotho, His Majesty King Letsie III. State procession for the Indonesian LBBP Ambassador who has the accreditation of the Republic of South Africa with the Kingdom of Lesotho, the Kingdom of Eswatini, and the Republic of Botswana (9/5)

At the ceremony, the King of Lesotho was accompanied by officials of the Royal Lesotho government, while the Indonesian Ambassador in Pretoria was accompanied by Ms. Umi Al Farisi and Indonesian Embassy officials in Pretoria.

The ceremony began with the submission of the Indonesian  Ambassador's credentials from the President of the Republic of Indonesia to the King of Lesotho, then continued with a military procession. The Indonesian Ambassador in Pretoria had the opportunity to inspect the military forces of the Royal Lesotho who appeared in colorful uniforms. The military reception was held in the main park area of ​​the palace, followed by listening to the national anthem of Indonesia Raya and the national anthem of the Kingdom of Lesotho.

During the submission of credentials, the Indonesian Ambassador conveyed a variety of potential that had not been explored and committed to continue to improve RI-Lesotho cooperation during his assignment. One proof of Indonesia's seriousness in increasing engagement with Lesotho is inviting the presence of the Government of Lesotho and related business actors to participate in the Indonesia-Africa Infrastructure Dialogue (IAID) which will take place in August 2019. IAID is a follow-up to the implementation of the Indonesia-Africa Forum (IAF) successfully implemented in 2018, where Lesotho participated by sending its representatives.

In his remarks, King Letsie III appreciated the Asian-African spirit which always underlies the good relations between the two countries. In the future, King Lesotho expects closer cooperation in the sectors of trade, tourism, agriculture, information technology and telecommunications.

After the submission of the Letters of Trust took place, the King of Lesotho was pleased to talk to Ambassador Salman Al Farisi in person, and again emphasized the importance of the two countries to enhance cooperation in various sectors.

On the sidelines of his official visit, Ambassador Salman Al Farisi also had the opportunity to hold a meeting with high ranking officials of the Kingdom of Lesotho, including Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

The Indonesian Ambassador in his statement to high ranking Lesotho officials expressed his desire to advance cooperation in strategic industrial sectors such as infrastructure, weapons, textiles and the digital economy. The Indonesian Ambassador also underlined the role of RI as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council which continues to mainstream the African agenda.

The Deputy Prime Minister of Lesotho, Hon. Monyane Moleleki, welcomed the invitation of IAID and hoped that Indonesia would continue to improve various capacity building programs. The Lesotho PM Deputy also acknowledged Indonesia's role in the Peacekeeping Force, and made Indonesia a role model in Lesotho's efforts to actively participate in similar programs in Africa.

Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Lesotho International Cooperation, Hon. Halebonoe Sets'abi, assured that his team would fully support the implementation of the Indonesian Ambassador's duties in Pretoria in an effort to improve relations between the two countries, including welcoming the proposal to start a discussion on a visa-free agreement for diplomatic and official officials.

Lesotho is a landlocked country in the southern part of the Republic of South Africa. Diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Lesotho have been going on since 1993. Ambassador Salman Al Farisi who arrived in Pretoria, South Africa on June 9, 2018, is the seventh Ambassador of the Indonesian LBBP in Pretoria. (Source: Pretoria Indonesian Embassy)

In an effort to encourage the development of the national coffee industry through efforts to increase coffee consumption abroad, especially in Egypt, the Indonesian Embassy in Cairo held Coffee seminars and training for Indonesian students and students in Egypt with the theme "Role of Baristas Against National Coffee"

Indonesia has good opportunities and prospects because it is the largest coffee producing country and the first exporter of exports to Egypt followed by Vietnam, India, Brazil and Italy. In 2018 the export performance of Indonesian Coffee products to Egypt showed a significant number from year to year, the growth trend of Indonesian coffee exports from 2014 to 2018 reached 15, 24%, the acquisition of Indonesian coffee exports in the period January - February 2019 reached 10, 36 million US dollars with 5615 tons experiencing an increase of 19.71% compared to the same period of the previous year at 8.65 million US dollars with 4208 tons. In 2018 Indonesian coffee exports to Egypt posted a value of USD 56.97 million US dollars or an increase of 7.91% compared to the export value in 2017 of 52.79 million US dollars. Indonesian coffee in Egypt still ranks first in Egypt with 61% dominating the Egyptian coffee market in January-February 2019.

The Indonesian Ambassador to Egypt, Helmy Fauzy in his remarks at the opening of the National Coffee Seminar and Training at the Cultural Hall, Indonesian Embassy in Cairo, Wednesday - May 8, 2019 explained the richness and diversity of Nusantara Coffee which is a great potential that can be marketed abroad.

"Indonesia has various types of specialty coffee known in the world such as Kopi Gayo from Aceh, in Papua there is Wamena Coffee, in the middle of Indonesia there is Toraja Coffee and in the South there is Coffee from Flores with distinctive taste, acidity and aroma according to geographical indications that are superior Indonesia, there is tobacco flavored coffee. "This is a challenge in the future to be able to introduce Indonesia not only to coffee, but also to all Indonesian superior products as a whole," said Ambassador Helmy. (kemenlu)

Vice President Jusuf Kalla has proposed two solutions to improve upon problems faced during Indonesia’s 2019 elections in which more than 450 polling station workers died.

"The two solutions are the separation of types of elections and developing a closed legislative election system. Therefore, the parties can choose good candidates," Vice President Jusuf Kalla stated at the Vice President’s Office in Jakarta on Monday.

Jusuf Kalla opined that the complexity of counting votes for legislative elections caused many polling workers to die.

Meanwhile, polling group (KPPS) officers should recount the votes for each legislative candidate at central, provincial and district levels.

"Unification of legislative elections from central, provincial, and district levels through open systems causes polling group officers to work for long periods," he explained.

In addition, the Vice President said that the numbers of political parties in the 2019 elections increased, compared to the 2014 elections. As a result, polling workers had to work extra hours to count the candidates’ votes.

"So, the main problem is not in the presidential elections, but in the legislative elections. The number of political parties in the 2019 legislative elections increased from 10 parties in 2009 to 16 parties this year," he added. (ant)

Therefore, a study of the 2019 election should be conducted to develop better systems for the next elections.

Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu has appealed to heads of regional offices of the Defense Ministry to always give priority to upholding the state ideology of Pancasila and guarding against possible threats to it.

"The nation faces three threats in the form of real threats, not yet real, as well as that arising from the mindset and of the changing ideology," Defense Minister Ryacudu stated while issuing directives to the heads of regional offices of the Ministry of Defense on Monday.

In his brief, Minister Ryacudu highlighted that the state ideology of Pancasila is the fundamental basis of the nation's unifying power to protect the Unitary State of Indonesia from wide-ranging and persistent challenges and threats.

The minister pointed out that the threat of a specific mindset or ideology can be perpetrated via a small academic scope, including schools and universities.

"Hence, there is a pressing need to have in place a strong and final concept of ensuring that Indonesians gain national insight to prevent them from being easily influenced or provoked," Ryacudu emphasized.

To this end, the defense minister urged the heads of regional offices of the Ministry of Defense across Indonesia that were present at the briefing to fully comprehend their key duties along with forging deep and harmonious synergies with local government officials, regional military commands, and other security forces.

Representatives of the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) as well as officials of the Ministry of Defense also attended the briefing.