VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

 Indonesia Virtual Pro League (IVPL), an organization focusing on electronic sports, better known as esport, is keen to hold the FIFA 19 international tournament, the 2019 Asian Cup.  The Youth and Sports Ministry, through Secretary Gatot S. Dewa Broto, voiced the government's support while welcoming the IVPL group that had paid a recent visit to the Sports and Youth Ministry office (Kemenpora) in the Senayan area of Jakarta.

"It will be a matter of pride for Indonesia, through IVPL, to be the organizer of an international esport competition, such as the Asian Cup," Gatot remarked while visiting the IVPL team led by Rizki Darmawan.

IVPL, formed since 2012, has currently also obtained direct permission from EA Sports to hold a tournament.

The IVPL visit to Kemenpora aims to forge collaboration with the government for participation to support other important tournaments.

Furthermore, the IVPL is looking to introduce itself to Kemenpora on the government's behalf, as the IVPL has, until now, taken part in developing the esports industry in the nation.

One of the tournaments currently underway is the 2019 Asian Cup: FIFA 19 11vs11.

"The Asian Cup tournament from IVPL is a new thing for me," he noted.
Every player should put in efforts in order to taste victory. "You should watch a real soccer match," Broto stated.

Broto further expressed the ministry's readiness to lend support to these activities and tournaments and is upbeat of Indonesia recording achievements.

Rizki welcomed the ministry's assurance to lend this support.

"This is expected to be the starting point of cooperation between IVPL and Kemenpora. With Kemenpora's support, we are upbeat about supporting IVPL to soar higher and gain recognition among members of the wider community as well as be part of other prestigious tournaments," he stated.

Along with guaranteeing support, Broto also drew the IVPL's attention to the legality aspect for protecting copyrights, taking into account that the IVPL had been founded since 2012.

"The legality aspect is also quite crucial, one of which is copyrights protection," he noted..
"Focus on the legal aspects, and do not get hit by cases merely due to copyright issues," he added.

The Indonesian team in Group B will clash against the Japanese and Malaysian teams, wherein both parties will seal the fate of the Indonesian team.

The Indonesian team presently stands second, with seven points in total, while Japan tops the chart, pocketing 10 points. (ant)

The government has targeted to attract 20 million foreign tourists by 2019, despite its failure to meet the target of 17 million foreign tourists in 2018.

"According to data from the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS), of the government's target of attracting 17 million foreign tourists, we only welcomed 15.8 million tourists," expert staff to the Tourism Minister for multicultural sector Esthy Reko Astuty said in Solo on Monday.

She admitted difficulties in reaching the target were due to a number of natural disasters that hit the country last year, including the eruption of Mount Agung in the resort island of Bali.

"However, we make maximum efforts to meet the target through our programs," she added.

The ministry, she continued, has prepared some strategies to reach the target set in the government's medium-term development plans.

"Among the efforts we have undertaken include the development of cross border tourism and a low cost terminal," she remarked.

Meanwhile, the ministry has surpassed the target to attract domestic tourists by 2019.

"For domestic tourist visits, of the target to attract 270 million tourists by 2019, up to now we have already seen 273 million (domestic tourists)," she said.

The ministry would continue to promote tourism destinations in regions. "Through events organized by local governments, we will attract more tourists," Astuty said. (ant) 

After serious consideration, the Indonesian government has chosen to move the capital city out of Java.

"In a limited meeting, the president has decided to move the capital city out of Java," Minister of the National Planning and Development/Head of the National Development Planning Agency Bambang Brodjonegoro said after the limited meeting on the Follow-Up Plan for the Transfer of Capital at the Presidential Office in Jakarta on Monday.

According to Bambang, the technical aspects, city design and "master plan" for the construction of a new capital city would be discussed at the next meeting.

Bambang explained three options with regard to the agency's study regarding the transfer of the capital city. The first option is to allow the capital to remain in the vicinity of the presidential palace and the Jakarta National Monument with government offices located in the area.

While the second option is to move the location of the capital city to an area close to Jakarta (the current capital city) around Bogor-Depok-Tangerang-Bekasi (Bodetabek), the third choice is to move the government capital out of Java.

"If we move to an area in Java, especially only around Jakarta, it does not reduce the burden of Java and does not make the development more Indonesian-centric, but rather, strengthens the island of Java," said Bambang.

In addition, Minister of Public Works and Public Housing Basuki Hadimuljono also said that the government would need 40 thousand hectares of land if it chooses to move the capital city outside Java to accommodate all the civil servants.

"If the civil servants move partially, around 870 thousand residents, then (the government) would need up to 30,000 hectares of land," Basuki said.

He explained that the area with minimal disaster risk is on the island of Kalimantan.

Previously, Vice President Jusuf Kalla also proposed the Mamuju area in West Sulawesi as one of the choices in the capital city.

However, Basuki said the government has yet to decide on a region for the capital city and explained that the setting up of government offices such as ministry offices and institutions, residential settlements, and infrastructure would take around four to five years. (ant)

Bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Indonesia have been developing quickly and dynamically since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1992.

“Our high-level political relations are based on friendship and cooperation. We cooperate very actively in international organizations; Indonesia and Azerbaijan always support each other in UN, OIC and other international organizations. Such support strengthens our partnership and creates stronger political ties,” Charge de Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Embassy Ruslan Nasibov said to Antara in Jakarta on Monday.

Nasibov spoke on topics ranging from the bilateral diplomatic relations to reforms in the Azerbaijan economic development and social and education sectors on the occasion of the 101st anniversary of the proclamation of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and 100 years of Azerbaijan Diplomatic Service, and its reception held on Monday.

Bilateral cooperation in the field of public services is also rapidly developing. Azerbaijan is sharing experiences of its own establishment and brand, called the “ASAN Service”, which is a “ONE STOP” system for all public services under one roof. The ASAN Service was awarded the United Nations Public Service Award 2015 for exemplary provision of public service.

The government of Azerbaijan keeps on implementing large-scale reforms in all fields. Azerbaijan’s rapid economic development has transformed the country. In the last 15 years, the level of poverty in the country dropped to 5.4 percent, while the unemployment rate is at 5 percent. Its economy grew more than three times, and 260 billion USD has been invested into the country.

With the population reaching 10 million people on April 6, 2019, foreign currency reserves hit 46 billion USD, five-fold higher than foreign debt. The gasification level of Azerbaijan is 95 percent and the country has been ranked 25th in the latest Doing Business Report by the World Bank, jumping 32 positions in one year and becoming one of the top 10 reformers in the world. Some 15,000 kms of roads and highways were built in Azerbaijan during the last 15 years and it is not surprising that the country is ranked 34th for quality of road infrastructure in the assessment of the Davos World Economic Forum. Azerbaijan has also invested in building bridges between Asia and Europe, and turned into an international transportation hub. “We have built a diversified railroad network connecting us with our neighbors. Among them, is the East-West transportation corridor with the modern Baku Sea Port, Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway inaugurated in 2017 and connecting the region with Turkey, and the North-South transportation corridor connecting the Gulf, South and South-East Asia with Northern Europe,” Nasibov said.

He noted that this year, Azerbaijan will assume chairmanship in the Non-Aligned Movement and would hold the Summit of NAM from October 21-26, 2019 under the theme, “NAM Baku Summit: Upholding the Bandung Principles, to ensure a concerted and adequate response to the challenges of a contemporary world”. “We hope that Indonesia as one of the NAM founders will actively participate in the Summit,” he said.

Nasibov said that this year, Azerbaijan for the first time joined the “Europe on Screen” film festival held in eight cities of Indonesia from 18 to 30 April. Already screened in Jakarta, Medan and Surabaya, a film from Azerbaijan, “Ali and Nino”, which has a team of producers comprising the famous Kris Thykier and Vice-President of Heydar Aliyev Foundation Leyla Aliyeva as Executive Producer, is based on the eponymous bestseller of Qurban Said.

“I hope all the initiatives of both countries in the sphere of politics, economy and culture will further develop and strengthen our relations and promote people-to-people contact between our nations,” Nasibov said. (ant)