VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOInews, Serang: Indonesian Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan is encouraging micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to explore the export market so that Indonesian products are increasingly globalised. According to him, Indonesian products have good quality so that they can compete in the global market.This was conveyed by Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan during a dialogue with MSME players at the Batik Banten Mukarnas Center, Serang City, Banten, on Thursday (6/6).

The dialogue was attended by 120 MSME players with products including batik, wicker, and food and beverages. "We see that the products are good, the quality is not inferior to any other product. Now it is just a matter of how these MSME products have characteristics, quality, and good quality so that they can go global,’ said Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan.

Zulkifli explained that one of the efforts that can be taken by MSME players is by participating in the Trade Expo Indonesia which will be held on 9-12 October 2024 at ICE BSD, South Tangerang, Banten. The event will be attended by 180 new buyers from various countries, including the African region; South Asia, such as India, Pakistan; and the Middle East.

Furthermore, Minister Zulkifli Hasan said that the Ministry of Trade also has trade representatives abroad such as the Indonesian Trade Promotion Centre (ITPC) and Trade Attaches (ATdag) who are always ready to help MSME players market products in the global market. One of them is through business matching to bring together MSME players with potential buyers. "We also have ITPCs and Trade Attaches in various countries. Through the facilitation of trade representatives, Indonesian products can be marketed. There must be a lot of interest,’ said Minister Zulkifli Hasan.

During this visit, the Minister also emphasised collaboration and work from various parties to promote Indonesian products. The goal is that Indonesian products are not only recognised domestically, but also internationally. "Of course this needs hard work and cooperation from all parties, both central and regional governments. MSMEs also take part in promoting and selling their products so that Indonesian products can be recognised domestically and abroad. It needs joint efforts and our hard work so that once again our products can go global,’ concluded the Trade Minister.

Source: Indonesian Ministry of Trade

VOInews, Singapore: Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto together with partner country ministers successfully signed the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) agreements for the Clean Economy Pillar, Fair Economy Pillar, and IPEF Institutional Agreement (Overaching Agreement) at the IPEF Ministerial Meeting on Thursday (6/06) at the Sands Expo & Convention Centre, Singapore.

As quoted from written statement received on Thursday (6/6/2024), the achievement of an agreement on the IPEF agreement is one of the historic events that creates a new breakthrough in efforts to build clean and fair collective welfare through a cooperation agreement between countries in the Indo-Pacific region. "Pillar III of the Clean Economy is part of the IPEF agreement to realise a clean and environmentally responsible global economy. In this pillar, IPEF member countries are committed to increasing environmentally friendly economic activities through sharing information and experiences, exploring the potential of each country, and opening up broad investment opportunities for private parties in IPEF member countries that have a business orientation in line with the green economy,’ wrote the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs.

It is known that some of the derivative initiatives from Pillar III are the Cooperative Work Programme (CWP) and the Clean Economy Investor Forum (CEIF), which also includes the IPEF Catalytic Capital Fund as a funding scheme for several high-quality climate infrastructure projects of up to USD 3.3 billion.

In order to support the effective implementation of commitments under the Pillar IV (Fair Economy) Agreement, IPEF partners welcomed the announcement of Capacity Building and Technical Assistance (TACB) programmes through the TACB Initiative Catalogue. ‘These programmes are designed to strengthen efforts to prevent and combat corruption, including money laundering and terrorism financing, as well as improve transparency and exchange of tax information,’ he continued.

The Indonesian Coordinating Ministry of Economic further explained that The TACB Initiative Catalogue will provide various opportunities for IPEF partners to develop effective anti-corruption policies and tax administration, through training for government officials in the investigation and prosecution of corruption cases, as well as workshops to improve integrity and online reporting systems. Indonesia hopes that in the future there will be more offerings from IPEF partners related to TACB, in order to assist IPEF partners in achieving Pillar IV high commitments.

"Indonesia and partner countries will take necessary strategic steps, including domestic consultation and ratification process of the IPEF Pillar III and IV Agreements which enter into force on 7 June 2024. In addition, IPEF partner countries will continue to commit to collaborate on clean economy and fair economy within the broader IPEF framework", concluded The Indonesian Coordinating Ministry of Economic.

Source: ekon.go.id.

VOInews, Singapore: Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto is pushing for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) cooperation to result in tangible projects that create jobs in the region. This was conveyed at the

Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Ministerial Meeting held on Thursday (6/6) in Singapore. "We must realise concrete projects next year. No one is left behind. The progress of the projects is there. The projects hopefully will create jobs in the regions,’ said Coordinating Minister Airlangga Hartarto.

According to a written statement received by Voice of Indonesia on Thursday (6/6/2024), Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong and US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo viewed the IPEF meeting as a very important momentum in regional cooperation in the Indo Pacific region. ‘The meeting brought together senior Ministers from the 14 IPEF partner countries, which represent more than 40% of the world's GDP and 28% of global trade in goods and services,’ the Ministry wrote.

It is known that this meeting affirmed a joint commitment to strengthen and realise a clean, fair and holistic economy in the Indo-Pacific region, in line with the focus of cooperation stated in the 4 pillars of the IPEF agreement, namely the pillars of trade, supply chain, clean economy and fair economy.

Since the launch of IPEF two years ago in Tokyo, Japan, each meeting involving the 14 IPEF member countries (Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, United States, and Vietnam), has achieved many significant achievements. At this meeting, the main focus was on three of the four IPEF pillars.

Firstly, the IPEF Supply Chain Agreement (Pillar II) which aims to strengthen regional supply chains, ensure smooth distribution of goods and services, and enhance cooperation among countries.

Secondly, the IPEF Clean Economy Agreement (Pillar III), which is an effort to reduce environmental impacts, has signed an agreement related to the clean economy. This includes the development of environmentally friendly technologies and the application of renewable energy.

Thirdly, the IPEF Fair Economy Agreement (Pillar IV) which aims to create a fair economy for all parties, including workers and businesses. Collaboration on economic regulations and policies is the main focus.

Indonesia and other IPEF partners are committed to continue the steps towards ratification and implementation of the signed agreements. The IPEF partners will continue to monitor progress under the three pillars of IPEF and gauge concrete outcomes at the next ministerial meeting in September 2024 in Washington DC. In addition, the meeting launched the Clean Economy Investor Forum (CEIF) as a forum among IPEF member countries that will help mobilise funds for clean energy technologies in IPEF countries.

US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo gave special appreciation to Indonesia, for its active participation in IPEF. Secretary Raimondo gave a very positive response and fully supported Coordinating Minister Airlangga's request, which emphasised the importance of IPEF providing concrete results and tangible benefits for the community, particularly in job creation and improving people's welfare. ‘IPEF must bring job creation and opportunity for our people,’ said Secretary Raimondo, supporting Airlangga's statement.

Source: Indonesian Coordinating Ministry of Economics

VOInews, Kudus: Technological innovation continues to grow rapidly and penetrate into various fields, including culinary. One of the breakthroughs comes from students of SMK Wisudha Karya, Kudus, Central Java, who successfully created a ‘cooking robot’ that can cook tofu and eggs efficiently and practically.

Quoted from the Ministry of Education and Culture's vocational website, the creation of the egg tofu cooking robot is the school's effort to prepare students to face the development of industrial technology. The cooking robot is one of the innovative products developed by the school and is closely related to the community activity of cooking. "In designing the cooking robot, the students of Electronics Expertise Competence took two months, starting from October to December 2023. The making of this robot involves various stages, from design planning, programming, to testing,’ wrote Kemdikbud.

In addition, the students also conducted research to egg tofu sellers to find out the details of the correct cooking steps. In this case, the students were guided by teachers who are competent in the field of technology until they finally managed to complete the project well.

The Head of Electronics Expertise Competence at SMK Wisudha Karya, Denny Rulyanto, said that the cooking robot is operated using an HMI machine. The robot is driven according to a pre-programmed system so that when turning on the robot, the students only need to press the operation to cook manually or automatically. "When designing we did trial and error. This robot can cook up to eight portions of egg tofu with neat and hygienic results. The taste is no less delicious than egg tofu made by humans,’ said Denny.

The robot starts with the movement of taking ingredients to cook the egg tofu. The two arms of the robot work together, one arm holds Teflon and the other arm flips the cooked egg tofu.

Meanwhile, Head of SMK Wisudha Karya, Fakhrudin, said that the robot will be used in the school canteen. The students can operate the machine independently when they want to enjoy dishes from the robot. Not only that, in the future SMK Wisudha Karya also plans to market the robot to the culinary industry. "The model is like an honesty canteen, where the robot will work on command. This robot can also be an alternative technology for restaurants or hotels that want to give a new and different look to food presentation,’ said Fakhrudin.