VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Kuwait is one of the highest income countries on the planet. Nine Kuwaiti national companies, according to Forbes Middle East 2023, are included in the Top 100 companies with the best financial performance, namely Kuwait Finance House, National Bank of Kuwait, Zain corp., Agility, Boubyan Bank, Burgan Bank Group, Gulf Bank, Al- Tijari and Kuwait Projects Company (Holding).

Kuwait is currently striving to achieve the vision of New Kuwait 2035 as a finance and trade power in the Middle East. Quoted from Antara, there are 107 mega projects being developed throughout the 2023-2024 period. Kuwait seeks to achieve the vision of New Kuwait 2035 through collaboration and cooperation with friendly countries, one of which is Indonesia. “All countries are currently working based on long-term planning. Kuwait seeks to achieve the New Kuwait Vision 2035 through collaboration and cooperation between the two countries (Kuwait and Indonesia), including through investment, political and economic cooperation," said Abdullah Alfadhli, Chargé d'Affaires of the Kuwaiti Embassy to Voice of Indonesia in Jakarta (15/02).

Behind Kuwait's big plans to become the centre of economic power in the Middle East, Kuwait needs the presence of foreign workers considering that the number of Kuwaiti citizens is not large. According to data from the Kuwait Public Authority for Civil Information as of June 2022, the population of Kuwait is 4,464,427 people consisting of 1,502,138 Kuwaiti citizens (33.65%) and 2,962,289 foreign citizens (66.35%). "Another important aspect is coordination in human resource development between the two countries. Kuwait needs skilled and trained migrant workers from the Republic of Indonesia," continued Abdullah Alfadhli.

Quoting data from medcom.id, as of October 2023, 68 percent of the population in Kuwait are expatriates from various countries including India, Egypt, the Philippines, Bangladesh and Syria. Meanwhile, Indonesian workers, based on 2023 data, are still low, around 6,164 people out of a total of 2.9 million foreign workers in Kuwait.

VOInews, Jakarta: The Indonesian Embassy in Vientiane spares no effort to invite Indonesian investors as well as to promote Indonesian products in Laos. Overshadowed by Indonesia's export deficit to Laos which reached USD 141 million, the Indonesian Ambassador to Laos Endah Grata Werdaningtyas in the Ranah Diplomasi program broadcast on the Voice of Indonesia YouTube account on Tuesday (13/02) said that Indonesian companies and business people need to actively invest in Laos.  "Laos is still the least developed country, so the approach must be for us to invest there, and we should open and facilitate our various companies and business players to invest, and we will continue to try to pursue this so that investment continues to be encouraged to balance the trade deficit," said Grata Endah.

In an effort to achieve balance in the export-import balance between Indonesia and Laos, Grata Endah conveyed the potential for investment development and market penetration of consumer goods in Laos. "Perhaps we can trade off the deficit due to imports of potassium or other minerals by increasing trade in other sectors such as consumer goods. "I see huge potential for Indonesian consumer goods, prices can be competitive, and its taste and packaging are also not inferior," she said.

The Indonesian Embassy in Vientiane sees that the Laos market is still dominated by products from Thailand, Vietnam, and China. Seeing these conditions, Grata Endah initiated Pojok Indonesia, or Indonesian Corner in shopping centers as a first step in introducing Indonesian products to the people of Laos. "I took the time to walk to several marts, shops, and even markets, indeed the presence of Indonesian products was still very minimal, and many products from Thailand, Vietnam, and China dominated. So now I am promoting daily consumption products by forming what we call the Indonesia Corner at the Supermarket in Viantine. "There will be a special corner for goods from Indonesia," she concluded.

VOInews, Jakarta: Indonesia-Laos trade volume reached USD194.2 million (in 2022), experiencing triple exponential growth from 2021, namely USD45.5 million (Data from the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2023). However, Indonesia experienced a deficit of USD 141 million. The Indonesian Ambassador to Laos, Grata Endah Werdaningtyas, said that the deficit occurred due to the import of potassium, which is the basic ingredient for fertilizer.

"In recent years we have experienced quite a large deficit due to potassium imports," said Grata Endah Werdaningtyas to Voice of Indonesia on Tuesday (13/02) in Jakarta.

However, Ambassador Grata Endah sees the trade deficit as a positive thing from a macroeconomic perspective. "I view this as positive if we look at the macroeconomic picture because the potassium we import is the main raw material for making fertilizer and we know how our domestic fertilizer needs are very high, and of course, it will help our fertilizer industry," she explained.

Meanwhile, according to Grata Endah, potassium obtained from Laos is much cheaper than similar mineral products imported from other countries. "From the results of our research and records, importing potassium from Laos is 30 percent cheaper than importing potassium from several other countries that are further away, for example, Canada. "So this in terms of helping our domestic industry, in my opinion, even though there is a deficit, the end product from fertilizer itself will help our industry," she said.

VOInews, Jakarta: The friendship between Indonesia and Sudan was laid on the spirit of the Asian-African Conference in Bandung in 1955. The Asian-African Conference inspired Sudan to gain its independence in 1956. Along the way, Sudan experienced dynamics, one of which resulted in the separation of South Sudan from the Republic of Sudan in 2011.

Currently, Sudan has been hit by civil war due to the struggle for power since April 2023. The Indonesian Ambassador to Sudan, Sunarko, in an interview on the Diplomatic Corner program broadcast on the Voice of Indonesia YouTube channel, on Tuesday (06/02) said that the armed conflict in Sudan has been ongoing since its first strike 9 months ago, in mid-April 2023.

According to Ambassador Sunarko, now is a good momentum to increase the number of Sudanese students in Indonesia as a form of moral support for brotherly countries that are being hit by conflict. As a friendly country, Indonesia will not remain silent regarding the situation in Sudan. "So this is a good momentum, the right momentum for the Indonesian Government to increase the number of Sudanese students who will be accepted for Indonesian scholarships, both in the Dharmasiswa program and the Developing Country Cooperation (KNB) program," said Ambassador Sunarko to Voice of Indonesia on the YouTube channel. (06/02).

In 2023, nine Sudanese students received Dharmasiswa scholarships and the number of recipients will continue to increase. Sunarko further conveyed several programs that have the potential to be developed, including collaboration between universities such as lecturers and experts exchanges, especially in the fields of Arabic, Islamic studies, sharia finance, and the halal industry which is currently growing in Sudan. According to Ambassador Sunarko, scientific fields in Indonesia that are of interest to Sudanese students include management, information technology, and architectural studies. Ambassador Sunarko saw the need to provide scholarships as a form of Indonesian solidarity with Sudan.

Educational cooperation between Indonesia and Sudan is quite prominent and grows continuously. Ambassador Sunarko said that before the conflict occurred, there were around 1,100 Indonesian citizens, 900 of whom were students. Previously, Sudan provided 60 scholarship quotas for Indonesian students annually, and it has been increased to 100 scholarships since 2015 for undergraduate to doctoral levels. A total of 95 percent of Indonesian students in Sudan are scholarship winners (Data Media Indonesia, April 2023). (DANIEL/DEVY)