VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian ambassador to Jordan, Andy Rachmianto, along with some foreign ambassadors to Jordan, accompanied Commisioner General of United Nations Refugee Work and Relief Agency for Palestinian Refugees( UNRWA ), Pierre Krähenbühl, during a visit to a refugee camp at Amman city, Jordan on Sunday (2/9). In the visit, Ambassador Andy directly affirmed to Krähenbühl, that Indonesia will support fundraising to assist UNRWA operational, either through domestic support or to persuade international countries to give more concern to UNRWA. UNRWA is a body of the United Nations which has mandate to ensure fulfillment of basic rights for Palestinian refugees that formed on May 1, 1950, that gives health service, education, and social to Palestinian refugees in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.

As the largest archipelagic state in the world which is located in between two oceans, Indonesia always keeps good cooperation with Pacific countries to support Pacific region which is safe, opened, progressive and prosperous. This was stated by Director General of Asia Pacificand Africa of Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry, Ambassador Desra Percaya, who led Indonesian delagation in the Summit of the 49th Pacific Islands Forum in Nauru, on September3-6, 2018. On the sidelines of the meeting, Ambassador Desra Percaya on Monday (3/9/2018) emphasized that Indonesia is a part that cannot be separated with Pacific. Ambassador Desra said that the priority program of the Indonesian gopvernment related to accelerate development of the Western region of Indonesia will also have positive impact for development in region of South Pacific. The Summit has a theme "Building a Strong Pacific: Our People, Our Islands, Our Will", which discussed issues that become mutual concern in Pacific, among others regional security, climate change and maritime security. The meeting also signed handing over chairmanship of Pacific Islands Forum from Samoa (2017-2018) to Nauru (2018-2019). In his opening speech, Presidentof Nauru, Baron Divavesi Waqa conveyed that the forum is place for Pacific countries to solve various mutual challenges which are faced in the region. The forum is forum of cooperation among countries in Pacific region which include 18 countries/regions, among others Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Polynesia France, New Caledonia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Federation of Micronesia, Palau, and Solomon Islands.The forum was established in 1971, and aimed to strengthen cooperation and integrity of policy of Pacific countries to achieve economic growth, sustainable development, good governance of the government, and also common regional security. Nauru is one of Pacific countries which has good relation with Indonesia. 

Training in Technology of Agricultural and Animal Husbandryfor African countriesis being held again by the Indonesian government. The training which has a theme International Training on Processing Technology of Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Products for African Countries: Sharing Best Practices to Achieve SDGs, is being held starting from September 1 – 10, 2018 in Malang and Batu, East Java. The training is held on cooperation of Directorate of Technique Cooperation of Foreign Affairs Ministry along with Ministry of Agriculture, in this regard, Training Center of Agriculture of Ketindan region and Training Center of animal husbandry of Batu region, and also Non-Aligned Movement Center for South-South Technical Cooperation (NAM-CSSTC). There are 13 participants from 12 African countries, namely South Africa, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe.The event is aimed to share knowledge and experience of Indonesia in agricultural and animal husbandry sector with African countries. The training is held to support Indonesia’s commitment on Indonesia-Africa Forum (IAF) which was held in Bali in April 2018.

The leaders of China and Africa, met to discuss the future of cooperation between countries of the different continents. The meeting and discussion were held at the China Africa Cooperation Forum Summit, which took place since Monday. The aim of the summit was clearly reflected in the theme, “China and Africa: towards a stronger future community together through mutually beneficial cooperation”.Chinese President Xi Jinping in the opening ceremony presented a very persuasive speech with the title “Work Together for Common Development and a Shared Future”. Through his speech, President Xi Jinping stressed the principle of his country in cooperating with other countries including not intervening in other countries that are partners and not enforcing any political conditions. A similar theme was also announced when Africa and China started the summit in Beijing in 2006 and followed up with the second summit in 2015 at Yohanesburg, South Africa. China, as disclosed by President Xin Jinping, will carry out eight major actions to help African countries for the next 3 years. One of the eight actions is to encourage the expansion of African commodity imports and support the achievement of 2030 African food security targets. For African countries, cooperation with China is certainly very welcome. They may very well see that China is the main alternative to support their economic improvement and improvement. As one of the strongest countries in the world, the opportunity for cooperation with China gives hope of new hope for Africa as an alternative to Europe and the United States. For most African countries, increasing relations with China could have given new hope, because unlike Europe, China was not a country that had colonized the continent. For China itself, the increase and expansion of cooperation in the economic and trade sectors has become a significant factor in efforts to find a balance of multilateral cooperation. The trade war launched by the United States, which was intensified by Donald Trump's administration, has given an economic impact to the country with the most population in the Asian continent. In this perspective, the third China Africa Summit in Beijing is a new momentum especially for China in seeking a new balance in the economic field, nationally and globally.

Indonesian government soon will realize the import limit policy for 900 consumption goods. This policy is aimed to strengthen economic fundamentals by reducing payment balance deficit. The ever-expanding Indonesian payment balance deficit turned into negative sentiments for the market players. This also contributed to the Rupiah weakening against USD. Finance Minister Sri Mulyani in Jakarta on Tuesday affirmed the legal basis for 900 consumption goods import limit had been readied in the form of Finance Minister Regulation. According to Sri Mulyani, her ministry will announce it on Wednesday or Thursday.//

Amidst global pressure which affected Rupiah exchange against USD, the government ensured Indonesian economic fundamentals remained strong against the turbulence. The only weakness is on the current account, which is 3 percent deficit. That was less than in 2014 which was 4.2 percent. Government kept strengthening real sector such as tourism, mining, and export. Economic Coordinating Minister Darmin Nasution after having a meeting with President Joko Widodo at the State Palace, Jakarta on Tuesday said macroeconomic policy was also effective. Nasution said, the economic fundamentals could be seen from the growth in 2^nd quarter of 2018 amounting to 5.2 percent and the inflation per August was 3.2 percent. Darmin Nasution also asked the people not to compare current flux of Rupiah against USD with the 1998 crisis.//

Many pressures, both domestically and internationally, kept weakening the Rupiah. It is time to look for the best solution to maintain the exchange rate and the stability. In the spot market trade closing on Tuesday, Rupiah exchange rate was closed weakening 0.81 percent into RP 14,935 per USD or almost touching the psychologist level Rp 15,000 per USD. Government and related authorities had been striving to maintain Rupiah via a number of policies including monetary, fiscal and real. However, that had yet to maximally keep Rupiah from slumping further.//

Wayang or puppet is an Indonesian original art which develops rapidly on Java and Bali Island. The performance is also well known in some regions such as Sumatera and Malayan peninsula, which is influenced by Javanese and Hindu culture. In 2003, UNESCO announced that Wayang has officially entered in the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO since 2008. In the development, Wayang has some types such as Wayang Kulit, Wayang Golek, Wayang Orang, and many others. In addition to those types, there is also a Wayang Ringkang or art puppet which was popularized in 2007. Wayang Ringkang is contemporary one which is innovation of Wayang Golek. Wayang Ringkang is played by colossal puppeteers who may reach 20-50 puppeteers. The Wayang art also collaborates with Rampak Kendang, Rampak Sekar, dance and  Wayang Orang. To play Wayang Ringkang, it needs Wayang arena or Jagat with the size twice from Jagat on general Wayang arena. In the Wayang Ringkang performance, the main puppeteer will read dialog, while other puppeteers guide Wayang. In the performance, the puppeteer will guide the Wayang while standing. This makes the size of Jagat become bigger than Wayang performance in general. During the performance, Wayang Ringkang is also accompanied by  Gamelan and brought in Sundanese language with communicative style. Although Wayang Ringkang performance is delivered in communicative style, the story is also delivered and it still contains philosophical values of people’s life in the past, present time and in the future. Ki Tantan Sugandi who is the initiator of Wayang Ringkang, hopes that the Wayang art can raise potential of young generation in puppet show. Until now, West Java government has continued to promote Wayang Ringkang. All of them are conducted in order Indonesian traditional art can be preserved from time to time.