VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Indonesian People's Consultative Assembly –MPR holds its Annual Session, Monday (16/8). Same as in previous years, the session which is held ahead of the commemoration of Indonesian Independence Day on 17 August, is attended by the President, Vice President, cabinet ministers, members of the Assembly, and other dignitaries whose number is limited due to the Covid19 pandemic.

In the MPR’s Annual Session held along with the House of Representative -DPR and Regional Representatives -DPD this time, President Joko Widodo delivers a speech on the performance reports of state institutions. Afterwards, he also gives a speech delivering the government's introduction/information on the Draft Law on the Indonesian State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN) for the 2022 Fiscal Year and its Financial Note.

This is the second time that the MPR’s Annual Session has been carried out in a simple, not too long, yet effective and efficient manner due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Quoting Antara News Agency, Chairperson of MPR, Bambang Soesatyo said that amid conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic, social cohesion and national solidity had become a vulnerable and crucial point. Therefore, the MPR annual session this year focuses on strengthening and building the nation's character. This must continue to be fought for so that it becomes a collective spirit amid the social, national and state life which is being slumped due to the Covid-9.

It is hoped that the MPR Annual Session will be able to become a momentum for the MPR to convey various national messages related to the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, and not only focuses on health and economic aspects but also to be able to remind all elements of the nation that in handling the pandemic must also include aspects of strengthening the life of the nation and state in a bid to be  able to build optimism in dealing with the Covid-9.

As is known, the Covid-19 pandemic has multi-dimensional impacts. The economy contracted, unemployment increased, debt increased, not to mention other social impacts.

Thereby, the 2021 MPR Annual Session should not just be a normative event that will pass, but also be able to answer a number of current and future challenges or the post-pandemic era, with seriousness in creating national independence. In line with the theme of the 76th Anniversary of the Republic of Indonesia, namely "Indonesia Resilient, Indonesia Grows", with the hope that Indonesia will remain strong in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.

State-owned oil and gas company, PT Pertamina officially takes over the Rokan block from the previous operator PT Chevron Pacific Indonesia -a subsidiary of a multinational energy company Chevron Corp. Since Monday (09/08), the management of the oil field in Rokan block, Riau Province has been in the hands of PT Pertamina Hulu Rokan.

Indonesian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Arifin Tasrif said the takeover was a milestone in Indonesian upstream oil and gas industry.

Yes, the government handed over the Rokan block to PT Pertamina. But, can they really manage the Rokan Block? Can they maintain the oil production or even surpass the current oil production?

Based on data from Oil and Gas Special Regulatory Task Force (SKK Migas) as per June 2021 under PT Chevron Pacific Indonesia, Rokan block produced 165,000 barrels of oil per day or around 24 percent of total national oil production.

The greatest challenge faced by PT Pertamina is maintaining the production number or increasing it. Maintaining the production is not easy. Therefore, as posted by PT Pertamina on their Instagram on Wednesday (11/8), President Joko Widodo asked the company to work its fingers to the bone for the sake of the Rokan block's continuity.

PT Pertamina needs to work hard so that bad history does not repeat. When PT Pertamina took over Blok Mahakam, the production dropped significantly. Another decrease in production will be a bad precedent.

To increase production after the takeover, PT Pertamina targets to drill 161 new oil wells in August-December 2021, in the hope that Rokan can maintain their current production and become one of the nation's main oil producers.

In achieving this goal, PT Pertamina needs qualified human resources who truly understand oil block management. It will also need sophisticated techs or at least the ones in the same level with Chevron's in managing the oil well.

PT Pertamina Hulu Rokan must show the world that they can manage the Rokan block and even do better than PT Chevron Pacific Indonesia. Therefore, PT Pertamina will be able to support national energy security.

Traveling to many places cannot be done freely amid the Covid-19 pandemic. If the condition is better, and even the pandemic is over, just make a  plan of  your trip to one of Indonesia's super priority destinations, namely Lake Toba in North Sumatra. Not only the beauty of the lake, but also a variety of typical culinary delights you can enjoy. One of them is Tipipa. Tipatipa is a typical snack of the people of Toba Samosir Regency. Its texture is like cereal or oats. This culnary is made from flaked rice.

To make Tipatipa, young paddy is soaked for two nights. After going through the two nights of soaking, the paddy is drained and then roasted (fried without oil) until it reaches a certain level of maturity. While the paddy is still hot, the roasted rice is pounded. Therefore, the name Tipa-tipa  is because the meaning of Tipa-tipa is pounded repeatedly. After being pounded, the rice is cleaned from the skin by winnowing, after cleaning the rice is ready to eat.

Tipatipa is usually eaten with a mixture of grated coconut and added a little sugar or salt according to individual tastes. When it is eaten, the aroma of these types is very distinctive and is felt when eaten. Tipatipa is a snack made before the harvest season to show gratitude for the sustenance given by the Creator. Now, Tipipa has become one of the local community's creative industry products that are often used as souvenirs. The price of Tiptipa is also relatively affordable. The price is Rp. 20,000 to Rp. 30,000 per pack.

The first specialty coffee shop of Indonesia, namely Villa Sumatra was opened in Egypt on Sunday (8/8), as a part of the intensive coffee diplomacy efforts done by the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Cairo. The coffee shop, which is located in the elite area of Medical Park Premier New Cairo, particularly serves a variety of high-quality coffee from Indonesia of Arabica type. It is different from the Robusta coffee beans which have been imported by many Egyptian coffee entrepreneurs.

Indonesian Ambassador to Egypt, Lutfi Rauf, in his welcoming speech at the inauguration of the shop, as stated in a written statement from the Indonesian Embassy in Cairo on Monday (9/8) hoped that the opening of the Villa Sumatra shop will make the Indonesian coffee market in Egypt increase and become a center for Indonesia's excellent coffee exports to other countries. Ambassador Lutfi also affirmed that the government will continuously provide full support and attention to coffee business actors, especially Indonesian coffee activists in Egypt.

The founder and owner of Villa Sumatra, Haytham Shawkat Husein expressed his appreciation for the support of the Indonesian Embassy in Cairo in importing excellent coffee from Indonesia until the establishment of the coffee shop. He  also hopes that when the pandemic is over, he can visit Indonesia again to find out and bring more other excellent coffee in  Sumatra, Sulawesi, Java, Flores and Papua. He is also targeting the Indonesian herbal product market.

The opening of Villa Sumatra was also attended by Chairperson of the Specialty Coffee Association of Indonesia, Daryanto Witarsa and  Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Specialty Coffee Association of Indonesia, Delima Hasri Azahari who interactively had the opportunity to communicate directly with Haytham. Daryanto also expects that the presence of Villa Sumatera is to grow significant trade transactions in encouraging an increase in Egyptian market demand for excellent coffee products from Indonesia.

Moreover, Haytham further explained that he also needs professional and skilled baristas manpower to be able to mix a variety of excellent Indonesian coffees in his shop, which he plans to add to the number of the shop in the future. Through the facilitation of the Specialty Coffee Association of Indonesia, Indonesia as the fourth ranked "World's Best Barista," is expected to be able to hold workshops and provide capacity building training in the field of excellent coffee to train local barista manpower in Egypt.

The Trade Attaché of the Indonesian Embassy in Cairo, Irman Adi explained that the inauguration of Indonesia's first coffee shop was a new breakthrough in a series of Indonesian coffee diplomacy programs in Egypt. The coffee shop can promote and sell a variety of excellent coffee of Indonesia, such as Sumatera Gayo, Sinabung Honey, Lintong, Karo, Sinabung Wine, Long Berry, and Cascara.