VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian Ambassador to Tunisia, Zuhairi Misrawi and Tunisian Minister of Defense, Emad Memmisy held a special meeting to discuss the completion of the defense cooperation script between Indonesia and Tunisia. The Indonesian Embassy in its information received in Jakarta on Thursday (7/70) stated that the meeting between Ambassador Zuhairi Misrawi and Minister Emad Memmisy   was held warm and friendly at the Tunisian Ministry of Defense office in Tunis City on Wednesday (6/7). Ambassador Zuhairi also said that his side discussed the finalization of the defense cooperation document of both countries before it is signed by the two defence ministers.

Moreover, Ambassador Zuhairi further conveyed that the cooperation will be agreed in a few short times and it will be implemented. He also explained several points of cooperation, including joint defense exercises, visits, military education and scholarship. Particularly, his side also offers scholarships for the Tunisian military to study at defense universities in Indonesia in various military sciences as well as initiate several agreed points to be followed up in activities that bring Indonesia and Tunisia to have closer bilateral relations.

Besides, Ambassador Zuhairi Misrawi also affirmed that the cooperation in the defense sector of both countries proves the closeness and friendship that have been built since the era of President Soekarno and Habib Bourgaiba. The closeness and friendship of the two founding fathers of the Nation, Soekarno and Habib Bourgaiba can be a capital for diplomacy and bilateral relations in various fields, particularly  defense. He is optimistic that the bilateral relations of both countries will improve in the future. Indonesia and Tunisia have established diplomatic relations since 1960. Indonesia lauds Tunisia as a successful example of a democratic transition in the Arab World.

Banoo, a startup managed by Indonesian students at Imperial College London, becomes the first Indonesian representative to take home the grand prize of WE Innovate, the prestigious accelerator program at Imperial College London. Banoo was founded by a number of Indonesian students; one of them is Selly Shafira, an MSc Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Management student at Imperial College Business School. He and his team won the £15,000 grand prize at the WE Innovate Finals last June 22 for the technology, which they created to support fish farmers in Indonesia to be more productive.

According to Banoo co-founder, Lakshita Aliva Zein, climate change has affected water quality in aquaculture practices, and increased the risk of fish mortality and inefficient aquaculture. He also said that fish farmers or cultivators can no longer rely on traditional methods to predict weather or water quality because the risk of loss is higher if they don't use technology for direct problem solving. In addition, Indonesia's water quality is also low because ponds do not have a good oxygen circulation system, resulting in unhealthy fish and toxic waste. Therefore, Banoo Solutions is an affordable and integrated aquaculture technology for fish farmers to monitor and solve water quality problems in real-time through Internet of Things (IoT) systems: microbubble aeration systems, water quality sensors, and mobile applications that enable farmers to monitor their pool remotely.

The Banoo system is aeration that produces micro-sized bubbles to increase dissolved oxygen and improve water quality. This increase in dissolved oxygen improves the fish's metabolism as well as their appetite. With the improved metabolism, fish will eat more so that less fish food will end up as waste at the bottom of the pond and produce water waste that may damage the environment. The Banoo Internet of Things sensor is the brain of the Banoo system that can monitor water quality and automate the operation of microbubble aerators. With the Banoo mobile app, fish farmers can monitor and control their ponds from anywhere, save transportation costs and reduce the risk of crop losses due to delays in handling problems.

Citizens and coffee’s lovers in Brunei Darussalam enthusiastically welcomed the Indonesian coffee promotion activity done by the Indonesian Embassy in Bandar Seri Begawan. In its statement received in Jakarta on Monday (4/7), the embassy reported that more than one hundred guests enthusiastically attended the activity in Brunei, which was held for the first time by the Indonesian Embassy in Bandar Seri Begawan on Saturday (2/7). The theme of the activity is "My Coffee, My Indonesia" which aims at introducing more special types of coffee with various types of varieties from various regions across Indonesia to coffee’s lovers in Brunei. 

Indonesian Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam, Sujatmiko pointed out that currently, the culture of drinking coffee in Brunei is continuously growing and groing so that the cafe business is also increasingly found. Therefore, it is hoped that this activity can encourage business collaboration between Brunei coffee business enthusiasts and suppliers or roasteries from Indonesia. The Indonesian coffee promotion activity was attended by local government officials, diplomatic circles, business importers of Indonesian products, cafe owners in Brunei, media/influencers and young people of Brunei. The series of events began with a talk show hosted by a Bruneian coffee expert who is also a coffee expert, barista instructor, M. Fadhil Abubakar, who told about the superior taste of Indonesian coffee.

Moreover, the Indonesian Embassy in Bandar Seri Begawan invited six local cafes to take part in promoting Indonesian coffee at the coffee tasting session. Types of coffee promoted include Arabica Gayo, Toba Aek Raja, Kamojang Honey Anaerob, Ijen Yellow Cattura, Bali Sudana, Toraja Kalosi, Malabar Cibercek, Fruit Bomb Puntang produced by selected cafes and coffee roasteries in Indonesia. Each guest seemed enthusiastic in discussing and tasting the coffee served based on what they like.

The Indonesian government will apply a booster vaccination as a condition of travel and social activities. Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto conveyed this plan in his statement at the Presidential Office in Jakarta, Monday (4/7). He explained that the third dose would be required for various activities by involving a large number of people and also for various trips. He added, according to President Joko Widodo's direction, the airport is also prepared for the third dose of vaccination.

The Indonesian government, in this case the Ministry of Health, will also carry out a sero survey. Minister of Health, Budi Gunadi Sadikin said that the sero survey has been carried out since Monday (4/7). It is hoped that the results will be out next month. This sero survey is conducted to see the total population in Indonesia who already have antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Minister Budi Gunadi further explained, based on the sero survey conducted in March 2022, 99 percent of the population already has antibodies from 3,000 to 4,000 levels. These results show that the antibody is much higher than the sero survey conducted in December 2021. At that time, 88 percent of the antibody population was around 400 - 500.

Accelerating booster vaccinations and conducting the third sero survey are preventive measures to face the possibility of a spike in cases of new variants of Covid-19, namely BA.4 and BA.5. Minister Budi Gunadi estimated that the peak of cases in Indonesia would be reached in the second and third week of July 2022.

Prevention is much better. Moreover, recently there has been an increase in the number of exposed cases. Based on the Ministry of Health's records distributed by the COVID-19 Task Force, as of Monday (4/7), there were 1,434 new cases. The Indonesian people are asked to continue to pay attention to health protocols, one of which is the use of masks.

Not wearing a mask in open spaces is allowed indeed. There has been no change in policy regarding removing masks in open spaces. But, still wearing a mask for prevention is much better, isn’t it?

The discipline of improving health protocols must be carried out by all Indonesian people. To immediately reach zero positive cases of Covid-19 is certainly the hope of all Indonesian people. To achieve that, the government cannot go alone. All Indonesian people must participate in implementing it.

Continuing to wear masks, as a form of implementing one of the health protocols until the estimated time for peak cases in Indonesia has passed, is a good step. Implementing the current health protocols to achieve the best results for the Indonesian nation next is the best step.