VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Minister of Investment / Head of Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Bahlil Lahadalia. (ANTARA/Ade Irma Junida/KT) - 

Minister of Investment / Head of Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Bahlil Lahadalia has pointed out several implemented strategies to attract investment in electric car batteries in Indonesia.

In addition to boosting promotions and offering ease of licensing, BKPM has also been looking for options to acquire an electric car company from Germany.

"State-owned Enterprises (BUMN) will have IBC (Indonesia Battery Corporation), which is a company to handle the car and car battery ecosystem. Also, there is a plan to acquire the shares of a car factory in Germany,” Lahadalia told reporters in Nusa Dua, Bali on Sunday.

If the government cannot build the electric car factories up, then it must acquire them, he said.

Furthermore, he stressed that despite taking the acquisition measure, he ensured the price still has to be economical and the process must be transparent. 

He also explained that promotional endeavors are still carried out, including the publicity of the ease of investment licensing.

According to him, Indonesia holds 22-24 percent of the world's nickel reserves and it has the best quality.

He explained, the distance of Indonesian nickel mines is still considered close to the ports, so the cost of production is cheaper, according to him.

"A car's battery is made of nickel, manganese, cobalt, and lithium. Of those four, we do not have lithium. Nevertheless, that means 85 percent of a car battery's raw materials are (available) in our country. That is why everyone is waiting for us to export them, but we do not want to," he explained.

Lahadalia said, in following the national strategic plan, Indonesia must fully switch to electric vehicles by 2040.

Hence, that goal has begun to be bolstered since 2019 when the Indonesian government successfully appealed to Hyundai from South Korea to invest in Indonesia.

Not only South Korea, but the government is also targeting electric battery manufacturers and the world’s electric vehicle industry to invest in Indonesia. Investment commitments have come from CATL from China and Foxconn from Taiwan, he informed//ANT

The Head of Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency, Dwikorita Karnawati, officiating of a recently installed seismograph sensor in Candi Abang Sub-district, Yogyakarta, on Saturday December 18, 2021. (ANTARA/HO-BMKG) - 

The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has begun installing 17 seismographs  across Indonesia to push for better information efficiency and accuracy and tsunami early warnings.

"These shelters and seismograph networks are needed to reinforce the network to improve the efficiency and accuracy of information and tsunami early warnings at the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency," BMKG Head Dwikorita Karnawati, said in a statement received here on Sunday.

Karnawati said that some 411 sensors had been installed in the Earthquake Monitoring System Network. Currently 428 sensors had been installed after the additional 17 sensors, she informed.

The addition of 17 seismographs was marked by her inauguration of a recently installed seismograph sensor, coded SYJI, in Candi Abang Sub-district, Yogyakarta, on Saturday December 18.

She explained that the number and placement of sensors was determined based on the nature of earthquakes that have occurred. For example,   they were caused by friction between tectonic plates such as the Indo-Australian Plate, Eurasian Plate, Pacific Plate and Philippine Plate, as well as active faults that have been identified.

The possibilities have been evaluated, considered, and taken into account by the agency and its collaborative partners, a team of experts from the Bandung Institute of Technology and Gadjah Mada University, coordinated by Prof. Nanang Puspito.

"With the addition of this seismograph, we want to offer maximum effort in providing weather, climate, earthquake and tsunami information services in a fast, precise, and accurate manner," Karnawati elaborated.

Since 2016, the agency has been increasingly aware that Indonesia is a very disaster-prone country, yet the nation is not equipped with sophisticated technology to counter them. To address the issue, the agency continuously add and update tools and technology as means  to protect the public from disasters.

Although earthquakes and tsunamis are unpredictable, their impact could be minimized through efficient earthquake analysis resulted from strong seismograph network, precise tsunami modeling, widespread information dissemination to the public, and appropriate education of disaster mitigation.

Tsunami Early Warning and Monitoring System is a manifestation of Indonesia's progress and preparedness in an effort to prevent, or at least reduce, the impact of the earthquake and tsunami that could happen anytime and anywhere.

"This is the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency's effort to protect the entire nation from the threats of an earthquake and tsunami. Hopefully, the Indonesian citizens will be more aware and also resilient in facing disasters," she remarked.

According to the agency's data, the frequency of earthquakes in Indonesia tends to increase every year.

From 2008 to 2016, the agency recorded an average of 5,000-6,000 earthquakes a year. Just in 2017, the number of earthquakes  increased to up to 7,169. The number of earthquakes spiked up in 2019, reaching  more than 11,500..

As for tsunami disasters, there have been a total of 246 tsunamis in Indonesia from 1600 to October 2021//ANT

A passenger wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) stands by his luggage at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in Sepang on Nov 29, 2021. (Photo: Mohd RASFAN / AFP) - 

Malaysia reported 11 more Omicron COVID-19 cases on Saturday (Dec 18), taking the total to 13. 

All 11 infections are imported, comprising three who travelled from the United Kingdom, three from the United States, two from Nigeria, two from Saudi Arabia and one from Australia. 

Nine of the cases are Malaysians, while two are Nigerians, said Malaysia’s health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

He added that the 11 cases are among the 18 samples that showed a suspected presence of the Omicron variant, as announced by Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin on Thursday. 

“The other seven samples, however, (we) could not confirm the presence of the Omicron variant because the whole genome sequencing could not be done due to the low level of viral load in the samples,” Dr Noor Hisham said.

With more imported Omicron cases in Malaysia, health authorities said COVID-19 measures have been stepped up at all international entry points and in the community.

Nigeria, for instance, has been added to the list of high-risk countries. Mr Khairy said earlier this week that travellers from these countries have to wear digital tracking devices throughout their mandatory quarantine period. 

Travellers arriving from the UK must self-test daily throughout their quarantine and report the results on the MySejahtera app.

While large-scale New Year’s Eve celebrations are not allowed, people attending small-scale, private festive events must do self-tests before attending them, Mr Khairy had said.  

Malaysia’s health ministry is also urging people to get their COVID-19 vaccine booster shots//CNA

A man stands in front of a base relief containing the Olympic Rings in a park in Beijing as the city prepares for the 2022 Olympics, in Beijing, China, December 7, 2021. REUTERS/Thomas Peter - 

Beijing city said on Saturday (Dec 18) that it is advising residents not to leave town during a major holiday season in early 2022, part of efforts to limit coronavirus risks while the Winter Olympics Games are being held.

China's capital is keen "to ensure zero local infection, the successful hosting of the Winter Olympic Games and the Winter Paralympic Games, and that the public have joyful, peaceful and tranquil holidays", it said in a statement.

In addition to encouraging people not to take unnecessary trips outside the city, it will also call for some gatherings to be held online, according to the statement.

The northern Hebei province that will co-host the Games with Beijing as well as several other cities have issued similar advisories.

Wu Shiping, an official at China State Railway Group, told a briefing on Saturday he expects a "relatively huge" increase in the number of train passengers during the 40-day travel season for the Lunar New Year holiday compared to 2021 levels which will challenge COVID-19 prevention work.

In pre-pandemic times, the travel period was often described as the world's biggest annual migration, with hundreds of millions of China's migrant workers returning to home towns.

Liang Wannian, an official at the National Health Commission, said there shouldn't be a one-size-fits-all rule across China and local governments should balance the need for people to reunite with their families with COVID-19 control.

But Beijing city as well as regions with higher virus risks such as those with border cities and ports should have stricter rules, he said. Higher risk groups such as the elderly should also avoid unnecessary trips and gatherings, Liang added.

China's recent COVID-19 cases count is low compared with many countries, with daily cases trending at less than a hundred locally transmitted cases with confirmed symptoms//CNA