VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Encourages Health Tourism Development to Revive the Tourism and Creative Economy Sector; Birkom kemenparekraf - 

The Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy / Head of the Tourism and Creative Economy Agency, Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno, encourages the development of health tourism (wellness tourism) in Indonesia to revive the tourism sector and creative economy in the country.

In the "Weekly Press Briefing" which was held online, Monday (6/9/2021), Sandiaga said that his party made health tourism a flagship program targeting the empowerment of domestic tourists. Health tourism is a tourism activity that prioritizes improving health and physical fitness as well as restoring the spiritual and mental health of tourists.

"So far, domestic tourists spend almost US$11 billion more on health tours abroad. We will develop health tourism as well as fitness and herbal tourism because we have a very large market share," said Sandiaga.

In the early stages of developing this health tourism, continued Sandiaga, it is planned to be implemented in a number of regions in Indonesia. Such as Jakarta, Medan, and Bali.

"It will be expanded to other destinations. We are collaborating with various ministries and institutions as well as private parties such as hospitals, clinics, and professional organizations such as the Indonesian Tourism Medical Association (Perkedwi) to support health tourism in Indonesia," he said.

To test the readiness to develop health tourism in Indonesia, some time ago Sandiaga had a general medical check-up at Siloam Lippo Village Hospital, Tangerang, Banten. According to him, Indonesia has health facilities that are quite complete and adequate to support the development of health tourism potential.

"This is tourism based on quality and sustainability and we are not inferior to hospitals abroad. For example, at Eka Hospital, for spine/spine treatment, medical equipment made in Germany is used, which is the only one in Southeast Asia," said Sandiaga. .

In addition, said Sandiaga, Bali is also one of the targets for tourists to enjoy wellness tourism and herbal tourism. In fact, many foreign tourists visit Bali to experience wellness-based tourism and herbal tourism.

"People's enthusiasm for herbal and wellness tourism is very high, especially in Bali. For this reason, we must improve our human resources through reskilling and upskilling programs to provide services of even higher standards," said Sandiaga.

The Deputy for Tourism Products and Event Organizers of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, Rizki Handayani, added that the reason for choosing Jakarta, Medan and Bali as health tourism development areas for the initial stage was motivated by the number of available hospitals in the three areas.

"In addition, Medan has great potential because so far there are a lot of Medanese who have gone abroad. So we hope that by promoting or setting up hospitals in Medan, it is possible that tourists from North Sumatra and surrounding areas for treatment abroad will be smaller, "explained Rizky.

On the occasion, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Sandiaga, also conveyed the implementation of the PeduliLindung application in all tourism and creative business sectors.

"The PeduliLindung application will be expanded from what was previously only in malls, to hotels, restaurants and cafes. Piloting will be carried out in four cities, namely Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang and Surabaya," said Sandiaga.

According to the plan, the use of the PeduliLindung application will use filtering of 4 user conditions, namely green, yellow, red, and black. The visitors who are allowed to enter these places are visitors with green and yellow conditions.

"In addition, together with the Directorate General of Domestic Trade of the Ministry of Trade, we will issue a joint circular regarding the appeal for the use of the PeduliLindung application in stages in accordance with the coordination between the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and the Ministry of Health. The use of applications, including for MICE in hotels, will also be considered," said Sandiaga//VOI

A general view of an oil installation in Saudi Arabia's northeastern Gulf port of Jubail. (AFP PHOTO/Bilal QABALAN) - 

A ballistic missile attack aimed at Saudi Arabia's oil-rich eastern region was intercepted on Saturday (Sep 4), the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi group in Yemen said in a statement carried by Saudi state media.

The missile was intercepted over the city of Dammam, according to a source familiar with the matter who declined to be named and social media reports.

The shrapnel of the missile scattered over the Dammam Suburb neigbourhood, injuring two Saudi children, while 14 residential houses suffered light damages, Saudi state news agency SPA said, citing a statement by the defence ministry.

The coalition blamed the attack on the Iran-aligned Houthi forces. There was no immediate claim of responsibility in Houthi-run media.

The coalition also said it intercepted and destroyed ballistic missiles heading towards Jazan and Najran, both in the southern part of the country.

The coalition earlier also reported the interception of three explosive-laden drones headed towards the Kingdom.

Eastern Saudi is home to significant oil infrastructure which has previously been targeted and hit by aerial attacks. An attack in September 2019 on two Aramco plants in the east temporarily knocked out half the country's oil production.

Yemen's Houthis, who regularly launch drones and missiles into the kingdom, have claimed responsibility for several attacks on Saudi oil installations in the past.

A source familiar with the matter said there was no impact on facilities belonging to state-controlled oil giant Saudi Aramco and that the attack happened outside of Aramco facilities.

"The Ministry of Defense will take the necessary and deterrent measures to protect its lands and capabilities, and stop such hostile and cross-border attacks to protect civilians, in accordance with international humanitarian law," the ministry said in a statement according to SPA.

The Saudi-led military coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015, backing forces of the ousted government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi fighting the Houthis//CNA

FILE PHOTO: A lone passenger sits at a tram stop on a mostly-empty city centre street on the first day of a lockdown as the state of Victoria looks to curb the spread of a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Melbourne, Australia, July 16, 2021. REUTERS/Sandra Sanders - 

Australia's Victoria, home to more than a quarter of the country's 25 million population, reported 183 new locally acquired coronavirus cases on Sunday (Sep 5) as the outbreak of the highly transmissible Delta variant grows.

Of the infections, 101 were linked to existing outbreaks, the health department said on its Twitter account. There are 1,417 active cases now in the state.

More than 15 million people in Victoria, neighbouring New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory have been in a weeks-long lockdown to quell Australia's worst wave of the coronavirus pandemic so far.

The lockdowns, which keep internal borders between states and territories closed, are part of a federally advised strategy to manage the outbreaks until at least 70 per cent of those 16 and older get fully vaccinated.

The plan also envisages that Australia might start gradually reopening its international borders, closed since March 2020, when 80 per cent of its people receive the shots.

Due to the scarce supply of the Pfizer vaccine and public unease about AstraZeneca, only about 37 per cent have been vaccinated so far. The pace has picked up considerably with the federal government racing to secure more Pfizer shots.

Based on current rates, the 70 per cent target may be achieved in late October or early November.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison reiterated on Sunday that the current Delta outbreak cannot be fully eliminated - a successful strategy used by states and territories in earlier waves - but that achieving the vaccination targets can allow for travel.

"And everyone can make plans for a family Christmas, with all our loved ones at the dinner table, cracking bon-bons and bad jokes together," Morrison told the Sunday Herald Sun.

"Nobody wants COVID to be the virus that stole Christmas, and we have a plan and the vaccinations available to ensure that's not the case."//CNA

FILE PHOTO: French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire attends a news conference after a meeting with business federations at the Bercy Finance Ministry in Paris, France, August 30, 2021. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier - 

The challenges to security emerging from the upheaval in Afghanistan should be a wake-up call for the European Union, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Saturday (Sep 4), urging the EU to be more ambitious on defence and on global leadership.

"Europe has to become No 3 super-power besides China and the United States. Let's open our eyes, we are facing threats and we cannot rely anymore on the protection of the United States," Le Maire told reporters during an annual business conference in Cernobbio on Lake Como.

"Afghanistan is a wake-up call," he said, adding Europe also faced security threats in the Middle East and in Africa.

The French minister said Paris had decided to invest €1.7 billion (US$2.02 billion) more in defence this year and would like to see other European countries to do the same.

The minister also called other EU member states to invest and to deepen their single market to achieve technological independence from big overseas companies and third countries.

"EU member states have to build the single market for finance and also they need to reach a political agreement on the banking union, in order to have more funds for new technologies," Le Maire said.

He added that France will work toward these goals when it takes the rotating presidency of the EU Council, in the first half of 2022.

"You cannot be sovereign on the political point of view if you depend from foreigners for semiconductors, electric batteries, satellites ..." he said, echoing similar comments from Italy's Innovation Minister Vittorio Colao, who was also in Cernobbio.

Europe should invest to win the leadership in sectors including hydrogen, the digital cloud, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, space exploration, satellites and bio-technologies, Le Maire said//CNA