VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Crude palm oil - CPO - 

The price of crude palm oil (CPO) per kilogram (kg) in Jambi for the July 9-15 period this year climbed by Rp860 to reach Rp9,742 per kg, as compared to Rp8,882 per kg a week earlier.

The price of palm kernel increased by Rp198 to reach Rp5,792, from Rp5,694 per kg, while the price of fresh fruit bunches rose by Rp119 to reach Rp1,741, from Rp1,622 per kg, spokesperson for the Jambi provincial fresh fruit bunch pricing committee Putri Rainun noted in a written statement released on Saturday.

The prices of CPO, palm kernel, and fresh fruit bunches continued to rise in the past few weeks, according to the decision and agreement reached by the CPO pricing team, palm oil farmers, palm oil plantation companies, and other relevant parties.Fresh fruit bunches are priced at Rp1,741 per kg for palms three years after planting, Rp1,848 per kg for palms four years after planting, Rp1,934 per kg for palms five years after planting, Rp2,015 per kg for palms six years after planting, and Rp12,066 per kg for palms seven years after planting.

Meanwhile, fresh fruit bunches cost Rp2,109 per kg for palms eight years after planting, Rp2,151 per kg for palms nine years after planting, Rp2,216 per kg for palms 10 to 20 years after planting, Rp2,147 per kg for palms 21 to 24 years after planting, and Rp2,046 per kg for palms over 25 years after planting.

The prices of CPO, fresh fruit bunches, and palm kernel are set on the basis of an agreement between the pricing committee, CPO producers, cooperatives, and palm oil growers, as well as aligns with regulations of the agriculture minister and the governor//ANT

Medical ventilator to help COVID-19 patient - 

The Indonesian government received one thousand ventilators donated by Australia to tackle the shortage of medical equipment amid a drastic spike in COVID-19 cases.

The ventilators from Australia arrived here on Friday night, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted in a statement here on Saturday.

In addition to ventilators, Australia will send 2.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, oxygen concentrators, oxygen cylinders, antigen test kits, and other medical equipment in stages.

The Indonesian ministry expressed gratitude for the cooperation and assistance from Australia, which is a comprehensive strategic partner.

Apart from Australia, several other countries, including Singapore, the United States, the Netherlands, Japan, Britain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), India, and China, have also offered support to Indonesia to deal with the surge in COVID-19 cases.

Earlier on Friday, medical equipment, comprising ventilators, oxygen cylinders, face masks, gloves, and personal protective equipment (PPEs), donated by the Government of Singapore, had arrived in Jakarta to support Indonesia in battling the second wave of COVID-19.

According to the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry’s written statement, the assistance provided is in the form of 200 ventilators, 256 empty 50-liter-capacity oxygen cylinders, face masks, gloves, PPEs, and headgear, among other things.

"The aid was sent by air, and some other assistance will be sent by sea," the ministry revealed.

In addition, the Indonesian government had purchased 10 thousand oxygen concentrators from Singapore, of which 30 had arrived along with other medical equipment donated by the neighboring country.

On Friday, Indonesia added 38,124 new COVID-19 cases within the last 24 hours, thereby bringing the tally to 2,455,912 cases, while the death toll reached 64,631//ANT

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi during an online seminar on women's role in UN peace missions on Thursday. (ANTARA/HO-Kemlu RI) - 

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi highlighted Indonesian women's increased participation in various United Nations peace missions during an online seminar on Thursday (July 8, 2021).

"The fact that a total of 183 (Indonesian) female soldiers are joining various UN peace missions shows Indonesian commitment to increase their number and support the creation of a conducive environment for female soldiers in the UN mission," she said in the written statement of the Indonesian Foreign Ministry on Friday.

Breaking barriers for women in peacekeeping is indispensable to ensuring the full participation of women in peace missions, the minister said at the seminar on Action for Peacekeeping (A4P) Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Champions: Practical Recommendations for Breaking Barriers for Women in Peacekeeping.

"This recommendation (I) conveyed today can hopefully become an input for the UN to formulate policies which will serve as a catalyst to promote women's role in UN missions," she added.

She made three recommendations for promoting Indonesian women's role in UN peace missions. 

The first recommendation concerns the importance of designing infrastructure sensitive to gender in peace missions, Marsudi said. Ensuring a secure environment for female UN peacekeepers is the top priority of Indonesia as one of the biggest contributors of soldiers to the UN mission, she added.

"The second thing which is of equal importance is identifying barriers at the national level," she pointed out.

The identification of barriers must be adjusted to the local culture and situation of each country to achieve maximum results, she said.

Lastly, she stressed Indonesia's support for female peacekeeper networking. "This networking will give additional support to increase the number of female soldiers in UN missions," she explained.

She said full, effective, and meaningful participation of women in UN missions is a common responsibility.

"Indonesia will always commit to be part of this," she said.

The A4P WPS meeting was part of a series of online expert-level seminars jointly organized by Indonesia, Ireland, Germany, Bangladesh, South Africa, Kenya, and Namibia//ANT

A family wears protective masks as they ride a motorbike in the street amid the COVID-19 outbreak in Hanoi, Vietnam, Jan 29, 2021. (File photo: REUTERS/Thanh Hue) - 

Vietnam has received the first shipment of 2 million doses of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine donated by the US government, the American embassy in Hanoi said on Saturday (Jul 10), as the country battles its worst outbreak.

The shipment, delivered via the COVAX sharing facility, is part of the 80 million vaccine doses President Joe Biden committed from US vaccine supplies to support global needs, the embassy said in an emailed statement.

The health ministry reported 1,625 new infections on Friday, the fifth straight day of more than 1,000 cases. Vietnam has recorded 26,600 infections overall and 110 deaths, which is still relatively low compared with European nations, India and the United States.

Most of Vietnam's new cases are in epicentre Ho Chi Minh City, which on Friday - along with some other cities - began 15 days of broad movement restrictions.

State media reports said on Saturday that half of the Moderna doses would be funnelled to Ho Chi Minh City's 9 million people.

Vietnam has so far received around 8 million vaccine doses, mostly under the international COVAX sharing facility.

More than 4 million doses have been administered, but only about 258,000 people have been fully vaccinated out of its total population of 98 million//CNA