VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

A Javanese rhino baby born - 

A Javanese rhino gave birth to two calves at the Ujung Kulon National Park in Banten Province, according to the Environment and Forestry Ministry.

The two Javanese rhino calves were recorded in the camera trap at the national park located in the western tip of Java Island on March 18, 2021, the ministry noted in a press statement released on Saturday.

The two rhino calves were born to a female rhino named Ambu, who had last given birth to a baby in 2017.

Meanwhile, the nearly one-year-old Javanese rhino calf was also recorded in the camera trap in March 2021 along with its parent named Palasari.

The Environment and Forestry Ministry stated that the two rhino calves were the first to be born in 2021.

The birth of the two Javanese rhino calves showed the success of the government's policy to protect the habitat of Javanese rhinos in the national park, according to the ministry.

The ministry noted that the Ujungkulon national park had a total of 73 Javanese rhinos, comprising 40 male and 33 female rhinos, as of May 2021.

Meanwhile, the Conservation Institute of the Bird Park at the Beautiful Indonesia in Miniature Park (TMII) announced that an egg of a Javanese eagle had hatched.

The Javanese eagle parent began to lay eggs in 2014. The hatching efforts were made from 2014 to 2020 through a natural incubation process but to no avail.

Since 2021, the incubation process was conducted with the help of a hatching machine.

An egg hatched to a Javanese eagle weighing 53 grams on May 29, 2021, following 23 days of incubation since May 6.

By June 11, 2021, the Javanese eaglet was 14 days old and in good health.

The Javanese rhino and eagle are endangered animal species protected in accordance with Government Regulation No. 7 of 1999 and Regulation of the Environment and Forestry Ministry No. 108 of 2018//ANT

Youth and Sports Minister Zainudin Amali, accompanied by Vice Chairman of the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) Iwan Budianto (left), held an online press conference on Presidential Instruction No. 3 of 2019 on accelerating national football development on Friday (11/6/2021). (ANTARA/Zuhdiar Laeis) - 

Youth and Sports Minister Zainudin Amal revealed that 17 state-owned companies will become "foster parents" of selected sports branches.

"Each of the state-owned companies will become a foster parent of each of the sports branches," the minister remarked during an online press conference from Yogyakarta on Friday night.

Amal held the press conference in Yogyakarta on the sidelines of his visit to disseminate Presidential Instruction No. 3 of 2019 on expediting national football development.

"We will work together with the presidential instruction and expected presidential regulation on the sport grand design," he remarked.

The sport grand design only comprises 14 excellent sports branches and three favorite sports branches.

"For instance, badminton is one of the 14 excellent sports branches. The others are weightlifting, archery, and shooting as our target is the Olympiad," he remarked.

"Hence, there are 17 sports branches that we have discussed with the State-Owned Enterprises Ministry. We will also cooperate with them," he affirmed.

To implement the presidential instruction on national football development, the Sports and Youth Ministry is tasked with coordinating with stakeholders, including ministries and institutions, he stated.

"We have prepared an MoU (memorandum of understanding) between (the Youth and Sports Ministry) and the Education, Culture and Research and Technology Ministry," he noted//ANT

Indonesian Export Financing Agency (LPEI) or Indonesia Eximbank continues to encourage exports by Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) through the Coaching Program for New Exporters (CPNE). (ANTARA/HO-LPEI) - 

Indonesian Export Financing Agency (LPEI), or Indonesia Eximbank, continues to encourage exports by Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) through the Coaching Program for New Exporters (CPNE) in several major cities in the country.

"The program aims to increase national exports, assist national economic recovery, and increase the capacity of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the regions to conduct export activities and market their products in the global market," LPEI Executive Director D. James Rompas noted in a statement here on Saturday.

Rompas remarked that LPEI had helped open market access through global marketplaces and exhibitions, both offline and online, as well as through community development via the Foreign Exchange Village Program.

Through these activities, LPEI has fostered more than 2,200 SMEs partners, including 353 SMEs products that have been successfully uploaded to the global marketplace and produced 60 new exporters, as well as developed two Foreign Exchange Villages.

The CPNE program this time was held in North Sumatra Province’s Medan, the third city in the LPEI Consulting Service Program series in 2021, earlier organized in Surakarta and Bali.

Medan, in particular, and North Sumatra, in general, hold the biggest potential for export-oriented SMEs on Sumatra Island.

Based on results of a recent study conducted by the IEB Institute, Medan had clocked an economic growth of 5.98 percent in 2019, with exports valued at US$20 billion, supported by superior commodities, such as vegetables, fruits, coffee, spices, as well as food and beverage.

The CPNE program is a one-year training and mentoring program provided by LPEI to MSME actors that had cleared the selection.

Training modules provided encompass export procedures, preparation of financial reports, legality and export certification, as well as participation in export exhibition activities.

This training was attended by 25 MSMEs in North Sumatra that manage businesses, including of spices, coffee products, coconut products and their derivatives, as well as food and beverage products.

One of the CPNE participants, who is an MSME actor in the coffee plantation sector from Deli Serdang, Darwis Harahap, expressed optimism that his products would be able to penetrate the global market.

"I am upbeat that coffee products of North Sumatra would not only be consumed in Indonesia or in Medan but these products would also be sold abroad. I know this is not easy, but I believe we can do it," Harahap affirmed.

Meanwhile, Deputy Governor of Medan, Musa Rajekshah, lauded all initiatives to boost the economy and welfare of the people of Medan.

"The CPNE training is needed to increase the capacity and competitiveness of MSMEs in Medan, so they can compete in the global market. On account of the fact that we already have natural and human resources potential, we should support such positive efforts since the results will be felt by the SMEs themselves and the people of Medan," he emphasized//ANT

Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno - 

The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry and state-run Bali Polytechnic Institute discussed cooperation in developing tourist villages, including the Bakas Tourism Village in Banjar Angkan Sub-district, Klungkung District, Bali Province.

"I hope this cooperation would start with a pilot project first in the Bakas Tourism Village since it is included as a pilot village. Hence, we want to see its development towards becoming an independent tourism village," Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno stated here on Friday.

Uno had earlier noted that Bali was expected to be reopened to foreign tourists since July on grounds that the number of COVID-19 cases remain under control in the world's most popular tourist resort.

The concept being applied in the Bakas Tourism Village is an agriculture tourism village where villagers are mostly farmers.

Bakas offers attractions, such as agriculture tracking, rafting and elephant tours, home stays, culinary, cooking classes, and kite making and flying activities.

Bakas Tourism Village is a pilot tourism village to be developed into a self-funded tourism village that is environment-friendly and applies local wisdom.

The pilot project is in line with the ministry's mid-term development plan (RPJMN) for the 2020-2024 period that targets 244 tourist villages to be certified as independent tourism villages by 2024.

The Bali Polytechnic's mechanical engineering students are expected to support the pilot project by providing applied technologies for waste treatment and tracking activities.

However, the ministry highlighted the need for bringing about further improvements in the human resources in Bakas.

Wisnu Bawa Tarunajaya, the ministry's Deputy for Institutional Resources, noted that the ministry will help organize training courses for those involved in rural tourism//Release - VOI