VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

FILE PHOTO: A logo of Publicis Groupe is seen at its exhibition space, at the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France June 15, 2022. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo - 

Voinews, Jakarta - Publicis, the world's largest advertising group by market value, said on Thursday it will invest 300 million euros ($326.94 million) in artificial intelligence (AI) over the next three years, as part of its new plan to become "the industry's first AI-powered intelligent system".

The group said in a film presentation - ahead of it annual results publication in February - that it will invest 100 million euros in 2024 alone, fully funded by "internal efficiencies" and with no dilutive impact on its operating margin.

The maker of the Heineken and Barilla pasta campaigns reported in its presentation organic growth in 2023 of 6.3 per cent, exceeding the 5.5 per cent to 6 per cent guidance range shared in October.

"In terms of strategy, it was important for us to show the financial market that we were starting from a position of strength," said CEO Arthur Sadoun in a press conference, regarding the early figure.

Publicis said in its presentation that it plans to integrate AI further into its current platform model, connecting every individual in the company to an entity called "CoreAI", that the group started engineering in the second half of 2023, to start implementing it in the first half of 2024.

"CoreAI is based on the data we have acquired, but also the one that we have built over this past decade," Sadoun said.

Half of the 2024 investment will be focused on upskilling and training people as well as recruitment, while the other half will be dedicated to tech, licences, software and cloud infrastructure.

Asked about prospective acquisitions, Sadoun answered, "our transformation is behind us", adding that the group will now focus on lesser investments in tech, IP and talent.

Publicis' recent strong performance runs counter to a general slowdown in the advertising industry, seen as a bellwether for broader economic health//VOI

File - Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan. (ANTARA FOTO/Fikri Yusuf/YU) - 

Voinews, Jakarta - Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan denied that mining industry downstream projects in the country were dominated by foreign workers.

"The number of foreign workers is now only around 10-15 percent," he stated in a video on his Instagram account on Wednesday.

Those foreign workers were needed during the initial stage of mining operations, he explained.

"We did not have the quality of human resources to do it at that time," he said.

Nevertheless, he ensured that the number of foreign workers would decline as more local human resources were being trained for the downstream industry.

"Now, in stages, the percentage is declining because there have been many people that we have trained. That is a process that we must go through," he explained.

Pandjaitan said that a metal industry polytechnic had also been established in Morowali District, Central Sulawesi, in order to create a competent industrial workforce. He also stated that several students of the polytechnic were sent to learn in China, and currently, those students have become part of a smelter construction project in Sulawesi.

"A polytechnic has been established there. I think it is good, and the lecturers are high-class. There are some from the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) and the University of Indonesia (UI) that we invite to teach there," he remarked//ANT-VOI

President Joko Widodo (right) meets with President of Tanzania Samia Suluhu Hassan at the Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java, on Thursday (January 25, 2024). (ANTARA/Andi Firdaus) - 

Voinews, Jakarta - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) received a visit of his Tanzanian counterpart, Samia Suluhu Hassan, at the Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java, on Thursday. President Hassan and her entourage arrived at the Presidential Palace at 10:30 a.m. local time and listened to the national anthems of Indonesia and Tanzania.

The two presidents then participated in a photo session, signed a memorandum of understanding, and attended a joint press statement at the Teratai Building of the palace. Jokowi and Hassan introduced officials and delegates attending the bilateral agenda before planting tree seeds in the backyard of the palace to conclude the activity.

President Hassan met with President Jokowi to follow up on the discussion on potential bilateral cooperation in trade, investment, oil and gas, mineral, energy, and blue economy during the latter's visit to Tanzania earlier in August 2023.

According to the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry, the Tanzanian president brought along three ministers and 131 business delegates who will accompany her during the Tanzania-Indonesia Business and Investment Forum at Hotel Mulia.

The forum is a result of coordination between the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) and the Government of Tanzania.

Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi, State Secretary Pratikno, Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin, and Investment Minister accompanied President Jokowi to Thursday's bilateral meeting.

During his visit to Tanzania last year, President Jokowi met with President Hassan to discuss workable measures for further stepping up their countries' bilateral relations.

At the meeting, Jokowi echoed Indonesia's commitment to assisting the Tanzanian Government in revitalizing the Farmers Agriculture and Rural Training Center in Morogoro and meeting Tanzania's needs for pharmaceutical products.

Jokowi also expressed Indonesia's keenness to strengthen energy investment cooperation with Tanzania and pushed both nations to formulate a preferential trade agreement and bilateral investment treaty to boost bilateral trade and ensure investment protection//VOI

Kompolnas members pose for a photo on the sidelines of monitoring security preparations for the 2024 elections for Indonesian citizens in Berlin, Germany, on January 23, 2024. (ANTARA/HO-Humas Kompolnas) - 

Voinews, Jakarta - The National Police Commission (Kompolnas) commended the security policy and strategy implemented by Indonesian Ambassador to Germany, Arief Havas Oegroseno, for the upcoming polling day.

“Engaging external security on the voting day (on February 10 in Germany) is positive with regard to respecting local cultural adaptation,” Pudji Hartanto Iskandar, one of the Kompolnas delegates who recently visited Germany, stated.

Kompolnas also suggested that the National Police collaborate with the Overseas Election Committee (PPLN) to anticipate any potential security disturbance on the voting day, he said in a statement from the commission on Tuesday (January 23).

Iskandar visited Germany to observe the preparations for the upcoming polling day along with his four colleagues from the commission: the delegation head Albertus Wahyurudhanto, Yusuf Warsyim, Mohammad Dawam, and Musa Ikipson Tampubolon.

During the visit, they were received by Ambassador Arief Havas Oegroseno who said that the German government has allowed Indonesia to hold election-related activities in Berlin, Hamburg, and Frankfurt.

ANTARA reported earlier that PPLN in Berlin has announced that eligible voters in Germany could vote through postal service on January 10 or at ballot booths on February 10.

According to Head of PPLN-Berlin Roni Susman, Germany’s postal service was reliable, so the ballot papers were expected to be received by the Overseas Polling Station Working Committee (KPPSLN) within a day.

"This is due to the fact that Germany's postal service is so good that Indonesia's General Elections Commission (KPU) disagrees on a proposed opening for mobile ballot boxes," he added.

The PPLN-Berlin recorded that 4,049 registered voters would cast their votes at voting booths, while 496 voters would do so through postal service, Susman remarked.

Some 1,075 of the 4,545 registered voters are concentrated in Berlin, he noted, adding that PPLN-Berlin serves voters in Berlin, Brandenburg, Sachsen-Anhalt, Niedersachsen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and Thüringen.

Some 60 percent of the total number of voters in Berlin are university students, while the remaining 40 percent are employees. Susman noted that PPLN had received the election logistics on December 29, 2023//ANT-VOI