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Executive Director of the Habibie Center, Mohammad Hasan Ansori and Director of Public Diplomacy, Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ani Nigeriawati, International Seminar with the theme ‘Navigating the Future of the Indo-Pacific’ in Jakarta. (Photo : AF-VOI)- 

VOInews, Jakarta : The Habibie Center organised an International Seminar with the theme ‘Navigating the Future of the Indo-Pacific’ in Jakarta, Thursday (21/11).

Executive Director of the Habibie Center, Mohammad Hasan Ansori in his remarks said that the event aims to gather insights from Indonesian foreign policy experts and experts to get a comprehensive view of the new chapter of Indonesia's foreign policy.

“With the Indo-Pacific region taking more than the significance of life in a global, pro-economic and pro-economic landscape. The way of our coming administration and transition is impractically relevant for us. Indonesia as well as ASEAN, and other regional actors and there are different questions. How does this different moving regional taskforce impact our resilience, strategic economy and strategic agenda? I am confident that our agenda forum comprises the level of scholarly work from contributing authors, political insights and evidence-based factors to help make a possible transition.” Hasan Ansori said. 

Mohammad Hasan Ansori also hoped that through this seminar, he would get various perspectives and comments on Indonesia's current and crucial foreign policy in President Prabowo's administration. The International Seminar presented speakers from stakeholders, academics and international relations observers//VOI

Vice President Gibran hit the gong to open the Tanwir I meeting of the Muhammadiyah Youth Central Board in Jakarta, Thursday (21/11). (Photo : detik.com) - 

VOInews, Jakarta : Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka revealed the plan of the multinational technology company from the United States, NVIDIA to open a special school for the development of artificial intelligence (AI) in Solo, Central Java.

This was conveyed by VP Gibran in his remarks at the Tanwir I meeting of the Muhammadiyah Youth Central Board in Jakarta, Thursday (21/11). Reported by Antara, in his remarks, Vice President Gibran said that the news is an opportunity that needs to be captured by the younger generation. 

“Yesterday we had a guest, the boss of NVIDIA, that later he will invest in several cities; one of them is in Solo. He made an AI school.  If there is an opportunity like this, young people should be able to fil. So, do not let the government encourage,but the young people do not follow.” Vice President Gibran said. 

During a visit to Jakarta, Thursday last week, Nvidia CEO, Jensen Huang discussed the development of artificial intelligence (AI) in Indonesia. In his presentation, Huang emphasised the importance of utilising AI technology for Indonesia as a step for the advancement of industry and society. Huang also stated that his side is ready to collaborate to advance AI in various sectors in Indonesia//VOI

Talkshow on the film Manual for the displaced at Erasmus Huis, Jakarta on Wednesday November 20th 2024. (Photo : rri.co.id) - 

VOInews, Jakarta : The  Dutch Cultural Center, Erasmus Huis presented the premiere of the film “Manual for the Displaced” by Robin Block and Jeremy Flohr, two artists of Indonesian-Dutch descent in Jakarta on Wednesday (21/11). The film tells the story of the Indonesian-Dutch diaspora by exploring various themes and cross-cultural entanglements. Robin Block in his statement pointed out that this movie is the result of a cross-cultural collaboration involving many artists, including from Indonesia.

”And also, for this film, we collaborated with many other artists. One of them are here. Both Indonesian artists. One of them is here. It's Dennis. There's one chapter. It's about Jakarta. So, we're quite excited and a little bit embarrassed as well to show it to actual Jakartans for the first time. So we hope you like it. And Dennis shot beautiful footage of his own city of Jakarta.” Robin said. 

Moreover, this collaboration not only enriches the work visually, but also provides an authentic local perspective. According to Robin, the Manual for the Displaced is a cultural bridge between Indonesia and the Netherlands that aims at encouraging the younger generation to better understand the history of both countries. (LIP/VOI/OFRA/AHM/EDT/Trans: AF)

FILE PHOTO: People cross the street at Ginza shopping district in Tokyo, Japan, August 11, 2024. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan/File Photo

VOInews, Tokyo : Japan is considering spending 13.9 trillion yen ($89.7 billion) from its general account to fund a new stimulus package aimed at mitigating the impact of increasing prices on households, public broadcaster NHK said on Thursday.

The proposed spending, exceeding the 13.2 trillion yen allocated for last year's economic stimulus, is set to exacerbate Japan's already strained public finances, with debt currently twice the size of its economy.

The package also includes around 8 trillion yen for government investment and lending, as well as local government spending, putting the overall package at 39 trillion yen when private funding is included, NHK reported without citing sources.

The stimulus package will include 30,000 yen ($193) to low-income households that are exempt from residential taxes and 20,000 yen per child for households with families, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Major hurdles over the package were cleared on Wednesday after Japan's ruling coalition agreed with a key opposition party on the draft of the package.

"I'm not sure whether the economic package of this size is necessary now, when there are emerging signs that private consumption is picking up and real wage growth is turning positive," said Takayuki Sueyoshi, senior economist at Daiwa Institute of Research.

Sueyoshi also said that Japan's goal of running a primary budget surplus in the next fiscal year would now be hard to fulfill.

The government estimated in July that Japan would achieve a primary budget surplus of 0.8 billion yen in fiscal 2025, which means tax revenues will slightly exceed expenditures.

In the past, Japan has used supplementary budgets, typically worth a few trillion yen, to deal with one-off, emergency spending, such as disaster relief. That changed in 2020, when the size ballooned to 73 trillion yen to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since then, Japan has continued to compile outsized, largely debt-funded, supplementary budgets. Last year, nearly 9 trillion yen of the 13-trillion-yen spending was funded by new debt.

The scale of new bonds Japan would need to issue remains unclear. Last year, the government issued close to 9 trillion yen in bonds for the supplementary budget.

The International Monetary Fund has warned that Japan must fund any additional spending plans within its budget rather than issue more debt, urging the government to get its fiscal house in order as the central bank starts to raise interest rates//CNA-VOI