VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Demonstrators shout slogans against Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa near the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo on Apr 23, 2022, amid the country's economic crisis. (File photo: Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar) - 

The International Monetary Fund said on Saturday it held "fruitful technical discussions" with Sri Lanka on its loan request, while the World Bank said it was preparing an emergency aid package for the crisis-stricken country.

Sri Lanka, an island country of 22 million people, is struggling to pay for imports amid a crushing debt crisis and sharp drop in foreign exchange reserves that has fueled soaring inflation. Prolonged power cuts and shortages of fuel and medicines have sparked nationwide protests.

Sri Lankan Finance Minister Ali Sabry has been in Washington this week talking to the IMF, the World Bank, India and others about financing help for his country, which has suspended payments on portions of its US$51 billion in external debt.

The World Bank's emergency response package includes US$10 million to be made immediately available for the purchase of essential medicines, funds shifted from its ongoing COVID-19 health preparedness project, a World Bank spokesperson said.

The global lender, which along with the IMF held its spring meetings this week, did not provide a total value for its package, but Sabry said on Friday that about US$500 million in aid was being considered.

The World Bank spokesperson said the package would leverage existing bank-financed projects and repurpose funds to quickly provide medicines, meals for school children and cash transfers for poor and vulnerable households.

Support to provide cooking gas, basic food supplies, seeds and fertilizers and other essentials is also under discussion, the spokesperson said, adding that the World Bank was "deeply concerned" about the situation in Sri Lanka.

The IMF said in a statement on Saturday that talks between its staff focused on the need for Sri Lanka to implement "a credible and coherent strategy" to restore macroeconomic stability, and to strengthen its social safety net and protect the poor and vulnerable during the current crisis.

"The IMF team welcomed the authorities' plan to engage in a collaborative dialogue with their creditors," IMF Sri Lanka mission chief Masahiro Nozaki said in a statement after the country took steps to explore a restructuring of some US$12 billion in sovereign bonds

Sabry told reporters on Friday that the talks with the IMF were focused on a more traditional Extended Fund Facility program, but that US$3 billion to US$4 billion in bridge financing was needed while this could be finalized.

The IMF has said that Sri Lanka's debt needs to be put on a sustainable path before it could make new loans to Colombo - a process that could require lengthy negotiations with China and the country's other creditors.

Sabry said on Friday that in addition to the IMF loan and World Bank assistance, Sri Lanka is discussing with India about US$1.5 billion in bridge financing to help continue essential imports, and added that he has also approached China, Japan and the Asian Development Bank for help//CNA

Head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), Lieutenant General Suharyanto (second right), Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Head Dwikorita Karnawati (right), and UNDRR Special Representative Mami Mizutori (second right), and students after an earthquake and tsunami drill in Badung, Bali on Friday (April 22, 2022). (ANTARA PHOTO/Fikri Yusuf/rwa/KT) - 

Tanjung Benoa Village in Bali was proposed to get UNESCO's recognition as a tsunami-ready community, according to a written statement here on Sunday.

The proposal was made by seven villages of South Kuta Sub-District and their efforts will be shared in a session in the 7th Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR) on May 23-28, 2022,

"The proposer should be the community itself, not from BNPB (National Disaster Mitigation Agency) or BMKG (Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency). We only guide and accompany," Head of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Head Dwikorita Karnawati said on Friday (April 22).

Seven villages that proposed the recognition for Tanjung Benoa as tsunami-ready community are Panggarangan Village, Pangandaran Village, Kemadang Village, Gelagah Village, Tambakrejo Village, Tanjung Benoa Village and Kuta Mandalika Village.

Meanwhile, UNESCO has set 12 indicators as an assessment of the disaster alert community. The twelve indicators are divided into three categories, namely identification, preparedness, and response.

The preparedness against tsunamis is part of the community-based programs with active collaboration among several parties such as community leaders, tsunami early warning centers, as well as local and national disaster mitigation agencies.

In gaining UNESCO's recognition, communities at the village level are expected to build networks between villages or other parties, such as varsities or the business world.

In addition, communities are encouraged to strive to meet high standards of disaster readiness by being structured, systematic, and science-based.

Tanjung Benoa Village has signed a cooperation agreement with several hotels having three or more floors to function them as temporary evacuation sites during tsunamis.

In April 2022, before conferring the recognition to the villages, UNESCO will conduct field verification activities//ANT

The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy and Huawei inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on technology cooperation at St Regis Hotel, Nusa Dua, Bali, on Friday (April 22, 2022). (ANTARA/HO-Kemenparekraf/FR) - 

The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a Chinese technology corporation for the utilization of information technology for developing the tourism and creative economy.

The collaboration is a collective effort for welcoming the new economic landscape in the post-COVID-19 period, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno, said in a statement issued here on Saturday.

It can also strengthen support for the recovery and growth of the tourism and creative economy industry in order to make it competitive, advanced, and resilient.

The ministry is very pleased because, after several discussions, an agreement has been reached with the company for cooperation in various fields as part of efforts to revive the tourism and creative economy sector, the minister said.

"This is being done to improve connectivity and as a part to enter our economic landscape, namely the digital-based landscape," Uno explained.

To support the development of digital products in tourism and creative economy, the ministry has conducted a variety of activities.

The activities comprise Baparekraf Developer Day (BDD), Baparekraf Digital Talent (BDT), and Baparekraf for Startups (Bekup). Baparekraf is short for the Tourism and Creative Economy Agency.

The BDD is being held to strengthen the digital ecosystem and connect local developers with the latest technology platforms to develop digital products, primarily applications, games, web interfaces and the Internet of Things (IoT).

"The cooperation that we carry out is for BDT, Bekup, BDD. Hence, we can connect startup corporations with SPARK, which is a program from Huawei," the minister informed.

Huawei has 200 thousand employees, two thousand of whom reside in Indonesia. The company has an important role to connect tourism destinations and creative economy centers with digital services, he explained.

The ministry expects that the cooperation will directly and concretely produce several breakthroughs for economic revival and create jobs in the tourism and creative economy sector, he added//ANT

A screenshot of State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir delivering his remarks virtually at the 2022 Y20 Pre-Summit II. (ANTARA/Aji Cakti/uyu) - 

State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Erick Thohir has said that he expects the 2022 Youth 20 (Y20) forum of the G20 to generate the best ideas for developing Indonesia and the world.

"Youth participation to build the nation is very important. Hence, I laud the implementation of the forum to formulate the best ideas on youth employment, digital transformation, sustainable and liveable planet, as well as diversity and inclusion," he remarked virtually at the 2022 Y20 Pre-Summit II here on Saturday.

Speaking on the youth employment issue, he said that Indonesia will need 17 million digital talents by 2030. Hence, it is necessary to prepare the younger generation to have high digital literacy and innovation skills.

"Our goal is establishing a human-centered society, which encourages economic improvement and social problem resolution in an integrated real and virtual world," Thohir informed.

Hence, currently, the government is developing the Internet infrastructure using broadband satellite access that can reach all regions of Indonesia to ensure inclusive access to information for all people, he said.

Meanwhile, to make the planet sustainable and liveable, energy transition must be encouraged, starting from the household level.

Indonesia has started to establish a renewable energy ecosystem by developing the electric vehicle ecosystem, for instance. Thus, the attempt to achieve net-zero emissions by 2060 has become a joint commitment.

Furthermore, on the diversity and inclusion issue, the SOEs Ministry is strongly encouraging the implementation of youth leadership to ensure they get equal opportunities in the workplace.

"I want 10 percent of the positions in the SOE director boards to be filled by young people. In addition, at least 25 percent of the positions must be handled by women. The talents of SOEs will also be encouraged to become digital savvy. Youths are our pillars in future,” the minister emphasized.

Young generations are the ones who will determine the direction of the country, he stressed.

Hence, he appealed to the youths to be adaptive, have a high fighting spirit, become agile, and have a growth mindset.

“Young people have to be lifelong learners. Do not be afraid to experiment. You should keep learning, asking new questions, and looking for new answers," he remarked//ANT