VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Minister of Communication and Informatics Johnny G Plate. (ANTARA/HO-Kominfo/rst) - 

Communication and Informatics Minister Johnny G. Plate encouraged related stakeholders to consolidate to realize the management of the Sea Cable Communication System (SKKL) to support the national digital transformation agenda.

"This digital transformation is for the benefit of the country as well as for our national company. Now is the time for consolidation, especially in the telecommunications industry," Plate stated at the SKKL meeting with cellular operators in Jakarta on Friday.

Coordination and consolidation of all fiber optic telecommunications service providers, especially SKKL, is deemed necessary in order to accelerate the ongoing digital transformation, he remarked.

"Let us consolidate for the telecommunications industry. This is because we are entering a new stage, specifically transformation and acceleration of digital transformation," Plate noted.

The minister remarked that one of the challenges in managing SKKL was the imbalance between the domestic and international bandwidth per capita.

In comparison with 2019, the bandwidth capacity per capita only reached around 0.063, with a low ranking in the ASEAN. Plate attributed this to the large area and population of Indonesia.

"We need 55 Tbps of bandwidth capacity for the government projects in 2025. In 2020, our capacity reaches only 18.1 Tbps, which means we need a huge capacity, three folds higher than the capacity in 2020, in the next four or three years," he remarked.

Plate emphasized that the government was currently working for the interests of the state and society. However, the government still pays attention to industrial developments.

The minister noted that currently, Indonesia should prioritize the acceleration of digital transformation to respond to the national interests as well as maintain the SKKL.

"That is why today I want to talk about SKKL. I receive information that Indonesia's international bandwidth capacity is currently quite large, though per capita not being large enough. We must fix that," he stressed//ANT

Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan. (ANTARA/HO-Presidential Secretariat Press Bureau/am/KT) - 

Bali's economy is expected to recover with the reopening of international flights to the island, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, has said.

"I hope it can help the people's economy in Bali to be able to revive," Pandjaitan remarked here on Friday.

He also emphasized that international tourists arriving in Bali will be required to undergo quarantine, in accordance with Circular Letter No. 4 of 2022 issued by the COVID-19 Handling Task Force.

"I also request all parties to strictly comply with the health protocols enforced by the COVID-19 Task Force. Because this is all meaningless if we are not disciplined," he said.

International flights to Bali were reopened for international travelers and non-Indonesian migrant workers (non-PMI) from Friday (February 4, 2022).

The opening of tourism is targeted at reviving the economy of the island of Bali, which has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said.

All international travelers arriving in Bali will be required to show proof of vaccination such as vaccine cards. They will be required to have been vaccinated a minimum of 14 days prior to departure and submit negative results of RT-PCR tests, taken at the country of origin a maximum of 2x24 hours before departure.

Bali is providing two additional choices for quarantine sites that have been CHSE-certified by the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy: a "bubble quarantine" at five hotels with a total of 447 rooms in Nusa Dua, Ubud, Sanur, and Jimbaran and a "live onboard" quarantine on ships.

All types of quarantine facilities have been prepared at isolation hotels and SOPs (standard operating procedures) have been formulated for anticipating positive cases and tracing close contacts.

On February 3, 2022, Bali Airport served the first regular international flight after the pandemic. The flight, Garuda Indonesia GA 881, arrived from Narita, Japan//ANT

A waiting area prepared for international travelers arriving at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, Badung, Bali on Wednesday (February 2, 2022). (ANTARA PHOTO/FIKRI YUSUF/KT - 

International tourists traveling to Bali and Riau Islands on B211A tourist visas will be allowed to visit other destinations, the Ministry of Law and Human Rights has informed.

"(International tourists) will be allowed to visit other regions and go home after immigration checks from those areas," the ministry's director of immigration traffic, Amran Aris, said here on Friday.

The Indonesian Government has allowed entry to international tourists through two points—Bali and Riau Islands, he noted.

According to Aris, international travelers holding tourist visas will not need to leave the country from Bali, but will be allowed to leave from other destinations, such as Labuan Bajo in East Nusa Tenggara.

The mechanism for the issuing of visas for tourism has been agreed upon by all stakeholders, he informed. In issuing visas, the Directorate General of Immigration is following the regulations stipulated by Ministerial Regulation No. 34 of 2021 and COVID-19 Handling Task Force's Circular Letter No. 4 of 2022, he said.

For example, based on an agreement between ministries and institutions, international travelers coming to Indonesia are required to have health insurance and consider the possible risks of traveling, Aris explained.

Based on an evaluation, the amount of mandatory health insurance coverage was found to be a barrier for prospective international travelers coming to Bali, he said.

Therefore, the value of health insurance coverage was adjusted from US$100 thousand to US$25 thousand.

International travelers arriving in Bali or Riau Islands will need to furnish evidence of health insurance and show it during document checks to officers, he said.

Bali reopened international flights on Friday, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, informed.

The reopening of Bali's international borders is only for international travelers who are not Indonesian migrant workers, he added//ANT

Documentation - Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto (right) and Palestinian Ambassador to Indonesia Zuhair S. M. Al Shun (left) discuss ways to expand bilateral cooperation when they met at the Defense Ministry in Jakarta on Thursday. ANTARA/HO-Biro Humas Setjen Kementerian Pertahanan - 

Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto has reiterated Indonesia's support for a two-state solution that is believed to bring peace in Palestine.

"Indonesia is ready to help in the efforts to increase the prospects of realizing the solution," Subianto noted in a written statement of the Defense Ministry received in Jakarta on Friday.

Indonesia has consistently echoed its support for Palestine's independence and peace in various opportunities, including international and regional forums as well as other official meetings.

Indonesia reiterated its support for Palestine's struggle for independence when Palestinian Ambassador to Indonesia Zuhair S. M. Al Shun paid a courtesy call on Subianto at the Defense Ministry in Jakarta on Thursday.

At the meeting, he stated that the Indonesian people's support for peace in Palestine is the Constitutional mandate contained in the preamble of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia.

The first paragraph of the 1945 Constitution stipulates that independence is the right of every nation, and therefore, colonialism on the planet must be eliminated, as it is against humanity and justice.

At the meeting, the Palestinian ambassador lauded the consistent support of the Indonesian government and people for the Palestinian people's struggle for independence.

Subianto and Shun discussed ways to expand cooperation between the two states in various strategic sectors, including health, education, and economy.

Israel is currently occupying several parts of the Palestinian territory.

Since 1967, the Israeli authority has controlled borders, taxes, and outflow and inflow of goods in Palestine//ANT