VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

RRI World Service -VOI with Diplomatic Corner, a segment presenting information about Indonesian diplomacy, both at home and abroad.

We begin with information from Paris, France. Since 2012, Kendari City, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia has established a partnership with the La Rochelle city in France, especially in the tourism and urban environment field. In early July 2018, Mayor of Kendari, Sulkarnain Abdul Kadir agreed with President of La Communauté d'Agglomération La Rochelle, Jean-François Fountaine to strengthen cooperation in the tourism sector and urban environment. The positive experience and continuity of cooperation since 2012 and the Memorandum of Understanding in 2017 become the basis for Kendari and La Rochelle to strengthen partnerships.

The statement was reached on the sidelines of the working visit of the Southeast Sulawesi delegation to France. During his activities in France, Mayor Sulkarnain Abdul Kadir, accompanied by officials from the Department of Handicraft, Youth and Sports Service, and Tourism Promotion, involved in a training program and promotion of tourism excellence in collaboration with La Communauté d'Agglomération La Rochelle. In addition, the delegation also held a network gathering with 20 French tour operators entitled "Célébes Sud Est: Plongez dans l'inexploré", on July 11. Southeast Sulawesi offers some of the latest tourist destinations whose natural beauty is suitable for French tourists, namely the Wakatobi Islands, Labengki, and Matarombeo. The Wakatobi Islands, nicknamed "undersea paradise" by explorer Jacques Cousteau, are increasingly recognized by world-wide enthusiasts.

We move to the United States of America.

Indonesian fashion designer, Handy Hartono for the first time held a fashion show in Houston, the United States of America on last Saturday (July 21). Besides promoting Indonesia, especially Batik as one of the Indonesian intangible cultural heritages recognized by UNESCO, Handy displayed Batik Karawang collection. As reported in the press release of the Indonesian Consulate General of Houston, Nana Yuliana stated the fashion world has contributed to the Indonesian economy through the creative industry. Besides, the tourism and culinary industries also play a major role in the development of Indonesia's creative industries. The Consul General invited the audience to visit and invest in Indonesia, especially the 10 New Bali tourist destinations such as Borobudur, Komodo Island, and Wakatobi National Park which also received recognition from UNESCO as World Cultural Heritage and World Natural Heritage, Biosphere Reserves and Geo-parks. The Indonesian Consulate General of Houston will continue to promote Indonesia in synergy with relevant stakeholders, including regional governments.  The event was also attended by Head of the Kerawang Regency Tourism and Culture Office, Okih Hermawan.

We end Diplomatic Corner with information from Osaka, Japan.

On the sidelines of a working visit to the Chugoku region, Japan on last Saturday (21/7), Indonesian Consul General of Osaka, Mirza Nurhidayat visited a number of Indonesian citizens -WNI affected by floods and landslides that hit Hiroshima Prefecture and Okayama Prefecture on July 6 and 7. These two prefectures were the most severely affected areas, and resulted in a number of Indonesian citizens being forced to flee, even losing their homes. Previously, on July 9 and 10, The Indonesian Consulate General's team in Osaka distributed aid to Indonesian citizens affected in Hiroshima and Okayama, including food, milk, mineral water, clothing, towels and toiletries. In addition to reviewing the current conditions of the Indonesian citizens, the visit of the Indonesian Consul General of Osaka, was also aimed to distribute humanity assistance, especially in the form of food. The condition of Indonesian citizens is generally good. However, recent condition in the Kurashiki city is still paralyzed. Most Kurashiki infrastructure and facilities, such as roads, bridges, and convenience stores are still in recovery. The government of Japan, in this case through the disaster management team, continues to provide the facilities and assistance needed by disaster victims, including the Indonesian citizens.