VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut B. Pandjaitan, when giving his presentation at the G20 Bali Global Blended Finance Alliance (GBFA) in Bali on Thursday (04/07/24), (Photo : Kemenkomarves) - 

VOInews, Bali : The G20 Bali Global Blended Finance Alliance (GBFA) is an initiation from Indonesia in its chairmanship of the G20 in 2022. GBFA has been recognized in the G20 Bali Leaders' Declaration (para 43 and Way Forward para 3).

Following up on this, the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries held a follow-up Hybrid Meeting on GBFA, Thursday (4-7-2024) in Bali.

Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut B. Pandjaitan, in his presentation said that GBFA is unique and superior as a form of Indonesia's contribution to fellow developing countries as a platform for South-South Cooperation, primarily helping to close the funding gap for climate action and achieving SDGs in developing countries.

“South South Cooperation through the formation of the South-South platform aims to build a mutually reinforcing mutual investment environment. GBFA facilitates the creation of country platforms for GBFA member developing countries and other developing countries as well as the preparation of Climate Change Action Policies." said Coordinating Minister Luhut.

Coordinating Minister Luhut added that GBFA will be a forum for capacity development, one of which is by facilitating the preparation of standards, guidelines, financial or project financing templates, and capacity development related to blended finance policies under South-South Cooperation as well as a forum for training and knowledge exchange.

GBFA is also a forum and partnership for collaboration across entities, funding and the private sector, including investment.

"Through the benefits of GBFA, it is necessary to immediately accelerate the preparation of the Articles of Agreement (AoA) and other stages to become an international organization, so that the GBFA negotiation team that has been formed can immediately carry out negotiations and finalize the AoA," stressed Coordinating Minister Luhut.

According to a release received by Voice of Indonesia on Thursday (04/07/24), the urgency for establishing GBFA includes the large financial gap to increase climate action and achieve the SDGs, in addition to the many systemic barriers such as the absence of a policy framework, limited human resource capacity, and the lack of a well-designed country platform in developing countries to encourage financing for a sustainable economic transition. to achieve SDGs targets.

GBFA is present as a strategy to overcome the financial gap for climate action. This was revealed by the Deputy for Environmental and Forestry Management Coordination, Nani Hendiarti.

GBFA was formed with the vision of a strong and dynamic global alliance dedicated to bridging the financing gap for the SDGs and climate transition in developing countries by mobilizing blended finance on a large scale.

Its mission is to enable developing countries to mobilize blended finance as a tool to bridge the financing gap in achieving the SDGs and achieving climate goals//VOI

The signing was carried out by acting (Plt.) Director of National Library E. Aminudin Aziz and Head of Library V.V. Mayakovsky Chalova Zoya Vasiljevna. in St. Petersburg, Russia on Tuesday (02/07/24), (Photo : Perpusnas) - 

VOInews, St. Petersburg : The National Library of the Republic of Indonesia (Perpusnas) collaborates with the largest public library in the City of St. Petersburg, Russia.

Cooperation between the two countries was carried out through the signing of a memorandum of mutual understanding between the National Library and the Central City Public Library on behalf of  (V.V. Mayakovsky Library), on Tuesday (2/7/2024).

The signing was carried out by acting (Plt.) Director of National Library E. Aminudin Aziz and Head of Library V.V. Mayakovsky Chalova Zoya Vasiljevna. Plt. The Director of the National Library stated that the signing of the MSP was a series of working visits by the National Library delegation to the Russian Federation to develop international cooperation networks.

Regarding the implementation of activities at the V.V. Library Mayakovsky located in St. Petersburg In St. Petersburg, he explained that the National Library would collaborate with the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia (KBRI) in Moscow.

"Activities that can be carried out include the Indonesian Language teaching program for Foreign Speakers (BIPA) which can be combined with exhibitions of literary works, manuscripts and other library materials from Indonesia," he said on Tuesday (2/7/2024).

Svetlana Gorokhova, librarian at the V.V. Library Mayakovsky, who is also responsible for international cooperation, welcomed this. He added that the implementation of collaboration with National Library can be carried out in various forms of activities.

"One of them targets cultural exchange between the two countries through collection exhibitions and seminars. "Collaboration can also be carried out in the form of staff exchanges to develop expertise and share knowledge," he explained.

V.V. Library Mayakovsky is the main public library of the City of St. Petersburg. Petersburg which has two million collections. Every day, this library is visited by 1,000 people. Initially, this library building was a monastery built in the 18th century. The library received the award for its success in maintaining the historic aspects of the building and its application as a public library service facility.

During a visit to the library, Plt. The Director of the National Library was accompanied by the Main Secretary (Sestama) of the National Library Joko Santoso, the Head of the Legal, Organization, Cooperation and Public Relations Bureau Sri Marganingsih, and the National Library librarian Chaerul Umam.

Apart from that, the National Library delegation also received a special invitation to visit the museum library at the St. Petersburg City Government Office. St. Petersburg. The National Library Secretary appreciated the invitation and welcome from the local city government. It was stated that this could open the door to international cooperation in terms of culture and literature between Indonesia and Russia.

Sestama said that many Russian writers inspired Indonesian writers and played an important role in the development of Indonesian literary works. "So this is an aspect of cooperation that can be carried out between the National Library and the Russian Library," he explained.

Head of the International Cooperation Section of the City Government of St. Petersburg Igor V. Bodnarchuk appreciated the role of libraries in terms of cooperation. He said that National Library was the first party to come to initiate collaboration. "We also collaborate with Southeast Asian countries, Vietnam and Myanmar," he said.

According to a release received by Voice of Indonesia on Thursday (04/07/24), Museum library at the City Government Office of St. St. Petersburg is a closed library which is also a museum of St. Petersburg City government library materials. St. Petersburg. The library has many rare collections, one of which is a collection of Indonesian literary works and publications that have been translated into Russian.

Previously, on June 28 2024, National Library collaborated with the Federal State Budgetary Institution of Culture (Margarita Rudomino All-Russian State Library for Foreign Literature) and the National Library of the Russian Federation. The signing of the MSP was carried out in Moscow, Russia between the highest leaders of the two agencies//VOI

VOInews, Jakarta: A research team from the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), in collaboration with Griffith University and Southern Cross University, Australia, has discovered the oldest cave painting or rock art in Indonesia, which is at least 51,200 years old.

The cave painting or rock art consisting of a number of illustrations of people, anoa, and pigs was found in a limestone cave located in Leang Karampuang, Maros-Pangkep, South Sulawesi.

"This discovery is the first rock art in Indonesia that is more than 50,000 years old," said Head of the Research Team from BRIN, Adhi Agus Oktaviana in Jakarta, Thursday.

Oktaviana assessed that this discovery has important implications related to understanding the origins of the earliest art.

She explained that the presence of more anoa and human images indicated an attempt by people in ancient times to communicate the message that at that time anoa were quite dangerous, so that people at that time had to work together to hunt anoa, although there are other opinions that indicate the images have a certain spiritual meaning.

Oktaviana said that her team's discovery indicated that narrative cave paintings were an important part of early Indonesian human art culture at that time.

"Humans have basically had the ability to communicate in the form of stories for more than 51,200 years, but because words cannot become stone fossils, all that remains is depictions in the form of art. This discovery in Sulawesi is the oldest evidence that can be known from an archaeological perspective," he said.

Oktaviana said that her findings have been published in the leading science journal, Nature, because they used the latest method in their discovery, namely through laser ablation U-series (LA-U-series) at Griffith University and Southern Cross University to obtain accurate dating on the thin layer of calcium carbonate that forms on the decorative art.

She emphasized that research on cave paintings or rock paintings is important to do, because research on rock paintings helps research on civilization and migration of ancient humans, where research using excavation or digging methods requires sophisticated technology and a lot of money.

On the same occasion, the Head of BRIN Laksana Tri Handoko appreciated the researchers for their findings . He considered this as an implementation of the responsibility of the nation's archaeologists in finding historical relics of the ancestors of the Indonesian people.

"Indonesia is rich in relics, and not just relics, but also authentic evidence of the richness of our culture and civilization in Indonesia," said Laksana Tri Handoko.

VOInews, Jakarta: Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi emphasized that the Sanggar Bimbingan educational institution, which is run independently, ensures that the right to education for children of Indonesian migrant workers (PMI) in Malaysia is fulfilled.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs explained that the Sanggar Bimbingan was established to provide basic education for PMI children and also to prepare children who return to Indonesia to continue their education in their homeland.

"Education is one of the important issues discussed in cooperation with Malaysia, especially access to education for our PMI children," said Retno, as stated in a press statement regarding a working visit to Malaysia, Wednesday.

Retno admitted that she had met with around 150 Sanggar Bimbingan students upon arriving in Kuala Lumpur, Tuesday (2/7), starting her working visit in Malaysia.

There are at least 57 Sanggar Bimbingan schools spread throughout the Malaysian Peninsula that are open to PMI children, she said.

Therefore, education will remain a priority in the issue of protecting Indonesian citizens and Indonesian diplomacy in Malaysia. Retno also emphasized the importance of ensuring access to education for PMI children, including through the Sanggar Bimbingan facility.

"In the meeting with the children (Sanggar Bimbingan), I also conveyed that the state will continue to try to be present, provide assistance and protection for them," said Retno.

According to ANTARA records, a number of Sanggar Bimbingan in Malaysia have collaborated with the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur to ensure that participants in the studio receive a national student registration number, so that they can continue their education in Indonesia smoothly.

The Sanggar Bimbingan for PMI children in Malaysia is also the destination for the implementation of the Real Work Lecture (KKN) teaching practice by a number of Indonesian students, such as that carried out by students from Jenderal Soedirman University in Purwokerto earlier this year.

Meanwhile, a number of other issues discussed during Retno's working visit to Malaysia included the border line agreement, cooperation in handling TPPO, the Myanmar issue, and support for Palestine. The Minister of Foreign Affairs also emphasized Indonesia's support for Malaysia's chairmanship of ASEAN next year.