VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Over 20 Indonesian micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are interested in boosting exports of food and beverage products to South Korea during an online meeting with 10 South Korean importers.

The Indonesian Embassy in Seoul organized the meeting on Monday to connect MSMEs engaged in the production of food and beverages with potential importers.

“The most important thing is to provide a means of communication between exporters and importers so that trade relations can be established sustainably in the long term, not (for) just one transaction,” Indonesian Ambassador to South Korea, Umar Hadi, said in a press release received on Tuesday.

“We must be optimistic that the trade value between Indonesia and South Korea will continue to increase even amid a pandemic,” he added.

Based on data from the Indonesian Ministry of Trade, Indonesia and South Korea traded goods worth US$18.6 billion (around Rp274.7 trillion) in 2018, with Indonesia recording a surplus of US$443.6 million (around Rp.6.5 trillion).

Indonesia ranked 19th among countries exporting food and beverages to South Korea in 2019.

Meanwhile, in response to the coronavirus outbreak, Indonesia’s Trade Ministry has developed an INAExport application to link Indonesian exporters with buyers from abroad.

Chairman of the Indonesian Food and Beverage Entrepreneurs Association (GAPMMI), Adhi S. Lukman, who was also present at the virtual business meeting, said that Indonesia and South Korea have entered a new phase of trade cooperation following the signing of the Indonesia-Korea Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IK-CEPA).

"Indonesia is ready to meet the standards set by South Korea and provide the best products," Lukman said.

Indonesian MSME products are in demand and ready to enter the South Korean market are sweets, snacks, ready-to-eat foods, egg nuts, biscuits, yogurt, cracker biscuits, and medicines, according to the Indonesian Embassy in Seoul. (Antaranews)

Indonesia recorded a weekly increase of 8.4 percent in the rate of coronavirus infections, with 26,365 fresh cases emerging within the last week, according to the Task Force for COVID-19 Response.

“The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases increased by 8.4 percent over the past week, where the five highest increases in cases were (seen) in West Java, up by 594, Banten 492, South Sulawesi, up by 459, Riau, up by 311, and Papua, up by 271,” Wiku Adisasmito, spokesperson for the COVID-19 task force said at an online press conference at the Presidential Office on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the five provinces with the highest rates of increase were: Jakarta (554 people per 100,000 population), South Kalimantan (242 people per 100 thousand population), Gorontalo (206 per 100 thousand population), East Kalimantan (191 people per 100 thousand population), and Bali (184 people per 100 thousand inhabitants).

The death toll also increased by 18.9 percent compared to the previous week, with Central Java recording 46 deaths, Jakarta 32, Aceh 26, North Sumatra 24, and West Sumatra 13.

The highest mortality rate owing to COVID-19 was recorded in East Java (7.29 percent), followed by Central Java (6.47 percent), South Sumatra (6.04 percent), West Nusa Tenggara (5.91 percent), and Bengkulu (5.85 percent).

The national death rate is at 3.9 percent.

Nationally, the number of patients recovering from COVID-19 rose by 35.8 percent compared to the previous week.

"This is a good condition and the percentage must be increased continuously. The highest increase in recovery was in Jakarta with 1,540 patients recovering (over the last seven days), West Java 1,093, Central Java 845, Aceh 730, and Riau Islands 247," Wiku added.

The highest recovery rate was recorded in North Maluku (89.71 percent), Gorontalo (87.19 percent), North Kalimantan (86.09 percent), Bangka Belitung Islands (84.89 percent), and South Kalimantan (83.51 percent).

As of Tuesday, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Indonesia reached 252,923, with the addition of 4,071 fresh cases over the previous 24 hours. Total recoveries stood at 184,298 and deaths at 9,837. The number of suspected COVID-19 cases reached 109,721.

So far, confirmed cases have been reported in 34 provinces across Indonesia, with the highest number of cases recorded in Jakarta (64,554), followed by East Java (41,417), Central Java (19,982), West Java (18,077), and South Sulawesi (14,524). (Antaranews)

President Joko Widodo said that the development of main ports in Indonesia should be consolidated and connected to complement and support one another.

"I want to remind that our major strategy, the direction of development of our main ports, including Patimban and Tanjung Priok, and 28 other main ports, should be consolidated," Jokowi said during a limited meeting on the acceleration of the Patimban national strategic project at the Bogor State Palace, in West Java, on Tuesday.

The president believes that consolidated construction of main ports will create a concrete and clear direction for the development, with each port playing its role while functioning as a complementary to other ports.

"The way forward will be clear and concrete. Each has its segment and complementary to one another," Jokowi remarked.

This will offer a broad impact, specifically in the functioning of ports, to accelerate and boost economic growth.

"It will boost growth in regional economic centers, enhance logistical services, and improve export efficiency and competitiveness," he said.

The president said that the northern coast of Java had been connected with a toll road, so it could become an economic super corridor, supported by the development of port infrastructure. (Antaranews)

The government built an infrastructure for the procurement of the COVID-19 vaccine to speed up the purchase and delivery of the SARS-CoV-2 anti-virus when it becomes available to the public.

"We have built infrastructure to smooth the process of procurement and delivery of vaccines when the vaccines are available," Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said during a joint work meeting with Commission I of the House of Representatives in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Retno did not say further information on the infrastructure for procurement and delivery of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Retno's statement is likely related to the cooperation between Indonesia and the United Nations Children's Fund Organization (UNICEF) on September 16, 2020 on the procurement of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The Health Ministry and UNICEF Indonesia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that regulates all stages of the procurement of the COVID-19 vaccine through a joint purchase scheme called the COVAX initiative.

In this cooperation scheme, UNICEF is tasked with coordinating the purchase and delivery of the COVID-19 vaccine from more than 140 countries, one of which is Indonesia. The goal is, each country has equal and affordable access to the SARS-CoV-2 antivirus.

Under the COVAX initiative, the purchase of the COVID-19 vaccine, once available, will be carried out through one door, namely from the UNICEF Procurement Division in Copenhagen, Denmark - one of the largest humanitarian aid procurement facilities in the world.

"UNICEF can order vaccines in large quantities and at lower costs," the UN agency said on its official website.

COVAX or the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility is an initiative established and coordinated by a number of multilateral agencies, namely WHO, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), and the Epidemic Preparation Innovation Coalition (CEPI).

In this collaboration, GAVI coordinates the vaccine procurement, while CEPI monitors research and development of vaccine candidates. WHO, through its official website, said that nine COVID-19 vaccine candidates are being evaluated by experts from COVAX.

The complete list of vaccine candidates supported by CEPI, including vaccines made by:

Inovio, US (Clinical Trial I / II);

Moderna, US (Clinical Trial I/II);

CureVac, Germany (Clinical Trial I);

Pasteur Institute / Merck / Themis, France / USA / Austria (Preclinical);

AstraZeneca / University of Oxford, UK and Northern Ireland (Clinical Trial III);

the University of Hong Kong, China (Preclinical);

Novavax, USA (Clinical Trials I / II);

Clover Biopharmaceutical, China (Clinical Trial I);

and the University of Queensland / CSL, Australia (Clinical Trial I).

"When the COVID-19 vaccine is available, Indonesia will probably get a vaccine dose of 20 percent of the total population," Retno said.

She added that the COVID-19 vaccine obtained from multilateral cooperation, including through COVAX, may only be available in 2021. (Antaranews)