Jakarta - Minister of Health, Terawan Agus Putranto explained in Jakarta on Wednesday (01/15 that to anticipate the outbreak of severe pneumonia virus from China into Indonesia. The Indonesian government takes concrete and necessary efforts. The anticipation is done by increasing security at the entrances, both at the airport and seaport.  Although there has been no report of the virus infected the people, Minister Terawan said that his ministry has already have standard operational procedures to anticipate the virus to spread in Indonesia.

“We have started the movement for the alertness in all the entrances; both airports and seaports already stand by.  They use thermo scans, detector devices and so on. Particularly  to anticipate the entry of the virus that is now just spreading in Wuhan, and now there is  again in Thailand, the government has already been alert  and done the practices and  anticipated that if there is an incident, what needs to be done, all sides are holding the standard operational procedures (SOP)," said Terawan.

Furthermore, Minister Terawan Agus Putranto also explained that his side has also prepared a number of hospitals if the virus from China is found domestically. But, he keeps on appealing for preventive measures so that the severe pneumonia virus does not infect the people of Indonesia. (VOI/Ndy/TRANS: AF)

Indonesian researcher won the 2019 Newton Prize for research conducted in collaboration with British researcher that focused on protecting coastal communities from the impacts of climate change.

An association between Indonesian and UK scientists to better prepare coastal communities against the effects of climate change has won a share of the prestigious one million pound sterling Newton Prize.

The winner was announced at a reception in Jakarta on Tuesday (Jan 14), according to a written statement from the British Embassy in Jakarta received in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The project was co-led by Dr Harkunti Rahayu from the Institut Teknologi Bandung and Professor Richard Haigh from the University of Huddersfield.

The research was jointly funded by Indonesia and the United Kingdom through the Newton Fund, facilitated by the British Council and Indonesia's Ministry of Research and Technology.

Climate change is increasing the frequency and impact of extreme weather events, such as the recent devastating floods and tsunamis in Indonesia.

Along with a team of researchers, Dr Harkunti Rahayu and Professor Richard Haigh have devised a novel strategy to better protect homes, businesses, and infrastructure in coastal urban areas.

The team coalesced two distinct approaches – disaster risk reduction and climate change adaption – and came up with a new-fangled integrated strategy that can be incorporated into Indonesia’s development plan.

The researchers also assessed tsunami preparedness in Indonesia and other countries in the Indian Ocean, which informed of the work and priorities of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO and the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning.

The research sets an example of how international cooperation on science and innovation can address key global challenges. Results of this research can be adapted for use in other countries and areas at risk, including in the UK.

Moreover, winning the prize will enable researchers to advance their work to the next level.

The Newton Fund builds research and innovation partnerships with 17 partner countries to support their economic development and social welfare as well as to develop their research and innovation capacity for long-term sustainable growth.

It has a total UK Government investment of 735 million pound sterling up until 2021, with matched resources from the partner countries.

The Newton Prize, launched in 2016 and part of the broader Newton Fund, will be annually awarded for the best research or innovation that promotes economic development and social welfare of Newton partner countries. (ANTARA)

Jakarta - The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) noted that China was the largest supplier of imported goods to Indonesia during the January-December 2019 period with a value of 44.58 billion US dollars, contributing 29.95 percent.

"China was the biggest supplier of imported goods to Indonesia in 2019," BPS Head, Suhariyanto, said in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Following China, Japan was the second-largest supplier of imported goods to Indonesia with a value of 15.59 billion US dollars or 10.47 percent. Then came Thailand with an import value of 9.41 billion US dollars or 6.32 percent.

"Meanwhile, non-oil and gas imports from the ASEAN are 29,291 US dollars or 19.68 percent, while they are 12,344.5 US dollars or 8.29 percent from the European Union," Suhariyanto said.

The cumulative value of imports from January to December 2019 was 170.72 billion US dollars, down 9.53 percent compared to the same period the previous year.

"The decline occurred in oil and gas and non-oil and gas imports, to 7.98 billion US dollars or 26.73 percent and 10 billion US dollars or 6.30 percent, respectively," Suhariyanto said.

Suhariyanto explained that the decline in oil and gas imports was caused by the decline in all the imports of oil and gas components, namely crude oil at 3.45 billion US dollars or 37.73 percent, oil yields at 3.96 billion US dollars or 22.50 percent, and gas at 556.9 million dollars US or 18.17 percent.

Over the past 12 months, the highest value of oil and gas imports was recorded in April 2019 with a value reaching 2.235 billion US dollars, while the lowest occurred in March 2019, at 1.5 billion US dollars.

Meanwhile, the highest non-oil and gas import value was recorded in July 2019, which was 13.7 billion US dollars and the lowest in June 2019 with a value of 9.7 billion US dollars.

The import volume from January to December 2019 also decreased 5.31 percent compared to the same period the previous year.

"This condition was triggered by the decline in the volume of oil and gas imports by 16.80 percent (8,267.6 thousand tons) and non-oil and gas by 0.69 percent (849.7 thousand tons)," Suhariyanto said. (ANTARA)

The Provincial Government of East Java is exploring cooperation in the fields of tourism, human resources, and trade with the United States. This was revealed after a meeting of Indonesia's Deputy Ambassador to the United States, Iwan Freddy Hari Susanto with East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa in Surabaya, East Java, Tuesday (01/14/2020).

Iwan expressed, for the field of tourism, the money spent by Americans for vacation is huge. In addition, American tourists averagely spend long time visits. During the meeting, Indonesian Deputy Ambassador to the United States, Iwan Freddy Hari Susanto also specifically discussed efforts to improve human resources in East Java, through a series of cooperation programs offered in the United States.

"On the other hand, one very specific thing we discussed together is related to efforts to improve human resources in East Java, through a series of cooperation programs offered by the United States, because human resources is one of the priority programs of the Indonesian government and is also a major concern of East Java Governor, it is indeed one thing that we must explore properly, we are improving various cooperation programs," said Iwan Freddy Hari Susanto.

Meanwhile, the Governor of East Java, Khofifah Indar Parawansa hopes that this collaboration will be continued systemically and synergistically. She suggested, for cooperation in the trade sector, there would be a meeting between the sellers and the buyers. Khofifah hopes that the coordination to realize cooperation by expanding the East Java product market to America can be maximized soon. (RRI Surabaya / ANIK / AHM)