VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesia and Malaysia can enter into an agreement on the establishment of a joint standard for palm oil certification. This was conveyed by Malaysian Minister of Basic Industry Teresa Kok in her remarks to Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Airlangga Hartarto, in a press conference when discussing the MPOB International Palm Oil Congress and Exhibition at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center, Tuesday afternoon (19/11).

Earlier, Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto at the same age attended the Second Level Meeting of Ministers of Palm Oil Producing Countries, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Monday (18/11), saying Indonesia and Malaysia supported to set a standard for cooperation with palm oil which would become international standards with the two countries with due regard to smallholder plantations (smallholders).

According to Minister Teresa Kok, Indonesia has sustainable Indonesian palm oil. But there is always an opportunity to discuss it.

“I think we will exchange notes because Indonesia has ISPO, and Malaysia has MSPO. We are ready to move forward with MSPO, instead we believe we can reach the total embedded area that is MSPO certified. So we move forward. Of course we can discuss the exchange of views with Indonesia, but we must also understand each country. They have a number of different practices. So I think this is another thing we can discuss,” said Teresa Kok.

In response to the pressure and desire to approve globally for Palm Oil Products supported by Indonesia and Malaysia, there are institutions that have asked for certification standards. Indonesia's ISPO aims to improve the competitiveness and sustainability of the palm oil industry, while Malaysia's MSPO is a national certification body that provides certificates for oil palm plantations and palm oil-producing mills. (VOI/PANE/AHM)

Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita has offered South Korea's conglomerate SK Group to invest in Indonesia’s petrochemical industry.

"We are optimistic that they would invest in the petrochemical industry, as Indonesia continues to have huge imports of petrochemical products," Kartasasmita stated in Seoul on Wednesday.

At a meeting with Kartasasmita in Seoul, SK Group, one of South Korea's top five chaebol (industrial conglomerates), remarked that it will consider investment in the industrial sector in Indonesia.

"They are keen to invest in the industrial sector and will send its team to decide on which industry they will invest in," the minister noted.

SK Group continues to seek domestic partners in Indonesia to develop the industry, he stated.

The industrial group comprises three business groups, specifically 45 percent in energy and chemical, 37 percent in information and communication technology and semiconductor, and 18 percent in logistics and services.

Some 60 percent of the petrochemical products for the downstream industry in Indonesia are still imported.

Of the total six million tons of demand of petrochemical raw materials in the country, only two million tons can be met by domestic supply.

The ministry has continued to attract investment in the petrochemical sector to substitute the import to meet domestic demand. (ANTARA)

Indonesian trio rock climbers namely  Aries Susanti Rahayu, Alfian M Fajri and Aspar Jaeololo are preparing to face the pre-qualification for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics which will be held in Toulouse France on November 25, 2019. Indonesian rock climbing national team manager  Pristiawan Buntoro hopes that Indonesia can achieve at least one ticket. But if it is failled, there still be another opportunity at pre-qualification event in Tokyo in May 2020.

“Our target is to win the qualification. If we lose in Toulouse, there still another opportunity in Japan in May 2020. But we believe we can get one of the two targets in Toulouse,” said Pristiawan Buntoro.

Moreover, Pristiawan explained that the combined numbers competed in the Tokyo Olympics are new numbers which are a combination of three classic numbers on rock climbing namely speed, lead and boulder// Rosihan /Trs:AF

Indonesia had officially launched Timber Legality Verification System (SVLK) in 2009, to support Indonesian forest conservation effort and illegal logging mitigation as well as to increase legal wood trade. Ambassador of European Union Vincent Piket at a Press Conference on the sidelines of ‘10 years reflection of SVLK implementation and 3 years license of  Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade -FLEGT in Jakarta on Monday (Nov 18) explained that SVLK can be implemented well by Indonesia in cooperation with the European Union.

“The progress has been very good. We have seen a steady rise in Indonesian export of timber to the European Union. We have seen an increase in the added value of the Indonesian timber sold of the EU market. In value terms we have grown increase faster in quantity terms which is a good sign. The system also works in terms of the cooperation between Indonesian authority and the EU and members states it's very positive and today we have the joint implementation committee meeting. If you have seen the agenda, very dens agenda, very concrete matters reporting on what we have achieved and what we still need to do. So I'm quite positive about it will continue to work to lead to result,” said Ambassador of European Union Vincent Piket.

Ambassador Vincent Piket moreover added that  Indonesia is the first country which led the cooperation since Indonesia is the world biggest producer of legal wood. Indonesia can also be a role model for other countries in the world which really appreciates the Timber Legality Verification SystemSVLK in Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT)// Nuke/Trs: AF