VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has sent a delegation to Central Kalimantan in Indonesia to observe several areas as a follow up to a plan to invest in food crops in the province.

The UAE delegation, along with the director general of plantations and the chief of research and development center of the Agriculture Ministry, visited the areas.

"The UAE will invest in Indonesia. One of the regions they want to observe is Central Kalimantan. However, this has nothing to do with a plan to move the capital of Indonesia to the province," Secretary of the Central Kalimantan Provincial Government Fahrizal Fitri stated on Monday.

The delegation had paid a visit to Central Kalimantan to tap the possibility of investment in the development of food crops, including rice, corn, and fruits. In fact, they are keen to develop dragon fruit plantations in Kalampangan Village.

If the investment plan were to be realized, they would export the farm products, particularly to the Middle East.

"Hence, this has nothing to do with the plan to move the capital. The planned development of farm commodities is not aimed at supplying foodstuffs to the prospective capital," he stated.

The UAE delegation has also questioned the availability of land for the planned investment.

During their visit to Central Kalimantan, the delegation visited Palangka Raya, the province’s capital, and Katingan District.

The Indonesian economy expanded 5.05 percent in the second quarter (Q2) of 2019, indicating a downward trend owing to continued export contraction and slow investment growth, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) stated.

The figure decreased, from 5.27 percent during the same period last year and from 5.07 percent in the first quarter of 2019.

The contribution of exports to the national growth is yet under pressure owing to a shortfall in the volume and prices of export commodities in the global market and economic downturn in several trade partners, BPS Chief Suhariyanto remarked at a press briefing in Jakarta on Monday.

Exports were recorded at minus 1.81 percent in Q2 of 2019, decreasing from 7.65 percent during the same quarter last year. However, export growth in Q2 of 2019 rose from minus 1.87 percent in Q2 of 2019.

"Both the volume and prices of oil and gas commodities declined. Meanwhile, non-oil/non-gas exports still grew positively," he stated.

Oil and gas exports in Q2 of 2019 plunged to minus 30.45 percent, well below minus 9.33 percent as compared to the first quarter. In Q2 of 2018, exports could yet grow positively at 4.81 percent.

In the meantime, non-oil/non-gas exports grew 2.17 percent after contracting 0.65 percent in the first quarter of 2019. Nevertheless, non-oil/non-gas exports grew at a slow pace than 8.51 percent during Q2 of 2018. Service exports were up 0.27 percent (yoy).

Overall, investment in Q2 of 2019 rose 5.01 percent, lower than 5.03 percent in the previous quarter, or well below 5.85 percent in the same quarter last year.

"Only investment in buildings in the second quarter of 2019 is better than that in the corresponding period of 2018, growing 5.4 percent than 5.02 percent, while machinery equipment, vehicle, and other equipment as well as intellectual property products continued to grow, albeit at a slow pace," he pointed out.

Household and government consumption contributed 2.77 percent to the national economic growth. Household consumption grew 5.17 percent, while government consumption rose 8.23 percent in Q2 of 2019. (ANTARA)

The Soekarno-Hatta International Airport has operated normally despite a major blackout that hit Greater Jakarta and West Java's areas on Sunday.

"There is a problem in power supply from (state-owned electricity firm) PLN. The troubles have caused power cutoff in Jabodetabek (Greater Jakarta areas)," Senior Manager of the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport's Branch Communication and Legal Febri Toga Simatupang said Jakarta on Sunday.

Febri said, the power system at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport is supported by four relay stations from PLN, channelled to the main power system of the state-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura II (Persero).

The four relay stations are Jakarta International Airport Cengkareng (JIAC) or Cengkareng I and Cengkareng II stations, Teluk Naga station in Tangerang and Tangerang Lama station. In addition, the power supply for the airport is also backed up with 17 generators and UPS.

"(The blackout) has briefly affected us. But it was immediately handled with the support of 17 generators. Power supply in the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport has been under control, our services were not interrupted," Febri remarked.

Flight navigation operation has also run normally despite the major blackout. "We have prepared generators," President Director of Airnav Novie Riyanto said.

Riyanto ensured that all instruments related to flight safety has operated normally.

This major blackout has affected thousands of homes and public facilities in Greater Jakarta and West Java's areas on Sunday afternoon. The electricity went out at 11:48 a.m. local time.

The blackout also affected Jakarta's commuter train and MRT services.

State-owned electricity firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PT PLN) has apologized to consumers for a major blackout that hit Greater Jakarta and West Java on Sunday.

"We apologize for the blackout. We are now attempting to normalize (the electricity supply). Some relay stations have been turned on," PLN's Executive Vice President Corporate Communication & CSR I Made Suprateka said in a statement.

He explained that the blackout was caused by trips or errors on the Suralaya turbine gas from number 1 to 6, while the turbine gas number 7 is off. Cilegon turbine gas-powered power plants in Banten are also experiencing troubles.

In West Java, a trouble in the Extra High Voltage (SUTET) 500 kV transmission has caused a power outage in such areas as Bandung, Bekasi, Cianjur, Cimahi, Cirebon, Garut, Karawang, Purwakarta, Majalaya, Sumedang, Tasikmalaya, Depok, Gunung Putri, Sukabumi, and Bogor.

PLN will take its best efforts to return the electric power in the regions to normal, Suprateka said (ANTARA)

Indonesia and South Korea have agreed to set a target to finalize negotiation on Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) by the end of this year.

"The agreement on finalizing their negotiation on IK-CEPA (Indonesia-Korea Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement) by the end of 2019 is made by taking the momentum of the 30th ASEAN-Korea Commemorative Summit held in South Korea," Indonesia's Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita said in a statement Jakarta on Sunday.

The agreement was made during a bilateral meeting between Lukita and South Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Myung Hee Yoo on the sidelines of the 8th Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Intersessional Ministerial Meeting in Beijing, China.

According to Lukita, both countries have agreed to focus on discussion on market access and cooperation to reach the target.

Both countries, he said, has a common view to support the completion of RCEP negotiations in 2019.

During the meeting, Lukita has also invited South Korean businessmen to participate in the 34th Trade Expo Indonesia, due to be held on October 16-20 in Indonesia Convention Exhibition (ICE) Bumi Serpong Damai in Tangerang, Banten.

A data of Statistics Indonesia (BPS) showed that the two countries' bilateral trade in 2018 was recorded at US$18.6 billion, with Indonesia enjoyed a surplus of US$443.6 million.

South Korea is the seventh largest export destination for Indonesian products and the sixth largest importer to Indonesia.

Indonesia's export to South Korea reached US$9.53 billion in 2018, or up 14 percent compared to the previous year at US$8.20 billion while Indonesian import from the country was recorded at US$9.1 billion in 2018, or up 9 percent compared to import in 2017 at US$8.12 billion.(ANTARA)