VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi held bilateral talks with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Bangkok on Tuesday to discuss joint efforts to solve the issue of human trafficking under the pretext of mail-order brides.

At the meeting held on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting of ASEAN member states and their dialog partners, Retno underscored the need to solve the issue immediately to prevent new victims.

Retno said she had summoned the Chinese ambassador in Jakarta to lodge a complaint about the issue. In addition, the Indonesian ambassador in Beijing had also met the director general of consular affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry to convey a similar complaint.

Retno told Wang Yi that she had recently met eight people who fell victim to human trafficking in Pontianak, capital of  West Kalimantan Province.

"The victims admitted that they were recruited by agents that provided them with fake information. Some of them experienced domestic and sexual violence and were not give enough food," the Foreign Ministry quoted Retno as telling Wang Yi in a written statement released on Wednesday.

To solve the issue, Retno proposed the repatriation of 18 victims who are currently at the Indonesian Embassy in Beijing.

She also called more detailed surveillance of the process to legalize mixed marriage documents at the Chinese Embassy and in China. In the meantime, the Indonesian authorities should also do the same.

Lastly, she hoped the two nations to work closely to combat human trafficking crimes.

At the meeting with Wang Yi, Retno also revealed the arrest of several suspects in Indonesia and called cooperation with China to arrest agents in the country involved in the case.

The other issues discussed at the bilateral talks were Indo-Pacific cooperation and situation in the South China Sea.

Retno said ASEAN Outlook on Indo-Paciific concept is the regional grouping's outlook to create permanent peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.

The outlook put emphasis on creating ASEAN centrality, mainstreaming dialogs and cooperation, and intensifying cooperation through ASEAN-led mechanism.

On the South China Sea, Indonesia once again reminded all sides of their obligations to maintain the South China Sea as a peaceful and stable region.

To that end, all countries should have mutual trust with regard to the South China Sea. The mutual trust could be created if all sides comply with the international law including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982. (ANTARA)

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has given instructions to conduct improvements in the tourist attraction in Kampong Ulos Hutaraja located in Lumban Suhi-suhi Toruan, Pangururan Sub-district, Samosir District, North Sumatra Province.

"This year, the improvement process is to be started, and buildings deemed unfit to be in Ulos will be moved from the traditional village to make it a very attractive tourist destination," Jokowi noted on Tuesday as quoted in a statement issued by the Presidential Secretariat in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The president and First Lady Iriana were welcomed by a traditional dance performed by the local children, and later, they also danced with them.

They entered one of the traditional houses in the kampong and conversed with local villagers, constituting mostly traditional Batak cloth weavers. (Antara)

Olivia Christina, an Indonesian singer and a singer from Myanmar won the 3rd place at the 2019 ASEAN+3 Song Contest 2019 in Quan Ninh Province, Vietnam, Sunday night (29/7). The competition held by the Voice of Vietnam for the second time was attended by 22 participants from 10 ASEAN member countries and 4 guest participants from Japan, the People's Republic of China and South Korea. Meanwhile, host country Vietnam won the second place, while the 1st place was won by Rosario Ninih Bianis, a participant from Malaysia. In the ASEAN+3 Song Contest 2019 Indonesia sent 2 singers namely Asty Pujisari and Olivia Christina and 1 jury, namely Bemby Gusti, an Indonesian musician and composer who was active in arranging film music and had been a judge at the Indonesian Film Festival. (ANI / Vietnam)

Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi has paid a working visit to North Sumatra to review the development plan of transportation infrastructure in Lake Toba which has been one of the priority areas in the development of leading tourist destinations in Indonesia.

"This afternoon the Minister of Transportation is scheduled to depart for Lake Toba to directly review the development plan of the transportation infrastructure. The Ministry of Transportation is very supportive of the program to realize Lake Toba as a leading tourist destination," the ministry's spokesman Hengki Angkasawan said here on Sunday.

Of the 10 tourist destination areas that will be developed into the so-called "New Bali", four areas are put in super priority namely Borobudur in Central Java, Mandalika in West Nusa Tenggara, Labuan Bajo in East Nusa Tenggara and Lake Toba in North Sumatra.

In his visit to Lake Toba, Sumadi will check several ports including Port of Muara, Ajibata Port and Ambarita Harbor and the implementation of safety procedures for passengers of ferries.

President Joko Widodo is scheduled to have a working visit to North Sumatra Province on Monday (29/7) in the company of the Minister of Transportation.

The Ministry continues to make improvements in both the safety and service aspects of transportation in Lake Toba.

At present, the Government has constructed ferry ports in eight locations in Lake Toba, namely the ports of Ajibata, Ambarita, Simanindo, Tigaras, Muara, Balige, Tongging and Marbun Toruan.

It also operates three units of roll-on roll-off ferries and one Water Bus (ANTARA)