VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Communication and Information Minister Rudiantara departed for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to ink a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the field of digital economy between both nations.

"This collaboration will contribute to Indonesia's vision to become Asia's Digital Hub next year and also strengthen Indonesia's support for the realization of the Saudi Vision 2030 to continue to develop the non-oil industry sector," Rudiantara remarked in an official statement received here on Wednesday.

Initiation of the collaboration was carried out since the G20 meeting in Dusseldorf, Germany, in 2017. According to the Ministry of Information and Communication, Saudi Arabia was keen to establish cooperation in the field of digital economy after noticing Indonesia's success in creating four unicorn companies.

The cooperation will encourage Saudi Arabia's investment in Indonesia's digital economy sector and is expected to give rise to new unicorn companies. This digital collaboration is also expected to result in an exchange of information, experience, and knowledge among experts, as well as enable the penetration of Indonesia's digital products or technology in Saudi Arabia.

Not only involving the governments, but the Communication and Information Ministry will also rope in young entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises in this collaboration for the next five years. Startup companies, with unicorn status, will also be involved.


Rudiantara noted that Traveloka and Tokopedia will be involved in this collaboration to share experiences with the Government of Saudi Arabia.

Apart from the signing of the memorandum of understanding, the communication and information minister is also scheduled to discuss digital collaboration, including the development of the Digital Umrah Enterprise, 1,000 Digital Innovations, and the establishment of the Digital Task Force.

The NextIcorn program in future will also organize a road show to Saudi Arabia to bring Indonesian startups having the potential to get investment. (ant)

Former Head of the National Narcotics Agency Commissioner General of Police (Ret.) Anang Iskandar, Wednesday (03/07/2019), visited the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Leadership Selection Committee. Anang's arrival is to register to become one of the participants in the selection of candidates for the commission’s leadership for the period 2019-2023. To reporters, Anang Iskandar said that he had long experienced as a retired police officer who could be used to lead anti-corruption institution. Anang, who is also the former Head of the Indonesian Police Criminal Investigation Unit (Bareskrim) stated that he would emphasize efforts to balance the performance of the commission, starting from the prevention aspect to eradicating corruption.

“First, I will balance prevention and eradication and money laundering because these 3 major components must be strengthened in the KPK,” he said.

Furthermore Anang Iskandar explained that he registered as one of the candidates for the KPK Leader's selection on personal initiative. According to him this step was carried out to provide community service after serving in the police institution.

The Candidates for the KPK Leaders' Selection Committee open the registration for the KPK Team's selection until 4 July 2019. Until Wednesday morning, the committee has recorded that there were 156 Candidate Candidates for KPK Leaders from various backgrounds. (VOI / Ndy / AHM)

The government is confident of reducing the stunting rate to below 20 percent by 2024, Bambang Widianto, deputy in charge of human development and development equality at the Vice Presidential Secretariat, stated.

"Several success stories abound over the implementation of the stunting prevention program in various regions. This makes us optimistic that the government's target is achievable as planned," Widianto noted in a statement here on Wednesday.

The stunting prevention program has also yielded success in Banggai in Central Sulawesi and Sumenep in Madura Island, East Java Province.

The stunting prevention program is a national priority program, he affirmed while speaking at a coordination meeting on accelerated efforts to prevent stunning held on July 1-4, 2019.

Widianto highlighted the need for the central and regional governments to cooperate to help make the stunting program a success.

According to a study conducted by the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), a high stunting rate could inflict state losses worth some Rp250-300 trillion, or three percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) annually.

In the meantime, in 2015, world leaders charted a new set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), of which the second aims to “end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture” by 2030.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has indicated that stunting affects some 162 million children globally. The World Health Assembly, the WHO's decision-making body, drafted the resolution to reduce stunting in children under the age of five by 40 percent. The first thousand days, right from a mother’s pregnancy to the child’s second birthday, are deemed crucial to a child’s overall health and development. It is during this period that good nutrition sets up a child for a healthy life ahead.

Stunting in 20 percent of children occurs in the womb of expectant mothers, who are malnourished. The WHO lists several maternal contributors to stunting that comprise short stature, short birth spacing and adolescent pregnancy, breastfeeding complications, and severe infectious diseases. (ANTARA)

A professor of Islam in Southeast Asia from Leiden University, Netherlands, Nico J.G. Kaptein, had visited the Islamic school institution Al-Khairiyah at Citangkil, Cilegon District, Banten Province, on Wednesday. Kaptein is mastering Banten's Islamic history at Al-Khairiyah which claims to be the oldest Islamic school institution in Banten.

"I would like to say thank you as I am very pleased to be here and I hope to come again," Kaptein said.

Kaptein was welcomed by Vice Chairman of the Al-Khairiyah Executive Board, Alwiyan Q. Syam’un, and allowed access to Al-Khairiyah's three century-year- old Quran.

There has been good cooperation between Leiden University and Al-Khairiyah, and many of Banten's historical manuscripts were also placed in the Netherlands, Syam'un stated.

"I need those manuscripts to know more about Al-Khairiyah and Banten's history. Wish I can go there in the future," Syam'un said. (ANTARA)