VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The 1st Indonesia-India Consular Dialogue was held for discussing key issues pertaining to consular affairs and diplomatic facilities, among others.

The Consular Dialogue was held in Yogyakarta on July 1-3, 2019, according to a statement in Jakarta, Wednesday.

The dialogue chiefly centered on the detention of nine foreign ships.

The Indonesian delegation was led by Director General of Protocol and Consular Affairs Ambassador Andri Hadi and involved officials and representatives of other related ministries and agencies including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Law and Human Rights, The Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers’ (BNP2TKI), Directorate General of Immigration, Indonesian Navy, Ministry of Transportation, and Indonesian Representatives in India.

In the meantime, India's delegation was led by Deputy Minister for External Affairs, Ambassador Sanjiv Arora and comprised Indian Foreign Ministry's officials, the Indian ambassador to Indonesia, and other officials from the Indian Foreign Ministry.

Director General Hadi affirmed that this dialogue offered the apposite forum to formulate a strategy of consular affairs between both countries to resolve issues. This dialogue is expected to intensify bilateral relations between both countries. The consular dialogue is part of the efforts to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries.

During the discussion, Consular Director Hadi revealed that the detention of crew aboard nine foreign ships by the Indonesian Navy should be discussed as one of the topics of strategic focus, as those vessels had operated illegally in Indonesia's waters.

A total of 87 Indians were aboard those foreign ships of which 20 have been released.

"The foreign ministry has established consular notification and facilitated the visit of the Indian ambassador in Jakarta along with other staff members to meet the ship's crew. They are treated well in accordance with the Vienna Convention of 1963," he explained.

He noted that the foreign ministry had continued to respect the law and could not intervene in the process.

In the meantime, India was expected to provide immediate consular notification to help all Indonesian citizens in India facing problems.

As a result, both countries can adopt a balanced approach in terms of the treatment to protect their respective citizens abroad.

The dialogue also covered consular cases including visa-related matters, residence permit in both countries, notification mechanism and consular access, diplomatic facilities, nationality issues, and consular assistance.

Furthermore, an agreement was reached on most issues to resolve matters at the earliest and will be observed further and followed up for discussion at the 2nd Consular Dialogue in New Delhi in 2020. (ANTARA)

The Indonesian Ministry of Tourism has invited nine Travel Agents/Tour Operators of Malaysia and one companion from the representative of VITO (Visit Indonesia Tourism Officer) in Malaysia to make a familiarization trip to Banyuwangi in East Java, and Bali.

"The Fam Trip was held on June 23-29, 2019 in order to support the Bali & Beyond Travel Fair (BBTF) Event in 2019," said head of subdivision of area IV / A (Malaysia Peninsula) of the ministry's regional II, Nurdiansyah when contacted from Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.

In addition to supporting by bringing nine Malaysian buyers to attend BBTF 2019, this Fam Trip also aims to increase sales of Banyuwangi and Bali tour packages for the Malaysian market while increasing awareness of those destinations.

"Fam Trip is also an effort of the Ministry of Tourism to maintain the continuity of the Kuala Lumpur - Banyuwangi international direct flight route by Citilink (a subsidiary to the Indonesian flag carrier Garuda Indonesia), which has been opened since December 19, 2018," he said.

He said in Fam Trip the participants were invited to get to know interesting tourist and culinary objects and try some accommodation options at the destination.

A number of Banyuwangi destinations visited are De Djawatan, Aamdani Restaurant, Luminor Hotel, Ijen Crater, Vienna Pondok Restaurant, Osing Tourism Village, Osing Deles Souvenir Center and Ikan Bakar Pesona Restaurant

While the Bali destinations visited are Ketapang-Gilimanuk Harbor, Kurnia Village Restaurant, Tanah Lot Temple, Surya Mandala Cultural Park, Warung Subak Pekendungan, Infinity8 Hotel Nusa Dua.

Pandawa Beach, Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park, New Beranda Resto and Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center are the visited locations of BBTF, in addition to Kuta Plaza Restaurant and Kenja (farewell cocktail party), Bebek Bengil Restaurant, Souvenir Center "The Basket" and Bali Surf Outlet

"Overall, the implementation of the Fam Trip activities for BBTF 2019 Support for TA / TO Malaysia went well and smoothly. The participants also said they were happy because they had been introduced to a new destination, namely Banyuwangi with the Ijen crater and its blue fire," he said.

He said the introduction and promotion of tourist destinations in Banyuwangi for the Malaysian market is very important as an alternative tourist destination mostly to Jakarta, Batam, Bali, Medan, Bandung and others. (ant)

Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti encourages the National Police (Polri) officers to conduct a comprehensive investigation against the perpetrators of various illegal activities in Indonesia's seas to support national sovereignty.

In a press release  received in Jakarta on Sunday, Susi said that the police had a very important role to play in maintaining Indonesia's sovereignty.

She raised the issue while delivering a public lecture at Polri's High Staff and Command School (Sespimti) in Jakarta, on Friday (June 28).

On that occasion, the minister emphasized the important role of the police to take action against foreign fishing boat owners who carry out illegal activities in Indonesian waters.

This reflects on her experience in handling the case of a large fish carrier loaded with 3,000 tons of fish in Sabang, Aceh Province, as well as other vessels such as MV Viking and STS 50 some time ago.

Minister Susi said that even though she managed to capture those vessels and confiscate a cargo of fish worth Rp20billion in it, real ship owners and masterminds had not been dragged by law enforcers.

She revealed that the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) has limitations in handling similar cases, because it is only able to punish field actors.

Therefore, she said, the police are expected to be able to fill the role in taking action against the ship owners who are perpetrators of illegal activities in the sea and other masterminds of those acts of crime.

In overcoming the issue,  education in police institutions must be improved to enable the police investigators to handle various crime cases in the sea.

"(One of the main requirements in) developed countries, modern countries, and prosperous countries is the law enforcement which strives to go in a direction with integrity," she noted.

Conducting a full and comprehensive investigation against the perpetrators of crimes in the sea is very important to support growth in marine and fisheries sectors.

Therefore, the ministry continues carrying out policies in combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

"The keys to eradicating the IUU fishing are national policy and strong political support. We encourage countries to make strict policies, invest in increasing law enforcement capacity, and take stern law enforcement measures to close doors the occurrence of IUU fishing," the ministry's Research and HR Agency Head Sjarief Widjaja explained.

According to Sjarief, eradicating IUU fishing through various regional and international cooperation forums is important because the perpetrators are often cross-country.

In addition, he said, illegal fishing activities were also carried out by foreign ships with crews from various nationalities. (ant) 

Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi engaged in bilateral talks to discuss economic and maritime issues on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty (G20) Summit in Osaka, Japan, Saturday.

"I believe the ASEAN and India can deepen Indo-Pacific cooperation," Jokowi remarked during the meeting held at INTEX in Osaka.

The Indonesian leader lauded India for supporting the ASEAN Outlook on Indo-Pacific adopted by ASEAN leaders during their 34th summit held in Bangkok, Thailand, on June 22, 2019. Indo-Pacific is a concept of cooperation among several nations located in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. The cooperation focuses on the principles of transparency and respect for the international law.

Jokowi encouraged both nations to make all-out efforts to achieve the bilateral trade target of US$50 billion in 2025. He highlighted the need for both nations to remove tariff and non-tariff barriers to realize the target.

He specifically called on Modi to pay attention to the new import tariffs applied on the export of palm oil from Indonesia since early January 2019.

"We need to encourage our trade ministers to go ahead with the discussion to achieve a win-win solution, including a proposal for trade-off between palm oil and other commodities," the president noted in a press statement of the Presidential Secretariat's deputy for protocol, press, and media, Bey Machmudin.

In the maritime field, the president highlighted the significance of increasing business interactions within the framework of maritime cooperation between both nations. Interactions could be initiated between businessmen of Aceh in Indonesia and those of Andaman-Nicobar in India.

Hence, he called on India to partake in the development of infrastructure connectivity in Sabang, Indonesia.

In the meantime, Modi warmly welcomed trade and investment cooperation between Andaman-Nicobar and Aceh. The cooperation is viewed as being practical in nature and will benefit both nations.

During the meeting, Jokowi was accompanied by Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Minister/State Secretary Pratikno, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani, Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita, Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto, Presidential Special Staff Adita Irawan, and Indonesian Ambassador to Japan Arifin Tasrif. (ant)