VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian Minister of Trade Enggartiasto Lukita with Indonesian Minister of Industry Airlangga Hartarto held a bilateral meeting with the Minister of Economy, Trade and Japanese Industry Hiroshige Seko. The meeting discussed the completion of the General Review of the Indonesian Economic Partnership Agreement (GR-IJEPA) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, on Thursday (9/27).

"Me and Minister Seko have met three times this month. This is because Indonesia and Japan are important partners with various shared agendas in the field of trade, including bilateral issues GR-IJEPA and RCEP, "said the Minister of Trade. 

The Minister of Trade emphasized that Indonesia could benefit economically from GR-IJEPA and RCEP through the use of more open access to goods and services markets and the entry of investment and cooperation in increasing capacity and capacity.

"Seeing the magnitude of this potential, at the moment both parties are trying with every effort to reach a final agreement," he continued.
At this meeting, the two Ministers agreed to work hard so that RCEP multiregional negotiations could be completed before the end of 2019. "Me and Minister Seko agreed that the completion of RCEP was very important and would provide encouragement to trade cooperation amid the trade tensions experienced by the world lately, "Said the Trade Minister.

The bilateral meeting also discussed sector issues, such as the implementation of the New Manufacturing Industry Development Center (New MIDEC) cooperation, the development of the automotive industry, and Indonesian policies related to Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV).

On this occasion the signing of the Framework Document on New MIDEC was carried out under the IJEPA framework between the Minister of Industry and Minister Seko. Framework Document on New MIDEC is a program that can support industrial 4.0 programs. This is due to its comprehensive coverage, which includes the automotive, electronic, textile and food and beverage sectors with cross-sectoral programs which include workmanship, printing, metal welding, SME development, export and import promotion, and green and industrial industries 4.0.

"Indonesia welcomes the signing of the New MIDEC cooperation framework initiated under the IJEPA. New MIDEC will be a program to increase sustainable industrial sector cooperation with Japan. This is in line with industrial policy 4.0 which is being initiated by the government. This cooperation is also a capital to grow together for the future of the two countries, "concluded the Trade Minister.

In addition to conducting bilateral meetings, the Minister of Trade Engaged in attending the CEO Roundtable meeting and one on one business meeting. The meeting was also attended by Maritime Coordinating Minister Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, Minister of Industry, and Head of the Investment Coordinating Board Tom Lembong. In addition, 21 leaders of Japanese companies are investing in Indonesia.

GR-IJEPA Overview
IJEPA is the first bilateral trade agreement owned by Indonesia. This agreement was signed on August 20, 2007 in Jakarta and became effective on July 1, 2008. Based on mandate of article 151 of the IJEPA Agreement, Indonesia and Japan can conduct a review of the implementation and operationalization of the agreement in the fifth year since it was implemented. GR-IJEPA is a momentum to renegotiate the expansion of market access between the two countries, and increase economic cooperation.

The initial meeting (preliminary meeting) of the GR-IJEPA discussion was held in Jakarta on September 12, 2014 and the last (11th) meeting was held on March 26-29 2019 in Tokyo, Japan. At the last meeting, the two countries agreed to announce the completion of the GRIJEPA by the two ministers in the trade sector on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in June 2019 in Osaka, Japan.

Japan is the second largest export destination for Indonesia and ranks third as Indonesia's main import origin country. According to Central Statistics Agency data, in 2018, Indonesia-Japan trade reached USD 37.40 billion with a surplus for Indonesia amounting to USD 1.50 billion. During this period, Indonesia's exports to Japan amounted to USD 19.47 billion. Indonesia's mainstay export commodities to Japan are coal, ore and copper concentrates, precious metal waste and pieces, natural rubber, and insulated wire.

While Indonesia's imports from Japan were recorded at USD 17.97 billion. Import commodities include motor vehicle parts and accessories, semi-finished vehicles, printing machines, cars and other vehicles, and iron platinum rolls. (kemendag)

Collective efforts of the government, business circles and the community are considered successful in maintaining the sustainability of peatlands and oil palm. This was raised in a seminar entitled "Peat Contribution and Sustainable Palm Oil in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals" organized by the Indonesian Embassy in Oslo (28/6) in the Norwegian Business Confederation meeting building (Næringslivets Hovedorganisasjon / NHO) in Oslo, Norway. The seminar was attended by around 80 (eighty) participants from government, academia, business, and NGOs in Norway.

The Indonesian Ambassador to Norway and Iceland, Todung Mulya Lubis, said that the seminar aimed to provide the Norwegian public with the latest understanding of the contribution of the sustainable palm oil and peat head industry to efforts to achieve the targets of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in Indonesia.

"Indonesia's success in preserving oil palm and peat cannot be separated from the collective work of the government, business, and society," said Ambassador Mulya Lubis. "The visit of the Minister of Climate and Environment of Norway to West Papua in February 2019, can witness firsthand the success of Indonesia in preserving the environment. Indonesia can intensify sustainable palm production without reducing the area of ​​forests in West Papua. "

Present as a speaker was Nazir Foead, Head of the Peat Restoration Agency (BRG); Dono Boestami, President Director of the Palm Oil Plantation Fund Management Agency (BPDP-KS); Vemund Olsen, Rainforest Foundation Norway; Prof. Yanto Santosa, Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB); Togar Sitanggang, Deputy General Chair of the Indonesian Palm Oil Businessmen Association (GAPKI); Kristine Vergli Grant-Carlsen, CEO of St1 Norway energy company; Axel Heiberg-Andersen, Corporate Communication Manager of Nestlé Norway; Prof. Pietro Paganini, John Cabot University, Rome; and moderator Pål Davidsen from Rud Pedersen.

Marit Vea, Political Advisor for Norway's Minister of Climate and Environment, said that Norway and Indonesia needed to find a solution to the palm oil issue. "We have managed to find a common interest in the REDD + environmental cooperation program and the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA)," said Marit Vea.

As is known, the Norwegian Parliament in 2017 issued a resolution to reduce the use of palm oil in circulating biodiesel products in Norway. On the other hand, Indonesia continues to strive for the quality of sustainable palm oil, one of which is through the biodiesel program.

"Indonesia is developing technology to convert palm oil into bio-hydrocarbon fuel to produce green diesel, green gasoline and green avtur," said Dono Boestami, Managing Director of BPDP-KS.

Rainforest Foundation Norway, NGOs that are critical of environmental policies in Indonesia actually appreciate the success of environmental preservation in the country lately. "This achievement needs to be appreciated, but a long-term policy is needed to maintain a good trend in environmental preservation in Indonesia," Vemund Olsen said.

Responding to this, the Head of BRG, Nazir Foead, revealed Indonesia's secrets of successfully reducing forest fire hotspots. "Indonesia is developing a peatland monitoring system technology called peatland resotration information and montoring system (PRIMS), which is integrated, online, and directly connected with the Office of the President of the Republic of Indonesia," said Nazir Foead.

Meanwhile, Prof. Yanto Santosa from IPB presented statistical data and historical facts that oil palm is not a direct cause of deforestation of tropical rainforests in Indonesia. The loss of tropical rainforests was drastically caused by transmigration policies in the 1960s, the issuance of Forest Concession Rights (HPH) in the 1970s, and massive forest fires. "The transmigration commodity was not originally oil palm, but coffee, chocolate, candlenut, pepper, and other plantation products. But people tend to compare between past and present only, but forget about the history. Instead, the oil palm planted began contributing to greening of deforested forests in the 1980s, "said the Professor of IPB.

Furthermore, ST1 Norway's energy company claimed at least 40% of the total biofuel was used in the Nordic region. Unfortunately, deforestation has resulted in palm oil getting a serious rejection in Norway. This was justified by Nestle Norway, which became the target of Greenpeace's environmental campaign in 2010. Since then, Nestle has been a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and targets 100% using certified palm oil products in 2020. (indonesian embassy Oslo) 

Ummi Fisabilillah, Women's Master Fide is one of the cornerstones of Indonesia at the junior Asian chess championship titled the Asian Junior Chess Championship 2019 which will be held from June 30 to July 9 in Surakarta or Solo. In the same championship last year, Indonesia managed to be a champion when International Master (MI) Novendra Priasmoro won the standard chess number. But this time Novendra is no longer participating because he will concentrate on participating in the chess championship series in Europe. To RRI, Ummi Fisabilillah claimed that she was ready to fight at the Asian Junior Chess Championship.

“I’ve been surely prepared since a long time, undergoing more training and practices, and practice again,” Umi said.

Not only preparing, the 19-year-old chess player also targets to win the title or at least the top three so she can get an International Women's Master. At present Ummi Fisabilillah has gained two Indonesian Master norms for women and she only needs one more norm to move fully into the International Women's Masters.

“More enthusiasm is sure. This is already the second one. So I must keep being enthusiastic so that I can get all the three norms faster. Moreover, I will join the Asian Junior. So it's a chance too. The 1st winner will win the title. The 2nd winner wins the norm. If possible, the target is the top second,” Umi further said.

Previously, in the Japfa Woman Grand Master tournament in Yogyakarta, there were two female chess players who got the norm. They are the Woman International Master Chelsie Monica Sihite who has Woman Grand Master and Ummi Fisabilillah who gets the Women's International Master norm. // Rosihan Anwar RRI reports. (RRI / ROSIHAN / AHM)

Russian Ambassador to Indonesia Lyudmila Georgievna Vorobieva said the bilateral relations between the two countries in various fields are getting stronger and closer. This was conveyed by Lyudmila at the reception of the Russian National Day in Jakarta on Friday (06/28/2019). According to her, the leaders of the two countries have built very good political dialogue.

“It is a great satisfaction that we know, that Russian-Indonesian relations are becoming stronger, closer and more diverse. Our leaders have established an excellent political dialog in a personal context. Bilateral trade is on the rise, defense cooperation, interaction in the sphere of security show positive dynamics. Inter-parliamentary and inter-religious context brings our people closer together,” said Ambassador Lyudmila.

On this occasion, Ambassador Lyudmila on behalf of the Russian government in Jakarta expressed her congratulations on the re-election of Joko Widodo as President of the Republic of Indonesia. Russia believes both countries will be able to carry out joint projects within the framework of Vision 2045 launched by President Joko Widodo. Attending the reception of the Russian National Day in Jakarta, Friday, were Indonesian Coordinating Minister for the Economy Darmin Nasution, Minister of Marine and Fisheries Affairs Susi Pujiastuti, as well as several Foreign Ambassadors in Jakarta. (VOI / AHM)