VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Indonesian Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, has conducted a Bilateral Meeting with the Japanese Foreign Minister, Taro Kono, in Osaka on June 27, 2019. Opening the meeting, Minister of Foreign Affairs Kono welcomed the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific and appreciated Indonesia's leadership in the region.

Both Foreign Ministers also discussed the development of the situation at Rakhine State and Minister of Foreign Affairs Kono expressed appreciation for the role of the AHA Center. "The AHA Center has done a good job," said Foreign Minister Kono.

Still related to regional issues, the two Foreign Ministers hope that the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations can be concluded by the end of this year.

Regarding bilateral relations, the two Foreign Ministers agreed that the 2 + 2 meeting (Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defense) will be held in the second half of 2019. On this occasion, the two Foreign Ministers also welcomed the completion of the General Review of Economic Partnership Cooperation (IJEPA) negotiations and committed to finalizing the discussion of the IJEPA amendment protocol before the end of 2019.

The two Foreign Ministers had the opportunity to discuss the progress of employment with the signing of the MoU on the cooperation of specific skills and the technical cooperation MoU for apprenticeship programs in Japan. With this agreement, Indonesia's skilled workers, including Indonesian apprentices in Japan, now have a greater opportunity to fill the fields of work in the formal sector, such as health, agriculture, fisheries and automotive. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) accompanied by First Lady Iriana left for Osaka, Japan to attend the summit of countries belonging to the Group 20 (G-20), in Osaka, Japan, which was held June 28-29 2019.

The Head of State and his entourage departed from Halim Perdanakusuma Airport, Jakarta, on Thursday (6/27) night, accompanied by Minister of State (Minister of State) Pratikno.

After delivering a press statement related to the Constitutional Court Decision regarding the election lawsuit accompanied by Vice President Jusuf Kalla, President Jokowi said, at the summit he would speak two things.

"The first is related to innovation in the digital economy and also the second is related to efforts to overcome gaps," the President said.

During the press conference the President will also remind his present colleagues, both the prime minister, president and king in the G-20 regarding the current world situation filled with uncertainty and overshadowed by the increasing issue of trade war.

"I hope that the G20 countries, their leaders can show collective wisdom and leadership so that the situation is better and more certain for us all," the President said.

As is known, the group of countries in Group 20 or abbreviated as G20 was first formed at the G7 meeting in Berlin, Germany in 1999.

In September 2008, the G20 Summit was first held in Washington, United States, which was attended by 20 (twenty) heads of state.

These countries include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States of America, People's Republic of China, South Africa , and members of the European Union.

The hope of activating the G-20 meeting is to avoid the world from the global crisis that has spread like what happened in 1997-1998 and 2007-2008. (setkab) 

The Constitutional Court's (MK's) nine judges ended their final ruling session here on Thursday at around 9.16 p.m. local time by rejecting in totality the Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno pair's petition on the presidential election result dispute. After a session that lasted nearly nine hours, the conclusion of the court's final ruling was delivered by the MK Chief Justice Anwar Usman in the presence of lawyers of the two presidential and vice presidential camps and related parties.

The MK's final ruling paved the way for confirming the Joko Widodo-Ma'ruf Amin's victory based on the final tally that the General Elections Commission (KPU) had officially announced on May 21, 2019.

The court's nine judges argued that the Prabowo Sandi camp's allegation that they had discovered structured, systematic, and massive electoral frauds in the presidential election could not legally be proven, and therefore, not legally acceptable.

The Prabowo-Sandi pair had filed a petition with the MK on May 23, 2019, after the KPU announced the final result on May 21, 2019.

The final tally declared by the KPU at around 1:28 a.m. local time on May 21 indicated the Jokowi-Amin pair had secured 85 million votes, or 55.5 percent of the national vote, as against the contenders Prabowo-Sandi's 68 million votes, or 44.5 percent.

The Jokowi-Amin pair had declared victory following the KPU's announcement of the final tally, while the Prabowo-Sandi pair rejected the KPU's official tabulation result and challenged it by filing an official complaint with the MK.

Several hundred supporters of the Prabowo-Sandi pair had staged a peaceful rally Wednesday and Thursday demanding a fair decision from the MK.

The demonstrators thronged the Arjuna Wijaya Statue area on Medan Merdeka Barat Road near the National Monument (Monas) Square in Central Jakarta.

As a precautionary measure following the ruling, 47 thousand security personnel from the police, military, and the Jakarta administration have been deployed to secure the MK building and vital installations in Jakarta.

Taking into account the fact that the elections had resulted in a divisive society, the MK ruling is expected to be a final and binding solution.

To this end, the Indonesian Council of Ulemas (MUI), Wednesday, appealed to all elements of the nation, especially Muslims, to accept the ruling.

"The MUI appeals to the people, at large, to accept the court's ruling wholeheartedly and sincerely, as it is final and binding," the council's Deputy Chairman, Zainut Tauhid Saadi, told local journalists on Wednesday. (ant)

Ambassador to the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Indonesia to the United Nations (UN) in New York, H.E. Dian Triansyah Djani and the Ambassador of Barbados to the United Nations, H.E. H. Elizabeth Thompson, has signed Joint Communique (JC) for the Opening of Diplomatic Relations between Indonesia and Barbados at the UN headquarters in New York, United States (19/6).

The opening of diplomatic relations is a shared desire between the two countries to enhance mutual understanding and strengthen friendship and cooperation between the two countries in the fields of politics, economics, culture and education. This decision is in accordance with the provisions of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, and based on the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and International Law namely equality between countries, national sovereignty, interdependence, territorial integrity, and non-intervention in internal affairs of other countries.

Indonesia hopes that the momentum of the opening of diplomatic relations with Barbados can encourage increased trade, investment and tourism between the two countries.

Barbados is an island country located in the Caribbean region and according to the World Bank are CARICOM members classified as high income countries in 2017 with per capita income of USD 16,788. (kemenlu)