An Indonesian industry ministry's delegation paid a recent visit to Taiwan to attract semiconductor companies to invest in Indonesia.
"Some time ago, we had visited Taiwan in search of companies that will invest in Indonesia's semiconductor industry, as this component can be marketed everywhere," Director General of Metal, Machinery, Transportation Means and Electronic Industry of the Industry Ministry Harjanto stated in Jakarta on Thursday. The semiconductor industry is in need of a considerable amount of funding, and to this end, the ministry has specially approached Taiwanese semiconductor companies to invest in Indonesia, he revealed. (ant) 

"Presently, Indonesia merely has one semiconductor industry in Batam. We want more semiconductor companies to operate (in Indonesia)," he emphasized.
Harjanto remarked that Indonesia currently has several downstream electronic industries. Hence, now is the time to switch them to midstream and upstream industries.
"We want to encourage the midstream industry to become an upstream industry in the country," he added. (ant)

The labor rights advocacy group Migrant CARE expects President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) to talk to ASEAN leaders about the protection of migrant workers, an issue that has been on his national agenda and which many are hoping will be championed in ASEAN.

According to Migrant CARE Executive Director Wahyu Susilo, ASEAN has issued a set of commitments on migrant workers, including the ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers, as well as the ASEAN Consensus on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers.  However, there is still reluctance within member states, especially among destination countries, to translate declarations into action.

“Compared to other sectors under the ASEAN socio-cultural pillar, the migrant workers’ issue is lagging behind in operational and measurable protection mechanisms,” Susilo noted.

Regarding the protection of migrant workers, there continues to be potential exposure of migrants to ideas promoting radicalism and violent extremism in the ASEAN region, he added.

Therefore, as leader of the country with the largest population in ASEAN, Indonesia must pro-actively promote initiatives that prevent workers from being exposed to radicalism.  Susilo said that the initiative must be integrated into a mechanism to protect migrant workers, both when they are in their home countries and in destination countries.

"This approach requires a regional commitment," he said.

For this, Migrant CARE has urged President Jokowi to raise the issue of protection of migrants at the 34th ASEAN Summit, where he is expected to participate in a series of meetings with leaders.

The president is traveling to Bangkok this weekend to attend the two day-summit. He is scheduled to raise three important issues to be discussed at the summit, including the US-China trade war and its impact on the ASEAN region, the management of imported waste and the settlement of the humanitarian crisis in Rakhine State. (ant)

Peru's Congressman Alejandra Aramayo requested that Indonesia be made a strategic partner in the palm oil industry. The request was submitted to the Deputy Minister of Peru's Hydrocarbons, Eduardo Guevara, at the meeting on June 12, 2019 which was also attended by the Indonesian Ambassador Lima, Marina Estella Anwar Bey and Daily Chair of the Indonesian Biofuel Producers Association (APROBI), Paulus Tjakrawan. Peru's desire is very based because Indonesia is considered to have succeeded in developing the palm oil industry both in the upstream and downstream industries. This is evidenced by the high productivity of oil palm plantations in Indonesia, as well as the development of various products from palm oil including biodiesel.

The Chair of APROBI explained that Indonesia has been using biodiesel since 2006 and continues to increase every year. At present Indonesia uses a biodiesel content of 20% (B20) and is testing B30. It is projected that by 2020, Indonesia will start using B30. In addition, Indonesia is also developing bio-hydrocarbon fuels in the form of green gasoline, green diesel and green avtur.

This is very interesting for Aramayo to recommend the Peruvian Government to work with Indonesia. As one of the members of the Peruvian Congress who is very active in campaigning for biodiesel use in Peru, Aramayo believes that Indonesia can be a model for Peru to develop the palm oil industry, especially biodiesel for domestic needs. At present the Peruvian Government has implemented the mandate of using B5 but domestic biodiesel production is very small and cannot meet domestic needs so the Government must import biodiesel products from other countries on a large scale.

Aramayo also hopes that Peru can join the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC) which has been initiated by Indonesia and Malaysia. At present, Colombia is the first country in the Latin American region to become a member. The Peruvian government welcomed the proposal and said it would study the possibility of Peru becoming a member of CPOPC. Further cooperation with Indonesia in the energy sector such as biodiesel and petrochemicals will be followed up through the Indonesian Embassy in Lima. The Indonesian Ambassador Lima stated that Indonesia was ready to work with Peru to improve good relations between the two countries. The Chairperson of APROBI also stated that Indonesia is ready to share the results of B20's research with Peru for future cooperation in the energy sector. (Source: Indonesian Embassy in Lima)

The Indonesian government has expressed its hopes that the ongoing evaluation of Timor Leste will result in its becoming a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

"The process (East Timorese membership) has been going on for a long time, since 2011 to the present, and is still ongoing, so we hope that there will be positive movement and activities towards determining this outcome," the Foreign Ministry's Director General of ASEAN Cooperation, Jose Tavares, said here on Wednesday

Jose took note of the process that must be undertaken by Timor Leste to become a member of ASEAN.

"At this stage there is a process to send a team to look closely at East Timor's readiness, so that when this issue is discussed at the level of ASEAN heads of state, they can make political decisions to determine whether Timor Leste is eligible to become a member of ASEAN," he said.

The readiness assessment was carried out through independent studies of the conditions of Timor Leste in three main areas: security, socio-culture and economy.

"From this study, in general, positive recommendations were given for East Timor to become a member of ASEAN," he said.

However, Jose also said that the question of membership for Timor Leste would not be discussed this year, and there is still no target time for such a discussion. (ant)