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Indonesia and Germany inked a cooperation agreement under which four development projects will receive funding of 37 million euros in areas of effective governance, technical and vocational education and training, and environment and biodiversity protection. Indonesian Finance Ministry's Director General of Finance and Risk Management Luky Alfirman and German Ambassador to Indonesia Peter Schoof were present during the signing ceremony held at the Finance Ministry's office in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) will finance the total 37 million euros in grant funding for the four development projects in Indonesia.

"Indonesia, as one of Germany's global development partners, is a key player in tackling global development issues. Germany supports Indonesia's resolve in realizing the Agenda 2030 and its pledge to mitigating the impacts of climate change," Schoof remarked in a statement from the German Embassy in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Striving to promote good governance in Indonesia, both nations are collaborating in a joint project known as "Domestic Resources Mobilisation for Sustainable Development" that prioritizes fiscal and tax policy for financing infrastructure and social programs.

In the meantime, the cooperation project on "TVET System Reform" will back Indonesia's vocational education reform targeted at ascertaining competitiveness of the workforce in future and seeing that their skills are in tune with the labor markets demands by imparting high-quality education and training.

To address environment and climate change issues, Indonesia and Germany have collaborated in a project on "Peatland Rehabilitation and Management" involving the North Kalimantan provincial government for ensuring the sustainable management of the peatland ecosystem in the Kayan Sembakung Delta by getting representatives of the private sector, villages, and the civil societies involved in this endeavor.

The funding will further help in financing the joint collaboration project on "Sustainable Agricultural Value Chains in Indonesia" to recognize alternative sources of income to timber and palm oil for smallholders that are both domestically and internationally profitable and that can avert further deforestation in Indonesia.

Germany's contributions for the four projects will be implemented by the National Development Planning Agency (BAPPENAS) and the relevant
Indonesian ministries and sub-national institutions, supported by GIZ, a major German development agency.

Director General of Finance and Risk Management Luky Alfirman remarked that today's agreement mirrored the close and deep relations between both nations.

"We have a long-standing history of cooperation and are keen to take our successful cooperation to the next level in terms of seeking sustainable solutions to Indonesia's core and global development issues," he remarked. (ant)

Social Affairs Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita has minced no words in his pledge to offering working capital to those graduating from the Vocational Rehabilitation Agency for the Disabled looking to build their businesses.

"I am planning to formulate a policy under which we will furnish working capital to people, who graduated (from training) and looking to start their own business," Kartasasmita remarked following an inspection of the Vocational Rehabilitation Agency for the Disabled (BBRVPD) in Cibinong, West Java, on Wednesday.

Kartasasmita has made assurance that working capital, totaling Rp5 million, will be offered for each unit of productive business and Rp20 million per group for group business.

"The fund will not essentially be derived from the state budget. We are keen to witness the emergence of new entrepreneurs here, and I believe that you can compete," he affirmed.

Kartasasmita, in the company of Director General of Social Rehabilitation Edi Suharto, Secretary General of the Social Affairs Ministry Hartono Laras, and other ministry's officials, witnessed up-close the training facility for the disabled in Cibinong.

The facility offers a six-month training for some 120 disabled individuals in varied areas, including sewing, computer, graphic design and printing, electronics, metal works, and automotive. It also reached and offered training to 250 disabled individuals outside the facility.

Kartasasmita remarked that the training will hone the skill sets of people with disabilities to encourage them to become self-reliant. In 2019, the ministry has offered assistance to 22,500 disabled individuals to develop their skills. (ant)

Indonesia paid special attention to increasing trade and investment cooperation with Indonesian non-traditional market countries, and one of them was Argentin and MERCOSUR. This was stated by the Minister of Trade in a meeting with Argentine Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trust, Jorge Marcelo Fauire, which took place at the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trust in Buenos Aires on Monday (13/5) local time. "The Indonesian and Argentinian economies are complementary but so far less excavated as with countries in Asia and Europe.

For this reason, talks were held at the ministerial level, as well as following up on the recent visit of the Vice President of Argentina to Jakarta, "explained the Minister of Trade. In the open meeting, the two Ministers agreed to form a small team to assess in time what could be exchanged between Indonesia and Argentina . This small team will identify the challenges in the two-way trade between Indonesia and Argentina, and in parallel examine the feasibility of rolling out the preference shift between Indonesia and MERCOSUR, where Argentina is one of its founders.

The Minister of Trade conveyed that Indonesia is committed to increasing trade cooperation with South American countries. This remembers the increasingly urgent need to diversify the export market amid predictions that both the world economy and international trade will continue to experience weakness this year. "Economic cooperation between Indonesia and Argentina will have important geostrategic values. Indonesia can use Argentina as a regional hub to enter other nearby markets in the Latin American region. Similarly, Argentina can use Indonesia to enter the ASEAN market, the ASEAN FTA partner market, and the RCEP market which is currently still being negotiated, "added Enggar. After meeting with Argentina's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trust, the Minister of Religion held a limited meeting with the President and Vice President of the MERCOSUR-ASEAN Chamber of Commerce which was formed in 2015.

"Indonesia is a mass critical mass’ASEAN which is our focus to increase business activities between MERCOSUR and ASEAN. For this reason, we appreciate the opportunity to have an audience with the Indonesian Minister of Trade today, "said President of the MERCOSUR and ASEAN Chamber of Commerce, Piet Verdult. In this meeting the Minister of Trade emphasized that many efforts were taken sporadically, both by business people and ASEAN Embassies and MERCOSUR in its accreditation area to increase trade and two-way investment. However, in the midst of current world trade challenges, extra work is needed to 'connect all the dots'. Overview of Indonesia-Argentina Trade Relations Argentina is Indonesia's second largest trading partner after Brazil in the South American region.

The total value of trade between Indonesia and Argentina in 2018 was USD 2 billion, an increase of 18 percent compared to 2017. In 2018, Indonesia's main exports to Argentina included natural rubber, combustion piston engines, motorized vehicle parts and accessories, and foot and foot pedals. Meanwhile, Indonesia's main imports from Argentina in 2018 include wheat, soybeans, cotton and steel pipes. As for other products that have the potential to be exported from Indonesia to Argentina, among others are telephone, motorized vehicles, automatic data processing machines, transmission equipment parts, wire, and vacuum or air pump. (press rel)

Indonesian women's badminton player Ghaida Nurul Ghaniyu finish as women's singles runner-up position in the 2019 Badminton Future Series championship in Lima after competing against Cuban player Taymara Oropesa Pupo with a score of 21-19, 14-21 and 27-29 in the final. The match went exciting and thrilling especially in the decisive third set. The two players follow each other in the acquisition of numbers to occur three times deuce.

Ghaida who threw down the resistance of the Peruvian women's singles who became the number 1 seeded player, Daniela Marcias with a score of 21-15 and 21-11 in the semifinal party the day before, conceded to her opponent in the final on Sunday, 12 May 2019. is the number 2 seeded player in the championship held by the Badminton World Federation (BWF).

Whereas in the previous three matches Ghaida appeared stunning with a pretty convincing number of points against Maria Delia Zambrano (21-15, 21-17), Fernanda Munar Solimano (21-10, 21-8) and Daniela Macias (21-15, 21 -11). Fernanda and Daniela are both Peruvian badminton while Maria is from Ecuador.

Ghaida, an Indonesian badminton player from Djarum Kudus club who was undergoing training in Montreal, Canada for a period of 2 years was the only Indonesian athlete who competed in this championship and was not ranked as the leading player. But Ghaida managed to look stunning despite failing to win the first place.

Ghaida who at night before the match attended the break fasting and tarawih together at Wisma Indonesia, has shown her determination and effort to win the badminton championship despite having to lose in the final. Besides Ghaida, there was also an Indonesian badminton coach named Yandi Muharam who became the coach of Ecuador's national badminton athletes in the city of Guayaquil who also competed in the badminton championship in Lima. (Source: Indonesian Embassy in Lima)