VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Minister of Environment and Forestry, Siti Nurbaya Bakar on behalf of Indonesian government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the agreement of voluntary partnerships on forestry law enforcement, management and trade in timber products or FLEGT - VPA with the United Kingdom (UK) in Jakarta on Friday, March 30 2019. In this case, the UK was represented by the UK Ambassador to Indonesia, Moazzam Malik. The signing was a follow-up between the two sides as an important step to secure trade and wood products if the UK officially no longer joins the European Union. Met after the event, Director of Forest Products Processing and Marketing at the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Dr. Rufi'ie explained that the agreement would make it easier for Indonesia to export wood products to the UK.

“This agreement will make our business export to UK easier because UK also will implement the same rule, the same regulation with EU considering the export import wood products into UK so if there is no FLEGT licensing we will have to do due diligence with our system, with our agreement timber products from Indonesia will not have to do due diligence,” said Rufi’ie.

Rufi'ie added that the certification license for the timber legality verification system (SVLK) scheme would be carried out by independent institution such as a confirmation assessment body that would be accredited by the National Accreditation Committee (KAN) on which the Indonesian government would only be a regulator and facilitator. (NK)

Indonesia is a country which is vulnerable to the effects of climate change. So, it can trigger natural disasters such as landslide, flood, and tsunami. This was stated by Deputy of Social and Humanitarian Sciences, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Tri Nuke Pudjiastuti at the "Focus Group Discussion on Role of Academic and Scientific Institutions in Making Policy for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change in Indonesia at the LIPI Building in Jakarta on Wednesday. She said that to overcome the disasters,  some efforts are needed to strengthen the Indonesian government in making policy for disaster risk reduction and climate change mitigation through the results of research conducted by LIPI.

“In principle, if we talk about risk reduction, the major aspect is how the role of science can be evidence-based for policy. So, we have some experiences that the recommendation of mitigating risk disaster to the Indonesian government in solving the problem is not done continuously,” said Tri Nuke Pudjiastuti.

Meanwhile, researcher of Society and Culture Research Center of LIPI, Lely Nurhidayah explained that it’s important to make experts network maps related to disaster risk reduction and climate change in Indonesia. She said that it aims at identifying challenges and providing anticipatory steps needed in making policy decisions on disaster risk reduction and climate change. (AF-VOI/RRI)

Spokesman of Indonesian Foreign Ministry Affairs, Arrmanatha Nasir confirmed in Jakarta on Thursday that the Indonesian Government expressly rejected the recognition of the Golan Heights as part of Israel. In his statement, he emphasized the position of Indonesia which recognizes the Golan Heights as an inseparable part of the Syrian sovereignty.

“Indonesia expressly rejects the recognition of the Golan Heights as part of Israel. We emphasize that this recognition is not conducive in a bid to achieve stability and peace in the region. However, recognition is also inappropriate, not in line with various existing international agreements and laws. Of course, Indonesia will continue to recognize the Golan Heights as part of Syria which has been occupied by Israel since 1967,” said Spokesman of Indonesian Foreign Ministry Affairs, Arrmanatha Nasir.

Previously, US President Donald Trump officially stated on Monday that he recognized Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights. The recognition was stated by President Trump and witnessed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House, USA. Meanwhile, the UN Security Council expressly rejected the decision of the United States (US) to recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights. US actions are considered to endanger regional stability. 14 members of the Security Council condemned the move by the US to recognize the Israeli Golan. Because, this is not in line with the Security Council resolution regarding the Golan Heights, namely as the territory of Syria occupied by Israel. (VOI/Ndy)

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi is about to attend a series of meetings of the United Nations Security Council in New York, the USA on April 2^nd-4^th. Spokesman of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Arrmanatha Nasir said in Jakarta on Thursday (28/3) that Minister Retno Marsudi will attend a non-proliferation meeting to discuss the follow-up of the global initiative concerning with mass destruction weapons and strong control of weapons. The meeting highlights a theme ‘‘Non-Proliferation Treaty Ahead of 2020 Review Conference’. In addition, Minister Retno will also attend the meeting of Alliance of Multilateralism. Arrmanatha Nasir remarked that in the meeting to be chaired by France and Germany, efforts to strengthen the multilateralism issue will also be discussed by member countries of the UN.

“In the context of Alliance of Multilateralism, this is an effort to strengthen a framework of multilateralism, especially in the context of the United Nations. Over the last few years, in fact, we have seen that some countries have carried out some efforts concerning with various individual problems and they did not use multilateral mechanism. Thus, this is the discussion how the countries can strengthen multilateralism, especially United Nations framework,” Arrmanatha Nasir said.

Furthermore, Arrmanatha Nasir pointed out that in connection with Alliance of Multilateralism, 15 member countries of the United Nations have ensured to attend the meeting. Besides both main agendas, Minister Retno Marsudi will also attend a forum meeting of the UN related to Palestine. The forum is themed ‘The Threat of De Facto Annexation: What’s Next for Palestine?’ According to Arrmanatha, the presence of Indonesia at the UN’s forum for Palestine is that Indonesia is committed to supporting Palestine both in its political aspect and its independence. (Ndy-VOI)