South Sumatra has been trusted yet again to host the international bowling championship at Jakabaring Sport City, Palembang, from November 16 to 24, 2019, after it previously hosted the championship in 1980.

The Governor of South Sumatra, Herman Deru, in Palembang on Wednesday, said that the local government had received members of the Indonesian bowling association over its readiness to host the world championship.

"South Sumatra is ready to host the international championship as the Jakabaring Sport City has a bowling venue that meets international standards," Herman Daru remarked.

The last championship was held in Las Vegas, United States, two years ago. According to the regulation, he noted that each country was limited to sending one male and one female athlete.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Indonesian Bowling Association (PBI) Percha Leanpuri stated that hundreds of athletes from dozens of countries would attend the competition.

At least 75 countries will participate in the international bowling championship.

"The competition is expected to see 150 participants," he said.

Meanwhile, the Chairperson of South Sumatra Bowling Association, Kurmin Halim, mentioned that the association would intensify promotions abroad, both in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, hoping that that the number of participating countries would increase.

If the number of participants increases, Indonesia can break the record for the highest number of participants, a title previously held by Singapore.

"We want to break Singapore's record of 98 participating countries," he concluded. (ant)

Doctor of cardiovascular diseases Prof. Dr Harry Suryapranata was awarded an honorary title from the Kingdom of the Netherlands for his dedication to scientific development in handling acute heart attack cases.

A press release received in Jakarta on Wednesday revealed that Suryapranata had bagged the award on April 26, 2019. The Dutch Kingdom, through Zwolle's Mayor Henk Jan Meijer, bestowed the awards on 11 individuals, though Suryapranata was the only one to garner the highest award, Ridder in de Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw or Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion.

Suryapranata, 67, completed his medical education in cardiovascular medicine at the Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam in 1985. Suryapranata has notable contributions to his name in connection with the standard for handling acute heart attacks.

Moreover, he has been proactive in edifying and training cardiologists in Europe and Asia and leads the international research institute Diagram BV. In Indonesia, Suryapranata leads the Siloam Hospitals Cardiology Center in TB Simatupang, Jakarta, and at the Cinere Diagram Heart Hospital, Depok, West Java.

In 1988, Suryapranata had also headed the cardiac catholic clinic laboratory at the Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. In 1991, he moved to Zwolle City and along with three colleagues devised a novel method of using a "balloon catheter" that can bring about a drastic improvement in a patient's condition.

In 2010, he had worked as an international cardiology professor at the Radboud University Nijmegen. Suryapranata is also a member of the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI), the Indonesian Cardiovascular Specialist Association (PERKI). (ANTARA)

The governments of Indonesia and Argentina are striving to encourage increased economic ties, including in the fields of trade, investment and agriculture.

This was one of the outcomes of a bilateral meeting held between Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Darmin Nasution and Argentina's Vice President Gabriela Michetti in Jakarta on Wednesday.

According to Darmin, currently, the economic cooperation between the two countries does not reflect the real potential because there are still many opportunities to be worked on.

At present, Argentina is Indonesia's largest trading partner in South America with a total trade value of 1.68 billion US dollars, an increase of 17.96 percent compared to that of 2017.

Indonesia's exports to Argentina include footwear and footwear products amounting to 71.47 million US dollars, rubber and rubber products worth 46.79 million US dollars, as well as 46.3 million US dollars worth of machinery and electrical equipment.

Meanwhile, the three main products imported by Indonesia from Argentina were oilcake valued at 934.98 million US dollars, cereal valued at 220 million US dollars and cotton at 51.2 million US dollars.

Overall, Indonesia still has a trade deficit with Argentina due to tariff and non-tariff trade barriers, issues of dumping, connectivity and language constraints.

For this reason, it is necessary to formulate concrete steps in creating a balanced and mutually beneficial trade cooperation for the two countries.

These steps include expanding market access in Argentina for Indonesian products, diversifying export products and reducing trade barriers.

On this occasion, Indonesia is also exploring the formation of free trade cooperation with the South American Trade Association (MERCOSUR).

As a first step in establishing a free trade partnership, Indonesia proposed a joint feasibility study.

For cooperation in agriculture, Indonesia and Argentina have a common interest in ensuring sustainable food security for the welfare of the community.

Therefore, efforts have been made to implement agricultural cooperation to open up market access for Indonesian horticulture products and commitment to transfer agricultural machinery technology from Argentina.

Indonesia also offered airplanes produced by PT Dirgantara Indonesia, specifically the CN 212 and N 219 types.

The aircraft will function as a replacement for the procurement of various aircraft in the same classes that are currently operated in Argentina.

Also present during the visit were Argentina's Ambassador to Indonesia Ricardo Bocalandro, Indonesian Ambassador to Argentina Niniek Kun Naryatie, and Argentina's Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Guillermo Bernaudo.  (ANTARA)

Pulse Lab Jakarta, Tuesday afternoon, launched the Natural Disaster Logistics Planning Information Platform. Pulse Lab Jakarta is an institution established through a partnership between the United Nations (UN) Global Pulse and the Indonesian Government through the Ministry of National Development Planning (Bappenas).

Head of Jakarta Pulse Lab Office, Derval Usher said, Natural Disaster Logistics Planning Information Platform is an open source platform that combines various non-traditional data from various trusted sources, including social media. This platform applies the use of large amounts of data to face development challenges, especially natural disasters, starting from economic conditions in disaster-affected areas, geographical conditions, infrastructure development, to information conveyed by the public regarding earthquake affected areas through social media.

Derval Usher said, by using large amounts of data, she hoped that all parties involved in disaster management could make the right decisions in any natural disaster that occurred.

"So today we’re launching a national disaster logistics planning information platform. And basically what it is, it's an open source platform that uses big data and it integrates non-traditional data sets and provides real-time insights following in natural disaster. So it gives  lot of different non-traditional data sets, so humanitarian responders can better plan disaster response,” said Derval Usher.

The national disaster logistics planning information platform collects various information about the current disaster in an area. This platform provides information about a disaster that is happening to the party responsible for the disaster.

Derval Usher hopes that all stakeholders in disaster management can switch to using non-traditional information so that disaster management can be done better. (VOI / NDY / AHM)