VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Forestry practitioner from Bogor Agricultural Institute Bambang H. Saharjo, Friday (Nov 9) in Pekanbaru, Riau, encouraged the government to involve the community in handling the effects of forest fires and haze that often occur in Sumatra. He said that the community has the awareness to reduce forest burning activities to open land, but needs to get attention so that these changes can take place sustainably. Furthermore, according to him, the Indonesian government also needs to make arrangements related to productivity and share markets of products produced from land clearing without burning. This is an effort to ensure that what is done by the community can be continued in the future.

"The desire of the community to change for the better must be appreciated and should be done sustainably. The implementation of the activities in the field should be carried out on scientific rules and in accordance with the applicable rules and not only make momentary satisfaction. The resolution of the fire problem must involve all parties and also should not burden the community" said Bambang Sahardjo.

Furthermore Bambang Saharjo said that the Indonesian government also needs to build trust among the community in an effort to increase awareness of fire control efforts. According to him, this can be done by facilitating the Masyarakat Peduli Api (Fire Care Community-MPA) by increasing the capacity and providing more adequate control facilities and infrastructure. He also encouraged that the use of peat land for agricultural activities which had been initiated by the community, can be supported by the government to guarantee product development and marketing efforts. (VOI/ANDY/AHM)

The United Nations Agency for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) organized the UNESCO Management of Social Transformation Academy or UNESCO MOST Academy from 8 to 10 November 2018. In his remarks at the opening of the UNESCO MOST Academy, Thursday (Nov 8) in Pekanbaru, Riau, Program Specialists for the Social Knowledge Unit and UNESCO Humanities Jakarta Irakli Khodeli said this forum was a place for various parties involved to contribute by sharing experiences related to efforts to deal with the haze hazards. Riau Province is chosen as the host of the meeting because it is considered to be one of the significant areas affected by the environmental and social disaster. In addition to sharing experiences, according to Irakli, the three-day meeting is also expected to produce recommendations and input for the government in taking effective steps in handling smog.

"The idea here is really to take advantage of so many preminent expert, specialist, practitioners, being together for the next two days to exchange our ideas, to learn from each other about what can be done about this important issue of haze air pollution," said Irakli.

The UNESCO Management of Social Transformation Academy or UNESCO MOST Academy in Pekanbaru takes the theme Bioethics and Sustainable Science in Action to Stop Haze Pollution. Irakli Khodeli explained that the bioethics aspect was raised considering the adoption of the Declaration of Ethical Principles in the Relation to Climate Change in 2017. According to him, the declaration underlined the importance of using science as an ethical principle in every decision made by the government, especially regarding climate change.

"All these articles, all these principals, all these concepts, after all the work that goes into it. To elaborate at the international level and create this declaration will amount to zero change if we don’t do something about it. If we don’t find a way to take these declarations and take it to the government at national level, the local level, or take it to the communities and try to translate these into concrete actions, concrete outcomes," Irakli said.

Irakli further hoped that the bioethical approach in a decision making at the government level could help bridge the various interests involved in each issue. (VOI/ANDY/AHM)

The Indonesian delegation led by the Director of the Ministry of Trade's Bilateral Negotiations, Ni Made Ayu Marthini, is conducting the second round of Preferential Trade Agreement (IM-PTA) negotiations on Thursday (8/11), in, Maputo, Mozambique. She told Voice of Indonesia on Thursday that the negotiations were a follow-up to the first negotiations which were completed in June. She hoped that this second meeting could resolve substantive issues and at the end of the year, business actors could immediately use them. This agreement will reduce or eliminate import duty rates for a number of products that are in the interests of both countries.

"We did not choose FTA, Free Trade Agreement nor CEPA, Comprehensive Economic Partneship Agreement. But we chose PTA, Preferential Trade Agreement. This means that we only give preferential treatment for a few products. Why? To speed up, then to be realistic too. So if the country has a new relationship, but its potential exists, we do it like this. With Mozambique, we just decided on 100 products. It is called Tariff lines. So it's faster. So after negotiating twice, there has been a good prospect to complete it," said Ni Made Ayu.

Ni Made Marthini further explained that increasing market access to non-traditional areas, especially Africa, is one of the focuses of President Jokowi's policy in promoting national exports. Mozambique has a large market potential because it can be used as a hub for the entry of Indonesian products into the African region, especially in the South African region. There are still many potential products that have not been maximally explored. Besides that, this country produces raw materials needed by industries in Indonesia. According to her, Indonesia's potential products that can be exported to Mozambique are CPO and its derivatives, Fatty Acid and soap. According to Ni Made, the export of soap from Indonesia is very popular in African countries. (VOI/SEKAR/AHM)

Indonesia will bring several important issues, one of which is the Indo-Pacific issue at the ASEAN Summit and other High Level Conferences in Singapore, in mid-November. As stated by Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi after a limited meeting on preparation of President Joko Widodo's Working Visit to the ASEAN Summit in Singapore and the APEC Summit in Papua New Guinea at the Presidential Office, Jakarta Thursday (Nov 8). Furthermore Retno Marsudi explained that Indonesia also has an interest in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, to finalize the concept of large economic cooperation among member countries.

"Presenting the concept of dealing with the Indo-Pacific problems. If we look at this, it is a point where the EAS president will present the Indo Pacific after having been discussing for one and a half years, we have carried out intensive consultations with both ASEAN member countries and ASEAN partners. This is a journey from 2014 at the time when the EAS and the President presented our Fulcrum maritime. Indo Pacific issue has been mentioned and that was the time when the president presents the Indo Pacific concept,” said Retno Marsudi.

The ASEAN Summit will be held on November 13-15, 2018, while the APEC Summit will be held in Papua New Guinea on November 16-18, 2018. On the sidelines of the summit there will be a meeting between ASEAN and ASEAN friendly countries, including Japan , China to Russia. Especially for the meeting between ASEAN and Russia, Indonesia will act as the meeting coordinator and will discuss cooperation between ASEAN and Russia. (KBRN/MAR/DIPTA/AHM)