Vice President M Jusuf Kalla arrived in New York, the United States, on Sunday afternoon local time, to attend a UN General Assembly session.

The vice president arrived at Terterboro Airport, using a special plane after flying for about an hour from Boston Logan International Airport, the United States.

From Terterbero Airport, the Vice President went straight to the hotel where he would stay.

Kalla arrived at the hotel on Sunday afternoon around 3:15 p.m. local time, or Monday morning at 2:15 a.m. Western Indonesian Standard Time (WIB).

Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi welcomed the Vice President at the hotel where he would be staying.

Vice President Kalla will lead the Indonesian delegation at the 73rd UN General Assembly session at the Assembly Hall, at the United Nations headquarters, New York.

The Vice President will start the General Session agenda by attending the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit, Monday (New York time).

The agenda is based on a decision in the UNGA 72/243 resolution, adopted on December 22, 2017, said Vice Presidential Spokesman Husain Abdullah in New York, Saturday night or Sunday morning in Indonesia.

UN member states based on the decision should held a high-level plenary meeting on global peace, in honor of the centenary of the birth of Nelson Mandela. The meeting was attended by the heads of state, starting from morning to evening.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla will deliver the Indonesian views during the general debate of the 73rd UN general assembly on Thursday (Sept 27) local time.

The Vice President in the event is among others accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno L.P. Marsudi and Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Puan Maharani.

Previously the Vice President was in Boston, the United States, on Friday. He was in Boston to attend a discussion and had a lunch in the afternoon with Fletcher and Tufts University students. (ANTARA)

The Ministry of Tourism and the Indonesian Embassy in Laos are promoting Indonesian tourism in countries located in the Indochina region, starting in Vientiane, Laos.

The Indonesian Ambassador to Laos, Pratito Soeharyo, in a press release received by Antara in Jakarta on Sunday stated that Indonesia and Laos had closeness and similarity.

This was conveyed by the ambassador during the sales mission of seven priority destinations in Vientiane on Saturday (Sept 22).

The sales mission was participated by 60 Lao industrial players.

To the participants, Ambassador Pratito expressed his hope that every side would be able to realize connectivity between the two countries in the form of direct flights from Indonesia to Laos and vice versa.

"A direct flight is expected to significantly grow the number of tourist arrivals, from Laos to Indonesia, and vice versa," he said, adding that a direct flight from Luang Prabang to Denpasar, Bali which is available once a week could strengthen connectivity between the two countries.

The Tourism Ministry sees the Indochina region has potentials that can be beneficial for both countries in the future.

The Indochina region has a significant growth rate, reaching approximately seven percent in 2018 which could bring about positive impact to the increase of tourists arrivals from Indochina region.

Laos was made the first country of the Indonesia`s Sales Mission because both nations have a long and strong relationship since the time of the Kingdom of Champa and the kingdoms of the archipelago. In addition, each country has a high concern to increase cooperation in tourism.

Several tourism sites in Indonesia which were showcased at the Sales Mission, including Bandung (West Java), Yogyakarta, and Batam and Bintan (Riau Islands).

In 2018, the Indonesian Embassy and the Ministry of Tourism organized a Fam Trip program for Lao media to visit Indonesian tourist destinations, namely, Jakarta, Bali and Yogyakarta.

In Jakarta, the Lao media were invited to attend the commemoration of the Independence Day on August 17 in Jakarta, followed by a tourist visits to the Old City and ended with enjoying a laser show at the National Museum.

Meanwhile, in Bali, the Fam Trip media participants saw Garuda Wisnu Kencana Statue, and enjoyed Bali`s famous beaches and foods.

In Yogyakarta, the Lao media were invited to visit Borobudur Temple, Prambanan Temple, Mendut Temple, Yogyakarta Palace, Malioboro tourist center, and Parang Tritis beach.

Until September 2018, a number of Lao media regularly introduce Indonesian tourism, especially the ones that were visited by the Fam Trip participants, to the local people. (ANTARA)

Vice President Jusuf Kalla will lead the Indonesian Government delegation at the 73rd UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters, New York, United States.

The Vice President will begin the agenda of the general assembly by attending the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit on September 24 local time as a follow-up to the decision of the UN General Assembly resolution 72/243 adopted on December 22, 2017, a spokesperson of VP Husain Abdullah said here on Saturday night local time.

The decision stated that UN member states hold a high-level plenary meeting on global peace in honor of Nelson Mandela`s centenary birth.

The summit starting from morning to evening will be attended by the heads of state.

The main agenda is a delivery of views at the general debate of the 73rd UN general assembly by Vice President Jusuf Kalla on Thursday (Sept 27).

At this event, the Vice President is accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister, Retno Marsudi and Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture, Puan Maharani.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla will arrive in New York on Sunday (Sept 23) at around 12:00 a.m. local time.

Earlier, the Vice President had been in Boston, United States, on Friday (Sept 21) to attend a discussion and had a lunch with Fletcher and Tufts University students. (ANTARA)

The Indonesian Finance Minister, Sri Mulyani Indrawati asked her staff, especially the Directorate General of Financing and Risk Management to increase studying or deepening   the government bond market. The market deepening is carried out through sales to various sales managers in the country and instrument diversification. In a press conference entitled Our State Budget (APBN) in Jakarta, Sri Mulyani recently explained that the market deepening is closely related to the amount of household savings, corporations and the Indonesian government.

“Maybe it can and will be done within the Ministry of Finance through diversification through sales to various fund managers in the country and instrument diversification. We will do it in order to deepen the market. But the fundamentals of market deepening are the supply of funding in the country. That is if the n saving investment gap is still negative, it means we import capital from outside. Therefore, market deepening has to do with the amount of savings made by households, companies, and the government,” Sri Mulyani said.

Sri Mulyani further said that she appreciates the market deepening efforts through the newly marketed saving bond retail (SBR) 004 and ordering through the network (online) and increasing the interest of the wider community including the millennial generation in Indonesia. The results of SBR sales are a great potential to continue to deepen the market and target more domestic buyers to strengthen a stable bond market. He also hopes that in an increasingly dynamic environment, the Directorate General of Financing and Risk Management can improve the ability to maintain the risk of state financial financing from domestic, foreign and other instruments. (VOI/Rezha/trans by PUTRI/ART)