VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian consumers have increasingly become critical and aware of their rights and obligations, Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita said.

"Our consumers have increasingly become critical. They know well their rights and can no longer be cheated. If we want to improve competitive edge, the role of each office chief under the coordination of PKTN (the Directorate General of Consumer Protection and Trade Order) is important," he said while opening an event aimed to synchronize policies on consumer protection and trade order in Jakarta on Monday.

Hence, all stakeholders, including the central government, regional governments, businessmen, and the public, should unite their steps to create effective consumer protection, he said. The government itself has formulated a grand design for consumer protection contained in Presidential Regulation No. 50/2017 concerning the national strategy for consumer protection (STRANAS PK), he said.

He said the post border supervision this year is one of the central government`s policies which are high on the list of the Consumer Protection and Trade Order Directorate General`s national priorities. Through the policy, the government has since February 1, 2018 shifted the surveillance of goods subjected to ban and restriction from the border (inside customs area) to post border (outside custom area), he said.

Consumer protection is a legal instrument created to protect and fulfill consumers` rights. Under the consumer protection law of 1999, Indonesian consumers` rights have legally been protected. Although the law has been put into force since 19 years ago, Indonesian consumers are still in the stage of understanding, meaning that they have been aware of their rights and obligations as reflected by consumer empowerment index of 33.7 in 2017.

To make consumers more aware of the importance of consumer protection, they must be smart consumers by realizing their rights and obligations, paying attention to the labels, quality, expired dates, manual and guarantee cards of products, buying goods according to needs and loving domestic products. (ant)

Indonesia has earned trade transactions valued US$5.8 million during the convening of the China-ASEAN Expo (CAExpo) in Nanning, China, on September 12-15, 2018.

"We highly appreciate the efforts made by Trade Ministry and the business people for always promoting Indonesian products to the Chinese consumers," Indonesian Ambassador to China Djauhari Oratmangun said in Beijing  on Monday.

The annual expo has paved the way for a cooperation of Chinese company Pacific Construction Group and its Indonesian partner PT Farmindo International Sentral Teknologi. The two companies had just signed a letter of interest (LoI) worth US$5 billion. The signing of the LoI between the two companies was held on the sidelines of the Trade, Tourism and Investment Forum, on Thursday (Sept 13), in Nanning. The cooperation includes the investment of Industrial Park in Belitung, which will be followed by the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two parties at the Trade Expo Indonesia (TEI) in Tangerang, Banten, on October 24-28, 2018.

The transaction value, made by Indonesian business delegation in this year`s CAExpo, has increased by 95 percent, compared to that of 2017, said the embassy`s trade attache Dandy S. Iswara. He felt confident that the success of the Indonesian delegation at the 2018 CAExpo would motivate more companies to participate in the event in the following years.

Among the Indonesian products, displayed during the expo, were coconut fiber, household appliances, food and beverages, clothing, crafts, and necessities. The coconut fiber that can be used as a material for making car seat, was able to attract the Chinese consumers` attention was coconut fiber. (ant)

Three Indonesian citizens that have been held hostage by an armed group in the Philippines since earky in 2017 have been released, a foreign ministry official confirmed in Jakarta, on Sunday.

"It is true. They have been released. Thank God," Director for Citizen Protection Lalu Muhammad Iqbal said in a text message received by Antara.

According to AP, the three citizens - Hamdan Salim, Subandi Sattuh and Sudarlan Samansung - were released on Friday with the help of Moro National Liberation Front, a rebel group that has signed a peace agreement with the Philippine government.

They were planned to be handed over to the Indonesian embassy in Zamboanga, Iqbal said adding "we would explain the details later."

The three were seized by a militant armed group while sailing near Sabah, Malaysia, on January 2017 and were then taken to their hiding place in a forest in Sulu, South Philippines. (ant)

The Asia Pacific Regional Council (APRC) of the International Council of Women (ICW$ marked its tenth anniversary in a dinner held here on Sunday evening. APRC president Tabucanon Monthip Shriratna said in her speech on the occasion that in the past six years of her leadership the institution had continued improving the quality of its efforts in women empowerment in the Asia Pacific region.

"I pray the next president and board of APRC would also do their best in the women empowerment," she said.

ICW President Jung Sook Kim expreceiation to APRC`s performance in the past 10 years.

"In the past ten years APRC has made a good progress in terms of quality and quantity, We must continue our best efforts to achieve advancement of women`s roles as well as APRC and ICW," she said.

Besides APRC ICW also has European Center of ICW as well as regional councils for America and Africa. Indonesia is currently hosting the 35th General Assembly of ICW in Yogyakarta. Organized by Kowani (Indonesian Congress of Women) and supported by the state enteprises ministry and 35 state-owned companies the meeting since September 13 is scheduled until September 19. (ant)