VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesia and the Netherlands share commonalities in the substantive law and legal structure, or called "legal DNA," and future challenges in terms of the rule of law and security, Dutch Ambassador to Indonesia Rob Swartbol stated.

"Much of the laws here in Indonesia are based on old Dutch laws; of course, that should be modernized, but the basic foundation of our two legal systems are quite similar and are quite the same," he stated, during the Indonesia-Netherlands Rule of Law and Security Update (INLU) 2018 held in Erasmus Huis, Jakarta, on Wednesday.

Cooperation on the rule of law between institutions of both countries had been started since 1968. Since then, Indonesia and the Netherlands have been working closely to improve the rule of the law and share future challenges.

Some of the common concerns include creating inclusive societies, regulating the use of internet and social media, curbing cyber war, dealing with hate speech, fighting climate change and environmental degradation, as well as dealing with illegal fishing.

According to Swartbol, both countries have to find answers to these new challenges, some of which even transcend physical borders.

However tempting it is to do quick fixes, solutions have to be based on the rule of law within strong democracies, such as Indonesia and the Netherlands.

"Despite both countries running the risk of creating rule by law, the question is on how to reconcile freedom of expression, with the need to protect our societies from misleading information and; how to balance openness and transparency that makes our economy grow and flourish, with the privacy we need as human beings to be happy and to secure. These are vital questions that we all face," he noted.

Delivering a keynote speech at the INLU, Indonesian Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly stressed the importance of cooperation with the Netherlands on law reform process, including providing access to justice and legal education as well as ensuring public`s trust to legal institutions.

In terms of information and technology (IT) challenges, the Indonesian government has been working with IT companies to tackle the potential threat and cyber crimes coming from the social media.

Indonesia has also held a meeting with Australia, New Zealand, and some other neighbor countries to discussing how communication technology can bring benefits to people, without the fear of its use to promote any terror acts.

"Countries must be able to cooperate with others to create some pressure on the balance between freedom of speech and access of public information," Laoly noted.

The INLU 2018 is a two-day conference to discuss undercurrents in society as well as new insights and approaches to safeguard and strengthen accessible, accountable, inclusive, and sustainable judicial systems both in Indonesia and in the Netherlands.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has appointed two new Cabinet members on Wednesday morning (17/1) in a minor reshuffle. Former Golkar secretary-general Idrus Marham has been appointed as Social Affairs Minister to replace Khofifah Indar Parawansa, who is running in the East Java gubernatorial election. Meanwhile, former Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. (ret.) Moeldoko has been appointed to replace former anti-corruption activist Teten Masduki as the Presidential Chief of Staff. Air Marshal Yusu Sutisna has been appointed as Air Force Chief of Staff. The former chairman of the Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI), Gen.(ret.) Agum Gumelar, has been appointed as a member of the Presidential Advisory Council (Wantimpres).  Hanura politician Oesman Sapta Odang confirmed Moeldoko’s appointment, said that  Moeldoko has good credibility. With Idrus's appointment, Golkar now has three representatives in the Cabinet, along with Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan and Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto. Moeldoko’s appointment also increases the number of military retirees in Cabinet-level positions////JP

The cooperation contract with the Japanese Government, through the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects program worth 1.7 billion rupiah signed on Tuesday (16/1). The signing of the contract was carried out by the Consulate General of Japan in Medan, North Sumatra, Takeshi Ishii with Chairman of Nurul Huda Islamic Education Foundation Batu Islands, South Nias, North Sumatra, Mukhlis Tanjung and Chairman of Al Mubarakah Islamic Educational Foundation at Kunyet Mule, North Aceh, Teungku Hanafi. Vice Consul of Japan in Medan Daiki Yokoyama, representing the Japanese Consulate General, said that although the amount of grants is different, the construction of all school buildings is expected to be completed within six months.

"The donation to the Islamic School-MTS is around 815 million rupiah. While, for the assistance of Mubarakah Junior School in North Aceh about 939 million rupiah. The aids are just signed, so we hope to start construction immediately, starting this month or February," Daiki Yokoyama.

The Chairman of Nurul Huda Islamic Foundation, Mukhlis Tanjung, said the grant will be used to build six classrooms of MTS Darul Muta'alimin. Meanwhile, Chief Executive of the Al-Mubarakah Islamic Education Foundation of Kunyet Mule, Zubir said, the grants given by the Japanese Government will be used to build 6 Junior High School classrooms// DEWI/TRS.N

Director of the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance - INDEF Enny Sri Hartati, said Indonesia's economic growth in 2018 could exceed from the government's target of 5.4 percent. In a special interview with Voice of Indonesia on Tuesday 16/1, she explained, in 2017 the growth of neighboring countries such as Vietnam, Singapore, Philippines and Malaysia have improved. The improving condition of the external economy boosted optimism and showed a recovery in the global economy. According to her, Indonesia has the potential sources of extraordinary economic growth. Enny explained, seeing from the potential of resources and markets, Indonesia is much better than other countries in ASEAN. Nevertheless, there are still many challenges such as slowing household consumption and limited realization of investment figures.

"The homework in 2018 is how the government doing recovery of public purchasing power immediately. Secondly, how to realize the commitment of investors to invest in the real sector. The investment in the real sector is the key, because if we only stay in a portfolio like in 2017, there have no significant contribution to economic growth," Enny said.

Enny Hartati further explained, the effectiveness of government spending also gives a significant impact for the economic growth. The government has a budget of more than 2,000 trillion rupiah. According to him, the procurement of goods amounting to 400 trillion, can be used to absorb domestic products that can promote the Indonesian industry. In addition, the village funds can also be used to improve rural products. Therefore, rural products can meet domestic demand even for export// (Sekar/trs.Rezha)