VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The state-owned land transport company, Perum DAMRI plans to open inter-city bus service from Indonesia to Timor Leste, from Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara to Dili, Timor Leste as an effort to increase land connectivity. According to Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno L.P. Marsudi in a press conference on Wednesday, January 31^st, 2018 in Jakarta, the plan received positive response from the Minsitry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Republic of Timor Leste, Aurellio Gutteres.

“In addition, we also discussed the issue on land connectivity, because DAMRI has a plan to open land route service between Kupang to Dili which was positively welcomed also by the Minister of Foreign Affairs,” Retno L.P. Marsudi said.

So far, to support land connectivity between Indonesia and neighboring countries, Perum DAMRI itself has opened inter-city bus services connecting Indonesia with Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam, from Pontianak in West Kalimantan, to Kuching, Malaysia and Bandar Sri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam.//// (VOI/Rezha/AHM)

Indonesia and Timor Leste as directly adjacent neighboring countries are to enhance their economic cooperation, especially related to infrastructure development in the territory of Timor Leste and border areas between the two countries. According to Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno L.P. Marsudi the increasing of economic cooperation has become one of the main discussions in a bilateral meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Democratic Republic of East Timor, Aurellio Gutteres at Gedung Pancasila, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jakarta, Wednesday, January 31^st, 2018.

“Second, we also agree that the focus of cooperation is to strengthen economic cooperation. In the context of economic cooperation, several issues we discussed together, namely the improvement of infrastructure development cooperation and we discussed the problem, agreed that the construction of Motaain Bridge can be done immediately. Because this bridge is very important to be a bridge of people to people contact,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno L.P. Marsudi said.

In addition, Minister Retno L.P. Marsudi added that with regard to infrastructure development, Timor Leste also expects investors from Indonesia to invest in infrastructure sector, especially the construction of public housing./// (VOI/Rezha/AHM)

The Kingdom of the Netherlands is a country which depends on its agricultural sector. The Kingdom of the Netherlands is the second largest exporter of agricultural products in the world. Therefore, the Kingdom of the Netherlands continues to commit and materialize a sustainable agriculture sector, including in Indonesia as the Kingdom of Netherlands’s partner country. Agricultural cooperation projects between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Indonesia up to now has been continuously seeking education to the people of Indonesia related to how to realize a sustainable agriculture sector. This was conveyed by the Deputy Head of Mission of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Indonesia, Ferdinand Lahnstein to Voice of Indonesia in Jakarta, Tuesday, January 30, 2018.

“We want them to learn sustainable practices because if they want to continue also farming in the future, if it is not sustainable the land will degrade and they couldn’t use it anymore for the farming. So, sustainability is also a key pillar in the approach we are doing the projects,” Ferdinand Lahnstein said.

Ferdinand Lahnstein added sustainable agriculture development has been undertaken by the Kingdom of Netherlands Government since two decades ago. One effort to achieve a sustainable agriculture sector is to create a system called a "triple-helix" involving entrepreneurs, non-governmental organizations and educational institutions. The system will also be applied in Indonesia./// (VOI/Rezha/AHM)

Agriculture is one of the sectors which become the concern of the Kingdom of the Netherlands Government. The Kingdom of the Netherlands is continuously committed to creating a more sustainable agriculture sector in various countries including Indonesia. Therefore, the Kingdom of the Netherlands disburses 20 million Euro which is specifically used for agribusiness projects in various regions in Indonesia. This was conveyed by the Deputy Head of Mission of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Indonesia, Ferdinand Lahnstein to Voice of Indonesia in Jakarta, Tuesday, January 30, 2018.

“I think we’re spending 10 to 20 million Euro on 20 different projects, I would say, in Indonesia. It’s mainly on provincial level, so it’s only a limited, it’s done with central government. Most projects are on the sub-districts level,” Ferdinand Lahnstein.

Ferdinand Lahnstein added the Kingdom of Netherlands Government considered Indonesia is a country with a very large potential in the agricultural sector with great natural resources and biological diversity. He hopes through bilateral cooperation between Indonesia and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Indonesia can increase its capacity in the agricultural sector through the development of vocational schools and training in agriculture, animal husbandry, horticulture, fisheries, and agricultural technology and research./// (VOI/Rezha/AHM)