VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOInews, Singapore: Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto together with partner country ministers successfully signed the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) agreements for the Clean Economy Pillar, Fair Economy Pillar, and IPEF Institutional Agreement (Overaching Agreement) at the IPEF Ministerial Meeting on Thursday (6/06) at the Sands Expo & Convention Centre, Singapore.

As quoted from written statement received on Thursday (6/6/2024), the achievement of an agreement on the IPEF agreement is one of the historic events that creates a new breakthrough in efforts to build clean and fair collective welfare through a cooperation agreement between countries in the Indo-Pacific region. "Pillar III of the Clean Economy is part of the IPEF agreement to realise a clean and environmentally responsible global economy. In this pillar, IPEF member countries are committed to increasing environmentally friendly economic activities through sharing information and experiences, exploring the potential of each country, and opening up broad investment opportunities for private parties in IPEF member countries that have a business orientation in line with the green economy,’ wrote the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs.

It is known that some of the derivative initiatives from Pillar III are the Cooperative Work Programme (CWP) and the Clean Economy Investor Forum (CEIF), which also includes the IPEF Catalytic Capital Fund as a funding scheme for several high-quality climate infrastructure projects of up to USD 3.3 billion.

In order to support the effective implementation of commitments under the Pillar IV (Fair Economy) Agreement, IPEF partners welcomed the announcement of Capacity Building and Technical Assistance (TACB) programmes through the TACB Initiative Catalogue. ‘These programmes are designed to strengthen efforts to prevent and combat corruption, including money laundering and terrorism financing, as well as improve transparency and exchange of tax information,’ he continued.

The Indonesian Coordinating Ministry of Economic further explained that The TACB Initiative Catalogue will provide various opportunities for IPEF partners to develop effective anti-corruption policies and tax administration, through training for government officials in the investigation and prosecution of corruption cases, as well as workshops to improve integrity and online reporting systems. Indonesia hopes that in the future there will be more offerings from IPEF partners related to TACB, in order to assist IPEF partners in achieving Pillar IV high commitments.

"Indonesia and partner countries will take necessary strategic steps, including domestic consultation and ratification process of the IPEF Pillar III and IV Agreements which enter into force on 7 June 2024. In addition, IPEF partner countries will continue to commit to collaborate on clean economy and fair economy within the broader IPEF framework", concluded The Indonesian Coordinating Ministry of Economic.

Source: ekon.go.id.

VOInews, Singapore: Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto is pushing for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) cooperation to result in tangible projects that create jobs in the region. This was conveyed at the

Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Ministerial Meeting held on Thursday (6/6) in Singapore. "We must realise concrete projects next year. No one is left behind. The progress of the projects is there. The projects hopefully will create jobs in the regions,’ said Coordinating Minister Airlangga Hartarto.

According to a written statement received by Voice of Indonesia on Thursday (6/6/2024), Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong and US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo viewed the IPEF meeting as a very important momentum in regional cooperation in the Indo Pacific region. ‘The meeting brought together senior Ministers from the 14 IPEF partner countries, which represent more than 40% of the world's GDP and 28% of global trade in goods and services,’ the Ministry wrote.

It is known that this meeting affirmed a joint commitment to strengthen and realise a clean, fair and holistic economy in the Indo-Pacific region, in line with the focus of cooperation stated in the 4 pillars of the IPEF agreement, namely the pillars of trade, supply chain, clean economy and fair economy.

Since the launch of IPEF two years ago in Tokyo, Japan, each meeting involving the 14 IPEF member countries (Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, United States, and Vietnam), has achieved many significant achievements. At this meeting, the main focus was on three of the four IPEF pillars.

Firstly, the IPEF Supply Chain Agreement (Pillar II) which aims to strengthen regional supply chains, ensure smooth distribution of goods and services, and enhance cooperation among countries.

Secondly, the IPEF Clean Economy Agreement (Pillar III), which is an effort to reduce environmental impacts, has signed an agreement related to the clean economy. This includes the development of environmentally friendly technologies and the application of renewable energy.

Thirdly, the IPEF Fair Economy Agreement (Pillar IV) which aims to create a fair economy for all parties, including workers and businesses. Collaboration on economic regulations and policies is the main focus.

Indonesia and other IPEF partners are committed to continue the steps towards ratification and implementation of the signed agreements. The IPEF partners will continue to monitor progress under the three pillars of IPEF and gauge concrete outcomes at the next ministerial meeting in September 2024 in Washington DC. In addition, the meeting launched the Clean Economy Investor Forum (CEIF) as a forum among IPEF member countries that will help mobilise funds for clean energy technologies in IPEF countries.

US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo gave special appreciation to Indonesia, for its active participation in IPEF. Secretary Raimondo gave a very positive response and fully supported Coordinating Minister Airlangga's request, which emphasised the importance of IPEF providing concrete results and tangible benefits for the community, particularly in job creation and improving people's welfare. ‘IPEF must bring job creation and opportunity for our people,’ said Secretary Raimondo, supporting Airlangga's statement.

Source: Indonesian Coordinating Ministry of Economics

VOInews, Kudus: Technological innovation continues to grow rapidly and penetrate into various fields, including culinary. One of the breakthroughs comes from students of SMK Wisudha Karya, Kudus, Central Java, who successfully created a ‘cooking robot’ that can cook tofu and eggs efficiently and practically.

Quoted from the Ministry of Education and Culture's vocational website, the creation of the egg tofu cooking robot is the school's effort to prepare students to face the development of industrial technology. The cooking robot is one of the innovative products developed by the school and is closely related to the community activity of cooking. "In designing the cooking robot, the students of Electronics Expertise Competence took two months, starting from October to December 2023. The making of this robot involves various stages, from design planning, programming, to testing,’ wrote Kemdikbud.

In addition, the students also conducted research to egg tofu sellers to find out the details of the correct cooking steps. In this case, the students were guided by teachers who are competent in the field of technology until they finally managed to complete the project well.

The Head of Electronics Expertise Competence at SMK Wisudha Karya, Denny Rulyanto, said that the cooking robot is operated using an HMI machine. The robot is driven according to a pre-programmed system so that when turning on the robot, the students only need to press the operation to cook manually or automatically. "When designing we did trial and error. This robot can cook up to eight portions of egg tofu with neat and hygienic results. The taste is no less delicious than egg tofu made by humans,’ said Denny.

The robot starts with the movement of taking ingredients to cook the egg tofu. The two arms of the robot work together, one arm holds Teflon and the other arm flips the cooked egg tofu.

Meanwhile, Head of SMK Wisudha Karya, Fakhrudin, said that the robot will be used in the school canteen. The students can operate the machine independently when they want to enjoy dishes from the robot. Not only that, in the future SMK Wisudha Karya also plans to market the robot to the culinary industry. "The model is like an honesty canteen, where the robot will work on command. This robot can also be an alternative technology for restaurants or hotels that want to give a new and different look to food presentation,’ said Fakhrudin.

VOInews, Jakarta: Climate change and air pollution are serious challenges to environmental sustainability. One contributor to air pollution is motorised vehicles. These vehicles are the mode of transport used for mobility by most Indonesians. Its contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution is significant. SMK Teknologi Balung Jember offers a solution through the development of a water-fuelled motorbike.

Quoting the Vokasi Kemdikbud website, SMK Teknologi Balung has made a bold move by creating a water-fuelled motorbike. The concept is simple yet revolutionary by replacing conventional fuels with water as an energy source. "To make this innovation, the students utilised unused second-hand goods. This water-fuelled motorbike is a development of the LPG gas-fuelled motorbike that has been done before,’ wrote Kemdikbud.

Motorcycle Engineering teacher at SMK Teknologi Balung, Danang Wahyudi Hidayat, said that the students used used materials to assemble the motorcycle, such as pieces of paralon pipes that function as water storage generator tubes, aluminium used antennas, used bottles, cables, stenlis, and batteries.

Danang explained that water mixed with caustic soda is put into the generator tube. Then, 12-volt electricity is applied until it boils and produces steam and then filtered with water. From the steam, the carburettor components can be driven. Not all water can be used for the modification. Only water that has a low acid content can be applied. From temporary trials, the motorbike can travel up to a speed of 40 kilometres per hour to increase battery power. Half a litre of water that serves as fuel can last up to eight hours.

"The development of this student-made water-fuelled motorbike took about two months, from research to modification. The assembly cost is no more than Rp400,000. So far, the water-fuelled motorbike technology has only been applied to four-stroke motorbikes,’ said Danang.

The head of SMK Teknologi Balung, Abu Hasan, said that this product will continue to be refined as a renewable energy product. Hasan hopes that this product can be patented. "If this is successfully perfected, we no longer need to worry about running out of fuel oil because we already have alternative energy. With the right support, technology can be the main driver towards a more sustainable and green future,’ said Hasan.