VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOInews, 2024 Lima, 30 May 2024-Indonesia and Peru began the first negotiations of the Indonesia-Peru Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IP-CEPA) in Lima, Peru, on Monday (27/5). The negotiations are scheduled to take place on 27-30 May 2024. Indonesia and Peru are targeting the completion of the IP-CEPA negotiations by November 2024. The negotiations were officially opened by the Peruvian Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism, Elizabeth Galdo, and the Indonesian Ambassador to the Republic of Peru, Ricky Suhendar.

At the negotiations, the Indonesian delegation was led by the Director of Bilateral Negotiations as Chairman of the Indonesian Negotiating Team, Johni Martha, while the Peruvian delegation was led by the Director of Asia, Oceania and Africa of the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism as Chairman of the Peruvian Negotiating Team, Gerardo Meza. Minister Galdo in his speech revealed, IP-CEPA is expected to provide trade benefits for Indonesia and Peru.

‘The IP-CEPA agreement is not just about trade, but will also expand Peru's presence in Southeast Asia and Indonesia in Latin America. IP-CEPA is expected to provide benefits for both countries,’ said Minister Galdo.The same thing was also conveyed by Johni. According to him, the trade potential between the two countries is still quite large. This is considering the total population in Peru of 34 million people with a gross domestic product (GDP) value of USD 239.3 billion.

In addition, the IP-CEPA can open wider trade opportunities for the two countries. ‘Peru is a non-traditional trading partner of Indonesia that has considerable potential. Peru can be a hub for Indonesian products in Central America and South America. Therefore, theIP-CEPA negotiations play an important role as a way to pave the way and opportunities for wider trade between Indonesian and Peruvian businesses,’ added Johni.

In this first round, the two parties started the goods sector negotiations first. The goods sector includes market access for trade in goods, rules of origin, customs and trade facilitation, economic cooperation, technical barriers to trade, trade security; protection of human, animal, or plant health; dispute settlement; and legal and institutional framework.

Source: Indonesian Ministry of Trade

VOINews, Jakarta: Summer can trigger mosquitoes to breed quickly. The danger is even greater because some types of mosquitoes have the potential to transmit serious diseases such as dengue fever (DHF). Quoting a written statement from the Ministry of Health, DHF is not a mild disease. If not treated properly, it can cause serious complications and is even potentially deadly. It is known that the cumulative number of dengue cases in Indonesia is 114,720 cases with 894 deaths throughout 2023 (Antara data 21/3/2024). Therefore, prevention is a step that should not be ignored.

It is important to apply the right preventive measures, and take early action if symptoms appear. How to Prevent Dengue Fever can be done with 3M Plus:

First, Draining Water Containers
Stagnant water in used goods or holes caused by rain are ideal places for the Aedes Aegypti mosquito to breed. Therefore, draining water reservoirs such as bathtubs, flower pots, or other places that can hold water is the first step in prevention.

Second, Close Water Containers
Make sure all water reservoirs are tightly sealed to prevent mosquitoes from entering and laying eggs in them. This will also help reduce the risk of mosquito bites.

Third, Recycle Used Items
Used items such as plastic bottles, old tyres, and other places that can hold water should be recycled or disposed of properly. Avoid storing used items that can become breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

In addition to the 3M above, there are several additional (plus) steps that can be taken, among others:

Planting Mosquito Repellent Plants: Some plants such as lavender, lemongrass, and mint have natural mosquito repellent properties. Planting these plants around the house can help reduce the risk of mosquito bites.

Conduct Regular Checks of Water Reservoirs: Apart from draining, conduct regular inspections of water reservoirs to ensure that no mosquitoes breed in them.

Keep Mosquito Breeding Fish: Fish such as guppies and goldfish are mosquito larvae eaters. Keeping these fish in water tanks can help control the mosquito population.

Preventing Dengue Fever (DHF) is a shared responsibility. By recognising the symptoms, implementing the 3M Plus prevention measures, and taking early action if symptoms appear, we can protect ourselves, our families, and the environment from the serious threat of DHF. Let's unite in our efforts to fight this disease for the health and well-being of us all.

Source: Indonesian Ministry of Health

VOInews, Jakarta: The Indonesian government, in this case the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, continues to oversee several important matters related to international economic cooperation. One of them is Indonesia's accession process to join the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Indonesia became the first Southeast Asian country to become an OECD accession country, after the approval of Indonesia's Accession Roadmap which was officially handed over at the OECD Ministerial Meeting (PTM) on 2-3 May 2024. Currently, there are 7 OECD accession countries, namely Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Indonesia, Croatia, Peru and Romania.

After reaching the stage of adopting the OECD roadmap, the next step that will be taken by the Government is the self-assessment process, and the preparation of an initial memorandum which is planned to be completed within the next 250 days. For the national coordination process, the President of Indonesia has issued Presidential Decree Number 17 of 2024 on the OECD National Team. The Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs is appointed as the Chairman of the Implementation Team with the Vice Chairmen being the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Finance.

‘The government has taken strategic steps related to OECD accession, to commit to becoming an OECD member within the next three years, including the integration of OECD accession in the RPJPN and RPJMN to the plan to establish a Project Management Office (PMO) to support the OECD National Team,’ said Deputy for Coordination of International Economic Cooperation Edi Prio Pambudi, in a Media Briefing to journalists at the Media Centre of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs Jakarta, Thursday (30/5).

After the OECD PTM, OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann visited Indonesia on 28-29 May 2024. During the visit, the OECD Secretary-General met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, 2024-2029 President-Elect Prabowo Subianto, the Indonesian Parliament, the OECD National Team, and relevant stakeholders such as labour organisations, civil society, business representatives, academics, and others.

‘By becoming a member of the OECD, our access to the markets of other OECD member countries will be more open and will encourage investment as well. There is already a national team consisting of various stakeholders, and even later, media friends will also be involved in terms of press freedom. As a big nation, we must be united to achieve this,’ said Deputy Edi.

Furthermore, the OECD will also help with the development of the semiconductor ecosystem. Indonesia is one of the countries that will be reviewed by the U.S. Department of State in collaboration with the OECD. It is expected that from the results of the review, Indonesia can contribute to strengthening the global semiconductor supply chain through the International Technology Security and Innovation (ITSI) Fund mechanism and increase foreign investment into Indonesia in the semiconductor sector. The review process is expected to last for 6-8 months and the OECD Semiconductor Team is planning to come to Indonesia in early-mid 2024 to complete a fact-finding mission for the review of Indonesia's semiconductor industry.

‘Semiconductors are important as we have continued to negotiate since a long time ago, and there is quite fierce competition in the semiconductor world today. Now the United States still holds many standards for it, for example for smartphone production. You can imagine that if we don't manage that, we will be left far behind. Here we have built a semiconductor ecosystem involving ambassadors, entrepreneurs, and others, because this is a broad industry so we have to know where to start,’ Deputy Edi concluded.

Source: Indonesian Coordinating Minister of Economic

Gol A Gong when explaining about the book in Central Java (Photo : Perpusnas) - 

VOInews, Jakarta : Despite having limitations, Indonesian Reading Ambassador Gol A Gong has not lost his enthusiasm and believes that by reading books, his mind will always be filled and focused on all the dreams he wants to achieve. Not something that can't be achieved.

This was conveyed by Gol A Gong as a prologue to starting a Literacy Talk with the Indonesian Reading Ambassador in Central Java, Wednesday (29/5/2024).

Chairman of the Semarang Regency Community Reading Park Forum (TBM), Tirta Nursari, admitted that some people think they are less interested in reading activities. Moreover, the convenience of digital technology has made all human activities easier.

"Here then the role of the smallest environment, namely the family, becomes important as the main capital in forming children's reading habits from an early age," said Nursari.

Tirta actually hopes that in the future literary works can be produced at a young age. This is in line with the family literacy program that he is intensively campaigning for.

Well, someone can produce works (books) if they read often. Because from there, he will have a large vocabulary. And that's the basic capital in writing.

"Logically, to be able to produce output (writing) you must also have a lot of input (reading)," explained SIP Publishing CEO Indra Gunawan.

According to a release received by Voice of Indonesia on Wednesday (29/05/24), the publishing CEO is working hard to encourage the people of Central Java to compete to write down their creative ideas and become eternal works.

"Because often people want to write but are hesitant because they don't know how," he explained.

In fact, the current conditions show a shift in habits. The habit of reading printed books is shifting to digital books or via other reading applications.

"The number of readers of comics and novels through book reading applications and websites in Indonesia is very high," concluded Indra//VOI