VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta - Deputy Chairperson of the Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Agency (BKSAP) of the House of Representatives Putu Supadma Rudana has asked President Joko Widodo to discuss investment issues during his visit to Papua New Guinea (PNG).

"Now that Malaysia, South Korea, and other countries are present, Indonesian companies, especially state-owned enterprises (SOEs), have not been present here (Papua New Guinea)," Rudana noted here on Thursday.

He made the observation during a bilateral visit to PNG with some delegates from the House's Bilateral Cooperation Group (GKSB).

The Indonesian delegation was received by the Prime Minister of PNG, James Marape, and the acting speaker of the PNG Parliament, Koni Iguan.

Rudana said that his request for President Widodo to discuss investment with PNG was after he spoke to PM Marape, who expressed the hope for increased cooperation with Indonesia in the economic, sociocultural, education, and investment sectors.

"They hope that there will be cooperation with us in various sectors by increasing investment, people-to-people cooperation, tourism, direct flights, and others," he said.

According to him, Indonesia must show that state-owned companies are present in Papua New Guinea.

He said PNG needs Indonesia's support to improve many of its sectors, such as electricity.

"Presenting our energy company in PNG, where the need for electricity is very huge, to participate in working on many projects here," he added.

Rudana said that discussions with Papua New Guinea should not only be about territorial border issues.

"We are neighbors, that (Indonesia) directly borders Papua New Guinea. We should not only talk about border issues, it should be further and benefit both countries," he said.

President Widodo is scheduled to visit PNG on July 6–7 for a comprehensive visit to reflect Indonesia's commitment to supporting, assisting, and fostering relations with PNG in various fields. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - The value of Indonesia's exports in May 2023 reached US$21.72 billion, up 12.61 percent from US$19.29 billion the previous month, according to Statistics Indonesia (BPS).

BPS deputy for balance sheets and statistical analysis, Mohamad Edy Mahmud, said that the export value in May was 0.96 percent higher compared to US$21.51 billion in May 2022.

"In the last three years, export growth one month after the holidays has always shown an increase. So this has happened repeatedly," he said in a press release.

According to Mahmud, non-oil and gas exports in May were recorded at US$20.40 billion, up 13.18 percent compared to April 2023 and up 1.94 percent compared to May 2022.

Cumulatively, Indonesia's exports in January–May 2023 reached US$108.06 billion, down 6.01 percent compared to the same period in 2022.

Meanwhile, non-oil and gas exports reached US$101.48 billion, down 6.69 percent.

Compared to April 2023, the largest increase in non-oil and gas exports in May was contributed by automotive and parts with US$373.2 million or 60.20 percent.

Meanwhile, the largest decrease was recorded in mineral fuels of US$175.8 million or 4.39 percent.

By sector, non-oil and gas exports of the processing industry fell 8.97 percent in January–May 2023 compared to the corresponding period in 2022.

Exports of agricultural, forestry, and fishery products slid by 3.95 percent, while exports of mining and other products rose 1.36 percent.

"Non-oil and gas exports account for around 93.90 percent of Indonesia's total exports. The largest portion of this percentage is obtained from the processing industry, which is 70.54 percent," he said.

Meanwhile, the largest non-oil and gas exports in May 2023 were made to China (US$4.78 billion), followed by the United States (US$2.05 billion) and Japan (US$1.77 billion), with the contribution of the three reaching 42.12 percent.

Indonesia’s exports to ASEAN and the European Union (27 countries) were recorded at US$3.97 billion and US$1.56 billion, respectively.

Based on provinces where the goods were produced, Indonesia's biggest exports in January–May 2023 came from West Java with US$14.80 billion or 13.70 percent.

The province was followed by East Kalimantan (US$12.83 billion or 11.87 percent) and East Java (US$9.63 billion or 8.91 percent). (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) meeting can improve cooperation in education in the Asia-Pacific, according to Early Childhood, Primary and Middle Education Director General at the Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Ministry Iwan Syahril.

The ESD meeting, an Asia-Pacific Regional-level meeting with 21 countries participating, was held by the ministry along with the Indonesian National Commission for UNESCO (KNIU) and the Japanese government in Bali on June 12-14.

"This ESD meeting is very important not just for Indonesia but also for Asia-Pacific," Syahril noted through a statement, Wednesday.

All during this time, the concept of ESD has been adopted by Indonesia through the Kurikulum Merdeka (Freedom in Curriculum) Program held by the ministry.

Kurikulum Merdeka is very flexible, with one of the reasons being that it encourages students to conduct learning relevant to real and sustainable living in society, he explained.

"Moreover, the Pancasila Student profile principle also motivates students to become part of global citizenship," Syahril stated.

This aligns with the stance of Interim Head of KNIU Itje Chodidjah who stated that the conference's main goal is to create a space to share initiatives that had been carried out by 14 countries in the Asia-Pacific, including Indonesia.

The result of this meeting will serve as a benchmark for Indonesia through KNIU and conduct curation of various good practices across Indonesia.

Moreover, the meeting serves as a platform to share various good practices on ESD in Indonesia that will be showcased to the world at the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 Forum.

Meanwhile, Japanese government representative Fumie Hara stated that education for sustainable development is an important aspect as an effort to create a better future for Asia-Pacific.

UNESCO ED/PSD/ESD Programme Specialist Mark Manns made assurance that his side will continue to encourage the organization's member countries to implement ESD in the national curriculum and policies.

The result of the 2030 ESD-Net Meeting will be a valuable input for discussion in the global 2030 ESD-Net meeting that will be held in Japan in December 2023. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - National product standardization can boost a product's competitiveness and ultimately drive economic growth, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said.

"The existence of a product, with good standards, will improve consumers' trust which in turn encourages spending and has a positive impact on the economy," he noted in a statement on Wednesday (June 14).

He pointed out that product standardization can also be done as an instrument to protect the domestic market as is observed in developed countries that generally choose standardization as opposed to licensing to protect their domestic market from imported products.

Currently, 2,998 institutions conduct testing, inspection, and certification of national products.

He said standardization activities can mostly be conducted by private parties and should be developed to boost competitiveness of the national economy and improve the people's prosperity, in general.

"The government continues to encourage standardization by facilitating micro and small enterprises (MSEs) to obtain Indonesian National Standard (SNI) certificate through the Bina-UMK SNI scheme," he stated during the National Quality Infrastructure Festival 2023, Wednesday.

The Job Creation Law has also stipulated single licensing. Business identification number (NIB) for MSEs will also be complemented with SNI, he said.

He guarantees that in the implementation, central and regional governments will assist and facilitate MSEs, so that they can fulfill the requirements.

The minister also highlighted several aspects that should be taken into account, including increasing the number of SNI products. The SNI procedure is expected to be created in a simple, transparent, and affordable manner.

Product standardization should also be optimized as an instrument to protect customers and to secure the domestic market, Hartarto said.

Hence, SNI should be formulated by adopting the standards that apply internationally that are adjusted according to the Indonesians' unique character, he stressed.

He said ministries, institutions, and regional governments should also be committed to manage monitoring with regard to measuring and weighing tools that exist in the center of economic activities. Through this, the people's interests can be protected.

"People's awareness should also be developed to make them realize that SNI is intended to improve the competitiveness of national products and not to hinder trade," Hartarto said. (Antaranews)