VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta - Indonesian government is committed to providing follow-up assistance to the Republic of Vanuatu following the delivery of disaster relief assistance in May 2023, Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Cultural Affairs Muhadjir Effendy said.

"The government's follow-up action is through the provision of assistance for the restoration of the VIP terminal of Vanuatu's Port Vila International Airport," the minister informed at a press conference here on Wednesday.

He said that his ministry will cooperate with the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing to rehabilitate Port Vila airport's VIP terminal.

The VIP terminal rehabilitation project is now in the planning and designing phase, he informed.

"The program will be implemented at the end of June and is expected to be completed in July 2023," Effendy said.

Meanwhile, the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry has appointed state-owned construction company PT Pembangunan Perumahan (PTPP) as the contractor for executing the VIP terminal rehabilitation project, he informed.

The project will be funded through the National Disaster Mitigation Agency’s (BNPB’s) budget, he added.

"The budget is projected to surpass Rp14 billion (US$938 thousand), and we are still calculating it," Effendy said.

The terminal rehabilitation assistance will follow the provision of basic logistics aid to Vanuatu on May 8, 2023. The assistance consisted of tents, generators, bedding, hygiene kits, clothes and jackets, crafting tools and lights, and food.

Assistance for the Republic of Vanuatu was provided to accelerate the handling and recovery process following tropical cyclones Judy and Kevin and a 6.5-magnitude earthquake that struck the country last March.

The coordinating minister also expressed his utmost gratitude to government ministries, agencies, and state-owned enterprises who contributed to the humanitarian assistance delivery. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) stated that the COVID-19 endemic status in Indonesia will be declared soon following a nationwide decline in the number of COVID-19 daily cases and the high COVID-19 vaccination coverage.

After opening the 2023 National Working Meeting on Government Internal Supervision here on Wednesday, the head of state affirmed that the endemic status would be declared in June.

Jokowi remarked that the government was currently finalizing arrangements for the transition from pandemic to the endemic phase.

"We have decided that we are ready for the endemic status, but when the declaration would be? We are now finalizing it first, (and it may be) in one or two weeks," Jokowi stated.

Indonesia's COVID-19 daily case count in recent days only reached 217, and the number of ongoing active cases are at 10,200, he noted, adding that over 452 million COVID-19 vaccination doses had been administered to residents nationwide.

"Hence, in a meeting yesterday, we decided that we are ready to enter the endemic stage," the president remarked.

Earlier, Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Cultural Affairs Muhadjir Effendy stated that the government concurred with the World Health Organization's (WHO's) decision to declare the end of the COVID-19 global health emergency on May 5, 2023.

Responding to the declaration, the government will finalize its transition plan, from the COVID-19 pandemic to the endemic stage, he affirmed.

The coordinating minister also noted that following the official transition to the endemic stage, the national COVID-19 Handling Task Force would be automatically disbanded.

In future, the COVID-19 vaccine will be administered in a normal vaccination scheme at par with other vaccines, Effendy revealed, adding that the vaccine will be covered by state health insurance company BPJS Kesehatan, primarily for eligible lower-income residents. (Antaranews)

VOInews, Jakarta: Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi held a meeting with Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt within the framework of the 5th Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) in Oslo, Norway. This meeting was part of Foreign Minister Retno's two-day visit to Norway on June 12-13, 2023.

During the meeting, according to Retno, Indonesia and Norway agreed to continue implementing the Indonesia-European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) to increase trade cooperation between the two parties.

"Some of the things I conveyed include that trade between the two countries has doubled last year. Both countries are also committed to continue implementing the Indonesia-EFTA CEPA. Indonesia invites Norway to increase investment, both in the field of downstream industry development and green energy," Retno said in a statement received by Indonesia Window here on Tuesday (13/6).

On that occasion, the two Foreign Ministers welcomed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to support emission reduction from Forestry and Other Land Use (FOLU). According to Retno, this cooperation has started and will be very useful to support Indonesia's efforts to reduce emissions from the forestry sector.

"Indonesia also welcomes Norway's commitment of USD250 million to implement the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) in Indonesia," Retno said.

In addition, the two Foreign Ministers also discussed the human rights dialogue and agreed to continue to strengthen it in the future with the aim of strengthening each other, not pointing fingers at each other. According to Retno, this year's dialog will be held in Indonesia.

"We also agreed to collaborate to advance women's rights, including in Afghanistan," she added.

Norway and Indonesia will co-host the Development Leaders'

In addition to bilateral issues, the 5th JCBC also discussed regional issues and multilateral cooperation, including the issues of Myanmar and Afghanistan. Retno Marsudi also used the opportunity to ask for Norway's support for Indonesia's candidacy in the Human Rights Council 2024-2026 and UNSC 2029-2030. (VOI/Andy)

VOINews, Jakarta - The Ministry of Industry underscored the need for cooperation in supporting the availability of new and renewable energy (NRE) supplies to create environmentally friendly industrial parks, or eco-industrial parks (EIP).

Director for Regional Industrial Directorate General of Resilience, Regional, and International Industrial Access (KPAII) of Indusry Ministry Heru Kustanto said the support that should be given to industrial estates included information regarding policies for installing NRE in industrial areas, support for investment related to energy efficiency in the industrial sector, as well as other technology-related support.

"Therefore, it is necessary that stakeholders cooperate with one another in supporting the fulfillment of performance requirements for energy consumption, energy efficiency, and the development of NRE in EIP in Indonesia," Kustanto noted in a statement in Jakarta, Wednesday.

Kemenperin continues to encourage industrial estates to apply the concept of eco-industrial park in a bid to boost their competitiveness.

One of the efforts to realize the goal is to implement the Global Eco-Industrial Park Programme Indonesia (GEIPP-Indonesia) Program through collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).

The EIP development program has an important impact on sustainable environmental preservation in the industrial sector. This is in line with Indonesia's commitment to building a globally competitive manufacturing industry through accelerating the implementation of Industry 4.0.

EIP implementation requirements also cover area management as well as environmental, social, and economic aspects.

To date, the MM2100 Industrial Area, Batamindo Industrial Area, and Karawang International Industrial City (KIIC) are the three pilot projects of GEIPP-Indonesia.

With assistance through workshops and capacity-building activities for over a year for all managers of the three industrial estates held at the end of 2022, the performance of EIP implementation has increased by 10 percent in the Batamindo Industrial Area and one percent in the MM2100 Industrial Area.

Meanwhile, the KIIC Industrial Area has not shown an increase in performance, as it has just been involved in the GEIPP-Indonesia Program in mid-2022.

"It is hoped that in the next period, the increase in performance by each GEIPP-Indonesia pilot-project industrial area will become more significant, in line with the understanding of industrial area managers about the importance of implementing EIP," Kustanto remarked.

Meanwhile, Assistant Deputy for Strengthening Regional Competitiveness of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs Kartika Listriana explained that the current trend of energy use is not only as a utility provided by area managers for industrial tenants but also as an investment in the future.

"Solar energy, as a source of energy from sunlight, is starting to be used as an industry by investors, especially from foreign investors, who are interested in investing in Indonesia," Listriana remarked. (Antaranews)