VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Mar. 18 - The Indonesian government has claimed it has administered COVID-19 vaccinations to 4,705,245 people, including healthcare workers, public service officers, and senior citizens, as of Wednesday.

By Wednesday afternoon, the number of people receiving their first doses of vaccine increased by 236,297, and the number of people receiving their second dose rose by 159,391 to touch 1,876,140, the Health Ministry said in a report received on Wednesday.

The people who received the first shots of the vaccine represent 10.66 percent of the target of 40,349,051 people, comprising healthcare workers, public service officers, and senior citizens, as per data provided by the government.

Currently, 97.40 percent of 1,468,764 healthcare workers, 14.06 percent of 17,327,169 public service officers, and 3.88 percent of 21,553,118 senior citizens have received their first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Meanwhile, 82.25 percent of the targeted healthcare workers, 3.82 percent of the targeted public service officers, and 0.03 percent of the targeted senior citizens have received their second vaccine dose.

The central government is aiming to inoculate 181,554,465 people, or 70 percent of the total Indonesian population, to build herd immunity against the coronavirus.

To achieve the target, the government is making efforts to increase the capacity of vaccination services. (Antaranews)

Mar. 18 - The Indonesian Ambassador to Viet Nam, Denny Abdi, handed over his credentials to Party General Secretary and President of Viet Nam H.E. Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong on Wednesday morning (17/3) at the Presidential Palace, Hanoi.

The event began with a salute from the Guard of Honor and Ambassador Denny Abdi was greeted by the Chief of State Protocol at the entrance to the Presidential Palace.

The handover of the Letter of Credentials from the Indonesian Ambassador to President Nguyen Phu Trong was held solemnly.

This ceremony marked the formal assumption of Ambassador Denny Abdi’s assignment as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Indonesia to the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam.

At an audience with the President of Viet Nam, Ambassador Denny Abdi conveyed the warm greetings of President Joko Widodo to President Nguyen Phu Trong and expressed his commitment to deepening the bilateral relations between the two countries.

President Nguyen Phu Trong welcomed the Indonesian Ambassador and sent his warm regards to President Joko Widodo.

The Government of Viet Nam stands ready to fully support the Indonesian Ambassador and enhance the bilateral cooperation that brings benefits to the people of both countries.

Since inaugurated on 30 December 1955, bilateral relations between Indonesia and Viet Nam have been developed well and cemented by its Strategic Partnership in 2013.

Before the pandemic, Indonesia and Viet Nam were among the countries with the strongest economic growth in the region.

At the end of 2019, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi held a bilateral meeting with Viet Nam’s Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh reflecting Indonesia’s support for Viet Nam Chairmanship in ASEAN 2020 as well as the closeness of the two neighboring countries.

Indonesia and Viet Nam also have a close relationship at the highest level.

This is evidenced by President Joko Widodo's state visit to Viet Nam and the working visit of Viet Nam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to Bali in 2018.

In 2017, Party’s General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, who is currently serving as President of Viet Nam, paid an official visit to Indonesia.

These high-level visits have resulted in several agreements in various fields including the Plan of Action for the Implementation of the Strategic Partnership of Indonesia–Viet Nam for the period of 2019–2023.

The economic relations between the two countries show incredible resilience. In 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the bilateral trade of Indonesia and Viet Nam reached US$ 8.2 billion.

In the future, the two countries will continue to acquire more achievements in various fields. Post-pandemic, it is believed that the two countries can reach the target of US$ 10 billion bilateral trade turnover.

Ambassador Denny Abdi is a career diplomat who has served at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia for almost 25 years.

Before he was appointed the Indonesian Ambassador to Viet Nam, Ambassador Denny was the Director of Southeast Asian Affairs of the Ministry. (VOI)

Mar. 18 - The Indonesian Embassy in Moscow with the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation entitled Russia - Indonesia Online Business Forum: "Digital Economy and Tourism Investment Opportunities" (16/03).

The forum aims to bring Russian and Indonesian businesses closer together and improve bilateral relations in the digital economy and tourism investment.

"This is the right time for us to encourage digital economic cooperation between the two countries and promote Indonesian tourism investment to Russia considering the huge potential for cooperation between the two countries," said Indonesian Ambassador to Moscow Jose Tavares

The Russian Ambassador to Indonesia, Lyudmila Vorobieva, mentioned the bright prospects for the information and communication technology (ICT) sector between Indonesia and Russia in supporting fields such as education, data security and banking.

Also opening the event, Vladimir Ilichyov, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of Russia, expressed his hopes for a productive dialogue between the businessmen of the two countries.

After the opening ceremony, the Business Forum was continued with a parallel Break Out Session regarding Digital Economy Cooperation and Indonesian Tourism Investment Opportunities.

Panel 1, moderated by Pavel Kalmychek, Deputy Director for Multilateral Cooperation and Special Projects of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, which discussed digital economic cooperation, presented speakers including Dedy Permadi, Staff of the Indonesian Minister of Communication and Information who explained Indonesia's industrial 4.0 strategy and platform and aspects that could be cooperated with Russia.

Meanwhile the Russian speaker, George Mikaberidze, CEO of Rosinfokominvest (a company engaged in Russian information and communication technology investment), conveyed the digitization process 4.0 in Russia as well as solutions and opportunities for collaboration with foreign partners, including Indonesia.

"There are opportunities for cooperation and matchmaking efforts to bridge Russian ICT with Indonesia," concluded Sergey Rossomakhov from the Russian Trade Office in Jakarta.
In Panel 2, guided by Edi Suharto, Minister Counselor of the Indonesian Embassy in Moscow, discussed Indonesian investment opportunities in the tourism sector to Russian participants and potential investors.

Three speakers from Indonesia worked together to promote policies and investment opportunities as well as projects that could be cooperated with the Russian side.

Nurul Ichwan, Deputy Head of BKPM, explained RI's policies that are pro-convenience, pro-growth and pro to equitable distribution of Indonesia's economic development, especially for investment in the tourism sector.

From the western part of Indonesia, Marthunis, Plt. Head of the Aceh Investment and One Stop Integrated Service (DPM-PTSP) Office, emphasized "We offer Russia cooperation in the agricultural industrial sectors, the development of tourist objects, energy and infrastructure in Aceh".

On the same occasion, Ema Widiastuti, Director of Business Development for the Indonesia Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), gave a presentation on investment opportunities in the Special Economic Area of ​​Mandalika. One of the participants from Russia, Alexander Chinyaev, Director of Economic Cooperation of the AFK Sistema Investment Company, briefly shared his experiences in investment cooperation.

"We hope that the business matching at the end of the Forum will result in mutually beneficial collaboration between the business communities of the two countries to promote economic cooperation between Indonesia and Russia," concluded Jose Tavares.

As a follow up, Ekaterina Morozova from Savills Russia (Property Consultant) has exchanged contacts with ITDC and said "The Russian Savills Team will discuss with ITDC regarding a project in Mandalika for investment in the hotel sector".

A total of 134 participants showed high enthusiasm in participating in the Forum, not only from entrepreneurs, also attending from Ministries / Institutions of the two countries. Several companies / institutions were recorded that were present, including Elken Global, AECOM, KADIN, Telkomtelstra, Searchrinform Russia, Russian Export Center, and MAXIM Taxi Service. (VOI)

Mar. 17 - The Association of Islamic Students (HMI) should be ready to become the pioneer of the country’s progress to make Indonesia advanced and prosperous, according to President Joko Widodo (Jokowi).

President Jokowi made the statement in his virtual remarks from the State Palace, Jakarta, during the inauguration of the 2021 Islamic Student Association (HMI) Congress on Wednesday.

"The HMI must be ready to become a pioneer of national progress that will lead our country to become increasingly respected and more advanced and prosperous," President Jokowi noted.

The head of state believes that the HMI can become the engine to drive the nation's progress and become more actively involved in preparing and creating superior human resources and future leaders to take the country forward.

Highlighting HMI’s huge potential, the president believes it should be able to realize the great ideals of the founders to harmonize Islam and the true essence of being Indonesian with the spirit of renewal, strengthen national unity amid diversity, and become a pillar of support for national integration. (Antaranews)