VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta - U.S. President Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will discuss maritime and cybersecurity defense on Wednesday as they coordinate their China strategy in an official White House visit.

Australia is a key U.S. ally in the Pacific and the visit comes as crisis rages in the Middle East. Biden scheduled the visit after canceling a trip to Sydney in May to stay in Washington and negotiate a government funding crisis.

The visit will produce a series of agreements aimed at deterring and competing with China, even as separately the two countries try to thaw relations with Beijing.

The expected deals include launching an undersea internet cable project and maritime wharf infrastructure investment designed to benefit and woo Pacific Island nations whose assistance may be needed to respond to any future conflict over Taiwan or the South China Sea, according to U.S. officials.

Washington and Canberra, already partners in a decades-old collective defense agreement, will also announce wider security cooperation with Japan.

The balancing act of strengthening deterrence against China without offending Beijing too much is made more complicated by a Middle East crisis that has again diverted Washington's attention away from the Indo-Pacific.

A leadership vacuum in the U.S. House of Representatives has also complicated the approval of a set of laws needed to deliver on Biden's promise to support the AUKUS defense partnership between the United States, Britain and Australia. The AUKUS deal includes transferring sensitive U.S. and British nuclear submarine technology to Australia.

Financing and approvals related to AUKUS still need to come from Congress, where Republican lawmakers, who have a narrow majority, have repeatedly failed to line up enough support behind a party candidate to elect a new speaker of the House.

On Friday, the Biden administration submitted a supplementary budget request to Congress that includes measures to support U.S. commitments under AUKUS.

A senior administration official said Biden would reassure Albanese that the United States will follow through on its end of the deal as Australians express private frustrations over the delays in moving ahead on the partnership.

"We're in close and deep consultations on Capitol Hill," the official told reporters. "We are confident that the various procedural steps and budget conditions necessary to move forward with pillar one of AUKUS will move through in a way that will support our larger endeavor."

The U.S.-Australian efforts, designed to counter China's territorial claims and reduce trade dependence on the Asian country, come as both countries also work to reduce diplomatic tensions with Beijing.

Albanese will visit China, Australia's largest trade partner and biggest buyer of its iron ore, on Nov. 4.

White House aides are working to lock down a meeting between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Nov. 11-17 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco.

Biden and Albanese will also seek to boost cooperation on cybersecurity and Australia's rare earth minerals output to reduce reliance on China, the dominant supplier.

Biden will also announce that a cyberattack on Australia could be taken as an "armed" attack that would trigger U.S. collective defense obligations. In the event of such an attack, the United States would make a case-by-case decision on whether to invoke the treaty, according to another U.S. official.

Australia has been a major hacking target for China.

Biden will also work on the more intangible parts of the U.S.-Australian alliance.

Albanese, his partner Jodie Haydon and the Bidens will eat a three-course banquet prepared by five-time James Beard Foundation Award nominee Katie Button, set against a canvas of American Monarch butterflies and Australian Cairns Birdwing butterflies.

Nodding to the downbeat politics of the moment, a planned performance by the pop group B-52s at the dinner is being scrapped in favor of music from a U.S. military band. (Reuters)

VOINews, Jakarta - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), on Wednesday, expressed hope that the opening of Mentawai Airport on Sipora Island, Mentawai Islands District, West Sumatra, would rope in more tourists to the district.

He said the government built Mentawai Airport as a larger airport than the existing Rokot Sipora Airport that can only serve Cessna planes, adding that the new airport, on the other hand, can accommodate ATR 72-600 planes, with a capacity of 78 people.

"Let us hope that by providing a landing ground for ATR planes, the airport will attract more tourists to come visit Mentawai Islands, especially those who love surfing," the president remarked during the inauguration of Mentawai Airport, as broadcast by the Presidential Secretariat YouTube channel.

The head of state also expressed hope that the operation of one of Indonesia's outermost airports would enhance the mobility of people.

"Mentawai Islands' tourism potential can also be further optimized. We hope that surfing tourism activities will flourish. Planes from abroad related to surfing activities can also directly land, be it in Padang or Mentawai," he remarked.

The president then expressed optimism that the airport would augment the region's connectivity, which, in turn, can facilitate people to develop their businesses, thereby elevating their living standards in the end.

President Jokowi commenced his working visit to West Sumatra Province on Wednesday. Along with his entourage, the president arrived at the Minangkabau International Airport, Padang Pariaman District, at around 12:11 p.m. local time.

Upon his arrival, President Jokowi was welcomed by West Sumatra Governor Mahyeldi Ansharullah, Head of the West Sumatra Regional Representative Council (DPRD) Supardi, Bukit Barisan Regional Military Commander Major General Mochammad Hasibuan, and West Sumatra Police Chief Inspector General Suharyono.

Thereafter, the president boarded another aircraft to head to Mentawai Airport for its inauguration.

After inaugurating the airport, he is scheduled to visit Ibu Market in Mentawai Islands District to personally distribute social aid to local merchants.

Following the market visit, the president will return to the Minangkabau International Airport via Mentawai Airport to pay a visit to students and teachers at SMKN (Vocational Public High School) 5 Padang.

Jokowi will then inspect the conditions at a warehouse of state-run logistics company Bulong in Padang City and distribute rice assistance to beneficiary people.

After concluding his activities in West Sumatra, the president will head to South Sumatra and spend the night thereafter.

Chief of the Presidential Staff Office (KSP) Moeldoko, Presidential Military Secretary Rear Admiral Hersan, and Commander of the Presidential Security Guard (Paspampres) Major General Rafael Granada Baay, among others, are accompanying the president in West Sumatra. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - Newly appointed British Ambassador to Indonesia Dominic Jermey presented letter of credentials to President Joko Widodo in Jakarta, October 23, and expressed optimism about great potential for increasingly strong relations between Indonesia and the UK.

"It is a great privilege and honor for me to present my credentials to the President of Republic of Indonesia His Excellency Joko Widodo," Ambassador Jermey stated, according to a written statement issued by the British Embassy in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Dominic Jermey, who has been appointed as Ambassador to the Republic of Indonesia and non-resident Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, stated that his country has been eager to intensify partnerships with Indonesia on trade, investment, climate change, and global stability.

"The UK’s partnership with Indonesia continues to grow from strength to strength, focused on business, climate change, biodiversity, as well as prosperity and security in the Indo Pacific," Jermey stated while calling Indonesia as the largest economy in Southeast Asia, and Britain, as a member of G7.

"Our trade between the UK and Indonesia was worth 3.5 billion pound sterling in 2022, and I want to grow this further as we continue to boost two-way investment," Jermey remarked.

Jermey claimed to be extremely proud of the UK’s long-standing collaboration with Indonesia on climate change, energy transition, and clean growth as was demonstrated through the recent agreement around the Low Carbon Development Initiative that will ensure Indonesia’s economic growth to be sustainable and resilient against the impacts of climate change.

"I am very much looking forward to my new role as the British Ambassador to Indonesia, working together with our friends and colleagues from Sabang to Merauke, delivering benefits and creating a better, safer, and greener future for our people," he affirmed.

During the 1999-2000 period, Dominic served as British Representative to the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor, reporting to the UK Ambassador in Jakarta.

Jermey’s earlier diplomatic postings include serving as Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Afghanistan for 2016-2017 period and to the United Arab Emirates for 2010-2014 period.

In 1999-2000, Jermey was British Representative to the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor, reporting to the UK Ambassador in Jakarta.

He was Managing Director and Chief Executive of the UK’s inward investment and export support agency, UK Trade and Investment from 2007-2010 and 2014-2015. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - The Indonesian government is preparing various strategies to deal with the implementation of the European Union Deforestation-free Regulation (EUDR), the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs stated.

According to the ministry's Deputy for Food and Agribusiness Coordination, Musdhalifah Machmud, the strategies are also being formulated with the aim of dismissing accusations that Indonesia's palm oil industry neglects sustainability aspects.

"We are currently devising strategies to respond to the accusations of our palm oil products not being sustainable," she remarked virtually during the 2023 Indonesian Palm Oil Research Week (PERISAI) event in Surabaya, East Java, on Wednesday.

Machmud explained that the first strategy concerns the government's effort to revise Presidential Regulation No. 44 of 2022 regarding the system of Indonesian sustainable palm oil plantation certification.

Machmud elaborated on the regulation, saying that it mandates business actors to obtain Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) certificates. She remarked that the government plans to expand the regulation, so it can accommodate provisions related to sustainability aspects.

"We will soon expand the presidential regulation to accommodate sustainability provisions," she remarked.

Shedding light on the next strategy, Machmud explained that the government is developing a clearing house that will bring together relevant stakeholders to discuss matters related to the goal of realizing a sustainable palm oil industry.

She then pointed out that the government had earlier formed a joint task force to handle various issues faced by Indonesia and Malaysia in connection with the implementation of the EUDR.

The task force was established as a platform that can help Indonesia, Malaysia, and the European Union reach a common understanding regarding the regulation, she remarked.

Furthermore, she highlighted that Indonesia had held the first meeting of the joint task force in August this year, resulting in the objection to the exclusion of smallholders in trade activities between Indonesia and the European Union.

"The second result is related to the sustainability scheme. We have been implementing the scheme since 2011, and we want our sustainability efforts to be acknowledged by the European Union," the official affirmed.

The second meeting of the joint task force is scheduled on December 12 this year.

"We, the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, and the Secretariat of the CPOPC (Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries) will hold various meetings to harbor suggestions and find solutions to the issues," she concluded. (Antaranews)