VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The government is targeting transactions at the 2020 Indonesia, Latin America, and Caribbean Islands (INA-LAC) business forum event to double from last year's event.

"We hope that the business transactions that can be obtained at the INA-LAC business forum this year will be doubled when compared to last year's figures," said Director General of America and Europe from Foreign Ministry, I Gede Ngurah Swajaya, in his remarks at the opening ceremony INA-LAC 2020 in Jakarta, Monday.

INA-LAC is a business meeting event started by the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2019. The forum which is held regularly every year aims to connect the business community in Indonesia and Latin America, and the Caribbean.

For this year, INA-LAC takes place on 9-11 November 2020 and most events are held via virtual forums. At the 2019 INA-LAC meeting, the total transaction value collected reached the US $33.12 million (around Rp.465.33 billion).

"Most of the transactions were obtained from the mining sector," said Ngurah Swajaya. At least 33 countries from Latin America and the Caribbean have joined the INA-LAC business forum.

The two regions have a total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) value of up to 5.71 trillion US dollars (around Rp.81,209 trillion).

For this year's business forum, several memoranda of understanding (MoU) were signed during the opening ceremony, including the signing of the MoU on the cooperation of quality assurance of halal products between Indonesia and Chile; MoU between PT Sarinah (Persero) and multinational retail company Dufry International AG and Grupo Industrial Omega SA de CV (Mexico); MoU between CAMCO Rattan Muebles (Mexico) and Naza Art Furniture; MoU on the cooperation of nuclear technology applications of PT Inuki (Persero) and the Mexico Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Nucleares (ININ); and the MoU between the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) and the Peruvian Hotel, Restaurant and Business Related Association (AHORA).

Not only that, INA-LAC this year also facilitated the issuance of a letter of interest for cooperation (LoI) for the construction of a trade center for Indonesian products in Brazil between the Association of Indonesian Food and Beverage Entrepreneurs (GAPMMI) and a Brazilian importer, BADAX.

Finally, the event also facilitated the signing of an exclusive distribution cooperation agreement between BADAX Commercial Brazil and Magnetar Global International (Kokola Group).

During the opening ceremony, Indonesia and Colombia also launched joint stamps specially designed to commemorate 40 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries this year.

In addition, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia Retno Marsudi also inaugurated the official website "www.ina-lac.com" which is intended for the promotion of export products and investment-ready projects, as well as information channels on economic development in Indonesia, as well as countries in America Latin and the Caribbean.

The page also offers a virtual business meet-up feature that entrepreneurs from two regions can take advantage of. Through this website, the Indonesian government offers around 108 ready-to-invest projects spread across 11 provinces, namely East Java, Central Java, West Java, DKI Jakarta, West Nusa Tenggara, East Kalimantan, North Sumatra, South Sulawesi, Lampung, North Sulawesi, and Riau. (Antaranews)

Minister of Agriculture (Mentan) Syahrul Yasin Limpo said the World Food and Agriculture Agency (FAO) appreciated Indonesia's food security efforts and considered that these efforts were on the right track.

The Minister of Agriculture said that FAO conveyed the appreciation at the 35th FAO Regional Conference for the Asia Pacific (APRC) regarding food security efforts prepared by each country. "FAO appreciates that Indonesia is on the right track to prepare for food security," said Minister Syahrul in a virtual discussion held by BNPB, Monday.

To maintain national food security, the Minister of Agriculture Syahrul said the agricultural sector had maintained rice availability with the production of the 2019-2020 planting season which produced 31 million tons of rice, including a rice surplus by the end of the year reaching 7 million tons.

The Ministry of Agriculture is also accelerating planting in October 2020-March 2021, which is estimated to produce an additional 17 million tons of rice equivalent.

Minister of Agriculture Syahrul added that the agricultural sector contributed to the recovery of the national economy, by being the only sector that consistently grew positively in the second quarter and third quarter of 2020.

Based on BPS data, the agricultural sector contributed greatly to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) wherein the second quarter of 2020 it grew to 2.19 percent and the third quarter is still growing 2.15 percent.

There is also a GDP contribution in the third quarter of 2020 reaching 14.58 percent. Based on existing data, agricultural exports for the January-August 2020 period reached the US $ 2.4 billion or Rp258 trillion.

"Agricultural exports are increasing and showing a pretty good trend. We are only constrained by the April lockdown, after that recovery, and demand for our food exports is quite large," said the Minister of Agriculture. (Antaranews)

President Joko Widodo leads the National Pilgrimage Ceremony to commemorate Heroes' Day 2020, at the Heroes Cemetery Kalibata (TMP), Jakarta, Tuesday.

The ceremony can be witnessed virtually directly through the YouTube account of the Presidential Secretariat. Based on the observation, the Head of State arrived and entered the ceremony venue at TMP Kalibata at around 08.08 WIB accompanied by the Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia Ma'ruf Amin.

The ceremony begins with a tribute to the spirits of the heroes, commemorating the battle of November 10, 1945 in Surabaya, singing a song of silence, laying a wreath by the President as the inspector of the ceremony, then ending with a prayer reading and the final tribute to the spirits of the heroes.

The ceremony lasted solemnly for about 20 minutes and was held with the application of health protocols such as wearing masks and maintaining distance.

After the ceremony, the President and Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia Ma'ruf Amin, followed by high-ranking state officials who were present, the TNI Commander and the National Police Chief sprinkled flowers and prayed for the spirits of heroes, one of which was the late former Chairman of the Indonesian People's Consultative Assembly, Taufiq Kiemas. (Antaranews)