VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Chairman of the Indonesian People's Consultative Assembly Bambang Soesatyo fulfilled the invitation of the Deputy Mayor of Istanbul to visit several tourist destinations in Istanbul, Turkey.

According to him, there is nothing wrong with Indonesia learning from Turkey in managing tourist destinations. So it can bring in more foreign tourists.

"The people in Istanbul are friendly to tourists. It is the same as the Indonesian people. Tourist attractions in Indonesia are actually very extraordinary, like tourist attractions in Istanbul which are full of history," said Bambang, Friday (6/11/2020).

"We only need to improve management, so more tourists will come to Indonesia," he added.

This Golkar politician revealed that the Deputy Mayor of Istanbul explained the expanse of views of various landmarks and various buildings with typical European, Asian, and even Mediterranean architecture.

The 20th House Speaker stated that before the Covid-19 pandemic, no less than 45 million foreign tourists came to Turkey. During a pandemic, it drops to around 30 million.

"Meanwhile, in normal times, the total number of foreign tourist arrivals is only around 15-20 million. Therefore, I encourage cooperation between Indonesia and Turkey in tourism to continue to be improved," he concluded. (RRI)

Mink appear to be susceptible to the new SARS-CoV-2 virus and “good reservoirs” for the disease, with a mutated strain having caused infections in a dozen people in Denmark, a World Health Organization official said on Thursday.

Denmark plans to cull its entire mink population and announced strict new lockdown measures in the north of the country to prevent a mutated coronavirus from spreading in the animals and to humans.

“So there is a risk of course that this mink population could contribute in some way to the transmission of the virus from minks into humans, and then onwards from humans to humans,” Catherine Smallwood, a senior emergency officer at WHO’s European office in Copenhagen, said in a social media event.

While the research into this specific variant of the virus is significant, she said it’s “totally normal” for the virus to change genetically over time.

“We are tracking these (changes) very very carefully and that’s why we are so interested in this particular information,” she said, adding that it should not alter how governments and authorities around the world are trying to control the pandemic.

Hans Kluge, WHO European regional director said Denmark showed “determination and courage” in the face of a decision to cull its mink population of 17 million animals, which has a “huge economic impact”. (Reuters)

Indonesia's economy is experiencing a positive trend by recovering from minus 5.32 percent in the second quarter to minus 3.49 percent in the third quarter.

The Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto said in a press statement from the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, Thursday (5/11).

According to Airlangga, Indonesia's economic improvement is in line with the world's recovering trend.

"If we compare it with various countries, almost all countries have a positive trend. This means that the world has started to recover, and that is in line with Indonesia," Airlangga said.

"We see that other ASEAN member countries such as Singapore have a positive trend but still minus 7. Likewise other countries, we see that the United States, China, are already positive. The European region is also all positive trends in line with those achieved by Indonesia," he added.

Airlangga Hartarto hopes that in the fourth quarter the Indonesian economy can reach minus 1.6 to 0.6 percent.

According to Airlangga, several indicators have shown improvements, such as the manufacturing index, motor vehicle, and retail sales, and the consumer confidence index. (VOI)

Senior economist Rizal Ramli stated that the position of the United States would not change in the South China Sea if Joe Biden was elected as the President of the United States in 2020.

"Because China is considered an obstacle to American progress. Because America has no desire for territorial expansion, but it wants to be politically influential," Rizal said in a dialogue with PRO-3 RRI, Jakarta, Friday (6/11/2020).

Rizal revealed that Biden's electoral victory would not be fully supported by the US Congress and senators, because of the defeat of the Democratic Party's vote.

"What does it mean, Biden's victory does not have too big an implication. Even if he has various initiatives, it will be difficult to pass," he said.

Several analysts predict that military tensions will subside if Joe Biden wins the United States Presidential Election.

Biden is considered to be more dialogic and will highlight economic focus in his policies. (RRI)