VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi held a virtual meeting with the Palestinian Foreign Minister on Tuesday, including discussing the development of the country's situation, which became increasingly alarming after several Arab countries normalized relations with Israel.

"The future of Palestine is becoming increasingly difficult and full of challenges. Without solid international support, they fear that Palestinian political rights will be neglected," Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said in an online media briefing, on Wednesday.

Many consider the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain's decision to reopen diplomatic relations with Israel is to weaken the Palestinian struggle for independence.

Indonesia understands this move as the intention of the UAE and Bahrain to provide space for negotiations and change approaches to resolve the prolonged conflict between Israel and Palestine.

Indonesia consistently supported Palestinian independence based on a two-state solution and condemns all forms of occupation, human rights violations, and international law committed by Israel.

"I emphasize that Indonesia will continue to provide support for Palestinian cause," Retno emphasized.

Amid the worsening Palestinian situation, Foreign Minister Riad Maliki reported one positive thing, namely the unity between Hamas and Fatah, the two largest Palestinian factions with a history of civil war.

"The Palestinian Foreign Minister explained that the two factions are in talks that will lead to implementing the Palestinian elections,"  Retno said.

The two main Palestinian factions have agreed to hold their first elections in nearly 15 years. The vote will be scheduled for six months under an agreement agreed by Fatah, Palestinian Authority (PA) leader Mahmoud Abbas, and Hamas political chief Ismail Haniya.

Saleh al-Arouri, a top Hamas official, said they reached the agreement during a meeting held in Turkey.

"This time we have reached a real consensus. The divisions have undermined our national goals and we are working to end them," he told the AFP news agency from Istanbul.

The last Palestinian parliamentary elections were held in 2006 when Hamas unexpectedly won. After the 2006 vote, Hamas and Fatah formed a unity government but soon collapsed and bloody clashes erupted in the Gaza Strip between the two factions the following year.

Hamas has since ruled Gaza, while Fatah runs the PA, which is based in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah. Various reconciliation efforts, including a prisoner swap agreement in 2012 and a short-lived unity government two years later, have failed to close the rift between the two sides. (Antaranews)

Deputy South Korean Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Kim Gunn visited Indonesia on Monday to discuss several issues including COVID-19 and bilateral cooperation.

Amid travel restrictions in some or almost all countries, Indonesia and Korea have implemented travel corridor arrangements for important business visits and official visits since 17 August 2020.

"During this courtesy visit, South Korea expressed its appreciation for Indonesia's consistency in prioritizing multilateralism, including in terms of vaccine cooperation," Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said in an online media briefing, Wednesday.

Retno and Gunn also discussed the ongoing cooperation between the two countries, even amid a pandemic. In the health sector, for example, since the beginning, South Korea has been an important partner of Indonesia in providing medical supplies such as personal protective equipment (PPE), which is needed in handling COVID-19.

"Vaccine companies in Indonesia and South Korea are developing vaccine cooperation, namely between Genexine and Kalbe Farma," Retno said.

In the economic sector, Indonesia and South Korea successfully developed several new cooperation initiatives.

Recently, state-owned enterprises Minister Erick Thohir and Head of BKPM (Investment Coordinating Board) Bahlil Lahadalia visited Seoul and resulted in concrete cooperation, among others, investment in a glass factory from Korea, KC Glass, with a value of Rp 5.1 trillion which can employ 1,300 Indonesian workers.

Then, Sejin Fashion, which is engaged in the garment and footwear industry, has also declared an investment commitment with a value of Rp 1.2 trillion and can absorb over 4,000 local workers.

“LG Chem (from Korea) will develop the electric car battery industry. This is a very large investment and we are still calculating the amount,” Retno said.

During the meeting with Foreign Minister Retno, Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Gunn also conveyed an invitation from Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-Wha to conduct a Joint Ministerial Commission in Seoul later this year, and participate in the UN Peacekeeping

Operations Ministerial Meeting in 2021, because Indonesia is considered having made a very significant contribution to peacekeeping. (Antaranews)

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi met with ASEAN Foreign Ministers and the United Kingdom on Wednesday to discuss the cooperation between the two continents.

The UK donated £ 1 million (around Rp.19 billion) to the ASEAN COVID-19 Response Fund to help Southeast Asian countries fight the coronavirus pandemic.

"Indonesia welcomes Britain's contribution to the ASEAN COVID-19 Response Fund of 1 million pounds," Retno said in a press briefing in Jakarta, Wednesday.

Retno also emphasized the importance of vaccine cooperation at the meeting.

"Indonesia also hopes that the development of vaccine candidates in the UK, which is already at an advanced stage, is a step that brings us closer to getting an equivalent vaccine," Retno continued.

Retno said that ASEAN and the UK must continue to strengthen global health governance to expect the possibility of another pandemic. 

"It is important for ASEAN and the UK to continue to promote multilateral vaccines to ensure equal access to safe vaccines at affordable prices, through the Covax Facility Framework," she said.

Retno said if all countries committed to multilateralism, they will contribute to world peace, stability, and prosperity. 

"First, Indonesia hopes that Britain will continue to play a role as guardian of multilateralism," she said.

She said there are positive values in multilateralism ​​such as a sense of equality, certainty, a sense of belonging, and protection for all countries. 

The Covid-19 Task Force updated on Wednesday, the number of patients recovering from the COVID-19 disease had increased by 4,510 this past month, summing up to 214,947 people have recovered from the virus since March 2020.

Based on data compiled as of Wednesday at 12.00 WIB, confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 have also increased to 4,284 to 287,008 cases. Meanwhile, the death toll increased by 139 people to 10,740 people.

South Sulawesi reported 374 new recovered cases with 78 positive cases and 4 deaths, West Java 371 people recovered with 446 positive people and 15 people died, East Java 350 new recovered cases with 294 positive people and 30 people died.

Next, Banten recorded 280 cases recovered with 144 confirmed positive and 1 case died, East Kalimantan 251 people recovered with 213 positive people and 19 people died, while Riau recorded 246 people recovered with 352 positive cases and 8 people reported dying from COVID-19.

There are 4 provinces that reported new cases under 10, and 1 province today reported no additional cases, Maluku.

The Task Force also recorded 132,693 suspects in 497 districts/cities that have been affected in 34 provinces.

On Wednesday, 45,496 specimens have been examined, making the total number of specimens examined, using both real-time PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and molecular rapid test (TCM) is 3,321,989 specimens accumulatively. (Antaranews)