VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOI, Jakarta - Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform (PAN-RB) Minister Abdullah Azwar Anas stated that Indonesia has learned to improve digital-based public services from Australia.

"Australia has been successful in developing citizen-oriented basic services, namely social welfare services for more than 10 years through a digitalization strategy," Anas noted in a statement received on Tuesday.

The minister explained that the journey of digital transformation in Indonesia had been marked by the presence of Presidential Regulation Number 95 of 2018 concerning Electronic-Based Government Systems (SPBE) and Presidential Regulation Number 13 of 2022 concerning SPBE Architecture.

"The development of SPBE in Indonesia aims to facilitate public access to basic services," he noted.

His working visit to Services Australia aims to learn the operations of Australia Digital Services and map out possible future collaborations. The visit is also expected to broaden Indonesia's views on the various initiatives and programs successfully launched by Australia Digital Services to be implemented in Indonesia.

"The provision of public services in Australia has a similar strategy to that followed by us, namely through a community welfare approach by intensive use of digitalization," the minister noted.

According to Anas, this is similar to SPBE in Indonesia that prioritizes basic community-oriented services, such as social services, health, and education.

"We hope we can increase our efforts to serve people's welfare, similar to the Australian government's program that is Australia Digital Services," he noted.

Australia Digital Services is an Australian government agency providing various government services for public welfare. This agency aims to provide easy, efficient, and inclusive access to integrate various government services, such as financial assistance, health care, education, and pensions.

The Australian government uses the MyGov application to help the public access the service. Anas said this practice is similar to the National Public Service Portal, including the Digital Public Service Mall (MPP) in Indonesia.

"We are conducting a pilot test in 21 districts and cities in Indonesia for Digital MPP using facial recognition. Indonesia has gradually started to integrate various services," he remarked. (Antaranews)

VOI, Jakarta - Indonesia's Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno has said that the 2023 MotoGP race, held from October 13–15 in Mandalika, Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, gave a boost to the local economy.

"We were able to collect the temporary data and Mandalika MotoGP reaped good results. The estimated turnover of money and ticket sales was very high and exceeded our target," Uno informed in a statement released here on Tuesday.

Based on the temporary results of research conducted by the ministry, 90 percent of the 102,929 spectators at the 2023 MotoGP showed interest in returning to the Mandalika area and its surroundings, he said.

"They were satisfied with the MotoGP event, the accommodation, and the public transport," he said.

The ministry's deputy for strategic policies, Dessy Ruhati, said that based on temporary data, the creative economy actors and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) around the Mandalika area recorded a 36.54–percent increase in income.

"Business actors agree to participate in this activity again in the future. They also stated that the Mandalika MotoGP had a good impact on increasing their turnovers," she added.

She further informed that the hotel occupancy rate around Mandalika reached 100 percent, even though hotel rates during the event were two to three times higher compared to normal days.

However, there are some aspects that need to be evaluated, such as toilet cleanliness and the availability of prayer rooms, as well as facilities for children, the elderly, and breastfeeding mothers.

"The supporting facilities are good enough but not that clean, and the number and quality of prayer rooms need to be added and improved," she said.

Nevertheless, she expressed optimism that the MotoGP 2024 will run better to support inclusive and sustainable tourism and creative economy.  (Antara News)

VOINews, Jakarta - Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing on Tuesday to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on a widely watched trip aimed at showcasing the trust and "no-limits" partnership between the countries even as the war in Ukraine raged on.

In only his second known trip abroad since the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for him in March, Putin and his entourage flew into the Beijing Capital International Airport on Tuesday morning, according to Reuters video footage.

He was greeted by the Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao.

It is also the Kremlin chief's first official trip outside of the former Soviet Union this year, after visiting Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic, earlier this month.

The ICC, which accused Putin of illegally deporting children from Ukraine, obliges the court's 123 member states to arrest Putin and transfer him to The Hague for trial if he sets foot on their territory. Neither Kyrgyzstan nor China are members of the ICC, established to prosecute war crimes.

Xi last saw his "dear friend" in Moscow just days after the warrant was issued. At the time, Xi invited Putin to attend the third Belt and Road forum in Beijing, an international cooperation forum championed by the Chinese leader.

Putin is to attend the forum's official opening reception hosted by Xi and talk with the leaders of Vietnam, Thailand, Mongolia and Laos on Tuesday, Russian media reported.

As the forum's chief guest, Putin will speak after Xi on Wednesday and will meet with the Chinese president for bilateral talks later that day.

Beijing has rejected Western criticism of its partnership with Moscow even as the war in Ukraine showed no sign of ceasing, insisting that their ties do not violate international norms, and China has the right to collaborate with whichever country it chooses.

Putin last visited China for the Beijing Winter Olympics in February 2022 when Russia and China declared a "no-limits" partnership days before the Russian president sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine.

It would be Putin's third attendance of the Belt and Road Forum, which runs through Wednesday. He attended the two previous forums in 2017 and 2019.

BELT AND ROAD

The forum centres on the Belt and Road initiative, a grand plan launched by Xi a decade ago that he hopes would build global infrastructure and energy networks connecting Asia with Africa and Europe through overland and maritime routes.

Putin has praised the initiative, saying it is a platform for international cooperation, where "no one imposes anything on others."

Since the start of the Ukrainian conflict, Russia has cemented its energy ties with China in a sign of their economic cooperation.

Russia exports around 2.0 million barrels of oil per day to China, more than a third of its total crude oil exports. Moscow also aims to build a second natural gas pipeline to China.

While the heads of Russia's oil and gas giants Rosneft and Gazprom will be part of Putin's travelling delegation, no new deals in energy can be expected.

The trip is not a "full-fledged bilateral" visit, but one made on the sidelines of an international conference, according to the Kremlin. (Reuters)

VOINews, Jakarta - U.S. President Joe Biden will make a high-stakes visit to Israel on Wednesday as the country prepares to escalate an offensive against Hamas militants that has set off a humanitarian crisis in Gaza and raised fears of a broader conflict with Iran.

Biden's visit will mark a significant show of U.S. support for its top Middle East ally after Hamas gunmen killed 1,300 people during a rampage through southern Israeli towns on Oct. 7, the deadliest single day in Israel's 75-year history.

Israel has responded by tightening its blockade on Hamas-ruled Gaza, including by restricting the entry of fuel, and bombarding the area with air strikes that have killed thousands of Palestinians and displaced hundreds of thousands more.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken concluded hours of talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv early on Tuesday by saying that Biden would visit Israel.

"The president will hear from Israel what it needs to defend its people as we continue to work with Congress to meet those needs," Blinken told reporters.

Biden would meet with Netanyahu, reaffirm Washington's commitment to Israel's security, and receive a comprehensive brief on its war aims and strategy, Blinken said.

"(The) president will hear from Israel how it will conduct its operations in a way that minimizes civilian casualties and enables humanitarian assistance to flow to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not benefit Hamas," Blinken added.

Blinken also said he and Netanyahu had agreed to develop a plan to get humanitarian aid to Gaza civilians. He did not provide details.

After visiting Israel, Biden would travel to Jordan to meet with King Abdullah, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, U.S. national security spokesperson John Kirby said.

Gaza authorities say more than 2,800 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since Oct. 7, around a quarter of them children, and more than 10,000 wounded are in hospitals desperately short of supplies.

Israeli officials say that as well as the casualties Hamas inflicted, the Iran-backed group also took some 199 captives back into Gaza.

A top Hamas leader said on Monday the group "has what it needs" to free all Palestinians in Israel's jails, indicating it may try to use the Israelis it kidnapped on Oct. 7 as bargaining chips to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners.

Soon after Hamas official Khaled Meshaal made the remarks on the captives, who include Israelis and non-Israelis, the group's armed wing separately said the non-Israelis were "guests" who would be released "when circumstances allow."

Hamas released a video on Monday in which a French-Israeli woman captive was shown having her injured arm treated by an unidentified medical worker. She identified herself as 21-year-old Mia Schem and asked to be returned to her family as quickly as possible.

'IRAN WARNS OF 'LONG-TERM WAR'

Biden's trip is a rare and risky choice, showing American backing for Netanyahu as the U.S. tries to avert a broader regional war involving Iran, its Lebanese ally Hezbollah and Syria. It comes as Israel is preparing a ground offensive in Gaza expected to intensify the enclave's humanitarian crisis.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told state TV that Israel would not be allowed to act in Gaza without consequences, warning of "preemptive action" by the "resistance front" in the coming hours.

Iran refers to regional countries and forces opposed to Israel and the United States as a resistance front.

"All options are open and we cannot be indifferent to the war crimes committed against the people of Gaza," Amirabdollahian said. "The resistance front is capable of waging a long-term war with the enemy."

Last week, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tehran was not involved in the Hamas attack on Israel, but hailed what he called Israel's "irreparable" military and intelligence defeat.

In the biggest sign yet that the war could spread to a new front, Israel ordered the evacuation on Monday of 28 villages in a 2-km-deep (1.2-mile) zone near the Lebanese border.

'VICTORY WILL TAKE TIME'

Diplomatic efforts have concentrated on getting aid into Gaza through the Rafah crossing with Egypt, the sole route that is not controlled by Israel. Cairo said the Rafah crossing was not officially closed but was inoperable due to Israeli strikes on the Gaza side.

On the military front, the U.S. has deployed two aircraft carriers and their supporting ships to the eastern Mediterranean since the attacks on Israel. The ships were meant as a deterrent to ensure the conflict did not spread, U.S. officials said.

The top U.S. general overseeing American forces in the Middle East, Central Command chief Army General Michael "Erik" Kurilla, made an unannounced trip to Israel on Tuesday, saying he hoped to ensure its military has what it needs.

As Israel masses troops on Gaza's border, it has told more than a million people in the northern half of the enclave to flee to the southern half for their safety, even though Hamas has told them to stay put.

While tens of thousands have fled south, the United Nations says there is no way to move so many people without causing a humanitarian catastrophe.

The United Nations says a million Gazans have already been driven from their homes. Power is out, sanitary water is scarce and fuel for hospital emergency generators is running low.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told Netanyahu on Monday that Moscow wanted to help prevent a humanitarian disaster. A Russian-drafted U.N. Security Council resolution that would have called for a humanitarian ceasefire failed to get the minimum nine votes needed in the 15-member body on Monday.

Netanyahu said Israelis should prepare for a long battle.

"Now we are focused on one target: to unite forces and charge forward to victory. This requires determination because victory will take time," he told the Israeli parliament on Monday.

"And I have a message for Iran and Hezbollah, don't test us in the north. Don't make the same mistake you once made. Because today the price you will pay will be much heavier." (Reuters)