VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta - The authority of Chungcheongbuk-do Province, South Korea, explored opportunities for cooperation with the Halal Product Assurance Agency (BPJPH) of the Religious Affairs Ministry.

"As the world's largest Muslim population and as a friend of South Korea for a long time, we see Indonesia's potential, and we want to discuss cooperation," Chungcheongbuk-do Governor Kim Young Hwan noted in his statement here on Tuesday.

Governor Kim met with Head of BPJPH, Aqil Irham, in Jakarta on Saturday (July 8), where he told Irham that his province is keen to market halal-certified cosmetics, one of Chungcheongbuk-do's flagship products.

"From Chungcheongbuk-do, we offer our world-famous cosmetic products to the world," he stated.

Meanwhile, Irham welcomed the cooperation offered by Governor Kim.

However, he called for the need for a Government-to-Government (G-to-G) cooperation between the two countries.

The G-to-G cooperation will serve as a legal foundation for the recognition of halal certifications of both countries.

"We are very grateful for the initiative of Governor Kim and the Embassy of South Korea that have brought investors to Indonesia, especially cosmetics entrepreneurs," he remarked.

He noted that South Korea's halal authority can register the list of halal-certified products with the BPJPH.

"In this case, the Korea Halal Authority can register the products through ptsp.halal.go.id," he remarked.

Some 25 South Korean delegates, including investors and business actors involved in the cosmetics business, agriculture, and foods, such as kimchi, attended the meeting.

One Kimchi businessman, who was part of the delegation, expressed his interest in exploring halal certification, as he believes halal-certified products are valued as being much higher.

He explained that consumers consider halal products as being much healthier.

Furthermore, Irham noted that starting in 2024, the BPJPH will make it mandatory for all products circulating in Indonesia, including imported products, to be halal-certified.  (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - Thai Foreign Affairs Minister Don Pramudwinai affirmed in Jakarta on Tuesday that Bangkok's initiative to hold three meetings with the Myanmar junta constituted an alternative approach to resolving the crisis in Myanmar.

The approach does not violate the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN ) Leaders' Review and Decision on the Implementation of the Five-Point Consensus document, Minister Pramudwinai underlined.

He referred to Article 14 of the document, which was released after the 2022 ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and states, "ASEAN shall consider exploring other approaches that could support the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus."

"The first and second informal meetings, and also the third meeting we held fully comply with the Article 14 of the document, which is to try exploring other approaches," the minister said on the sidelines of the 56th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting (AMM).

Many parties, including ASEAN chair Indonesia, had criticized Thailand over its initiative to invite all ASEAN foreign ministers and representatives of the Myanmar junta to a meeting in June 2023.

In the end, the Laotian foreign affairs minister and Myanmar junta's representatives joined the meeting, while other ASEAN foreign affairs ministers stayed away.

Indonesia referred to the Thailand-initiated meetings, which involved only one party engaged in the Myanmar conflict, as a violation of the mandate laid down in the Five-Point Consensus.

However, Pramudwinai defended his country's initiative by putting emphasis on the informality of the meetings,saying he believed that the meetings were not held within the framework of ASEAN.

He also stressed that an inclusive dialogue involving all stakeholders in Myanmar constitutes "the only way to solve this problem." (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - Thai Foreign Affairs Minister Don Pramudwinai affirmed in Jakarta on Tuesday that Bangkok's initiative to hold three meetings with the Myanmar junta constituted an alternative approach to resolving the crisis in Myanmar.

The approach does not violate the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN ) Leaders' Review and Decision on the Implementation of the Five-Point Consensus document, Minister Pramudwinai underlined.

He referred to Article 14 of the document, which was released after the 2022 ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and states, "ASEAN shall consider exploring other approaches that could support the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus."

"The first and second informal meetings, and also the third meeting we held fully comply with the Article 14 of the document, which is to try exploring other approaches," the minister said on the sidelines of the 56th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting (AMM).

Many parties, including ASEAN chair Indonesia, had criticized Thailand over its initiative to invite all ASEAN foreign ministers and representatives of the Myanmar junta to a meeting in June 2023.

In the end, the Laotian foreign affairs minister and Myanmar junta's representatives joined the meeting, while other ASEAN foreign affairs ministers stayed away.

Indonesia referred to the Thailand-initiated meetings, which involved only one party engaged in the Myanmar conflict, as a violation of the mandate laid down in the Five-Point Consensus.

However, Pramudwinai defended his country's initiative by putting emphasis on the informality of the meetings,saying he believed that the meetings were not held within the framework of ASEAN.

He also stressed that an inclusive dialogue involving all stakeholders in Myanmar constitutes "the only way to solve this problem." (Antaranews)

Southeast Asia's top diplomats will gather in Indonesia on Tuesday amid pressure to address a bloody political crisis in Myanmar and resolve tensions in the South China Sea where some ASEAN members have overlapping territorial claims with China.

The meeting of foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) comes as doubts mount over the credibility and unity of the bloc in dealing with the region's thorniest challenges.

Chief among them is the lack of meaningful process on an ASEAN peace plan for Myanmar, which was agreed with the country's military rulers after they seized power in a 2021 coup and calls for an immediate halt to violence.

More than 3,400 people have been killed and almost 22,000 arrested in the military's crackdown on dissent, according to a United Nations report published in June.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk recently urged the U.N. Security Council to refer the escalating violence to the International Criminal Court, and for countries to stop supplying weapons to the junta.

ASEAN has barred Myanmar's junta leaders from attending high-level meetings like the one in Jakarta this week, but as the bloc's chair this year, Indonesia has been intensely engaging the junta and opposition groups behind the scenes.

But two sources familiar with the efforts say attempts to create an inclusive dialogue have been complicated by conditions put forward by all sides to start even informal talks.

"As long as the approach that the parties take is a zero-sum approach, durable peace will never be achieved," Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said of the efforts last week.

Indonesia is also seeking during this week's forum to accelerate talks on a long-stalled code of conduct on the South China Sea. The talks would advance a 2002 commitment by the bloc and China to create a set of rules to ensure freedom of navigation and overflight in the strategic waterway.

More than $3 trillion in trade passes through the South China Sea each year, and overlapping territorial claims by China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei have led to a spate of confrontations.

ASEAN will also hold the East Asia Summit and the ASEAN Regional Forum later this week, with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov both slated to attend. (Reuters)