VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The U.S. and China signed what they billed as the first phase of a broader trade pact on Wednesday amid persistent questions over whether President Donald Trump’s efforts to rewrite the economic relationship with Beijing will ever go any further.

The deal commits China to do more to crack down on the theft of American technology and corporate secrets by its companies and state entities, while outlining a $200 billion spending spree to try to close its trade imbalance with the U.S. It also binds Beijing to avoiding currency manipulation to gain an advantage and includes an enforcement system to ensure promises are kept.

The ceremony in a packed East Room at the White House included Trump, dozens of American business people and U.S. lawmakers and Chinese officials and marked a rare moment of friendship lately between the world’s two largest economies. Acrimonious talks stretching back almost three years have roiled financial markets, cast a cloud of uncertainty over investment decisions and hurt growth in both nations.

“This is a very important and remarkable occasion,” Trump said. Fixing what he sees as the injustices of past trade deals is “probably the biggest reason why I ran for president,” he added. “Together we are righting the wrongs of the past.”

In a letter to Trump read out at the ceremony, Chinese leader Xi Jinping said the deal proved the two sides could work together to bridge their differences and declared it “good for China, the U.S. and the whole world.” (Bloomberg)

Pontianak, W Kalimantan - The Indonesian Navy has thwarted the attempt to smuggle dozens of protected animals to Malaysia aboard a boat and arrested 12 suspects. The arrest was made Wednesday, January 15, when the motor vessel KM Bahari 11 carrying the animals passed through Kapuas River.

The legal process against the suspects would be handled by West Kalimantan's Natural Conservation Agency (BKSDA), the agency's head Sadtata Noor Adirahmanta said in Pontianak, on Thursday.

"As many as 12 people have been named suspects and the legal process will be conducted soon as per the law," he said.

Based on preliminary investigations, the protected and rare animals were to be transferred from Jakarta to Malaysia via Kapuas River in West Kalimantan, Adirahmanta said.

Among the animals are a dusky pademelon or Papuan kangaroo (Thylogale brunii), dozens of snakes, parrots allegedly from Papua and East Nusa Tenggara, a Siberian Husky dog, and dozen other animals.

The BKSDA will temporarily keep the animals for rehabilitation before releasing them in their habitat.

The suspects will be charged under Article 21 (2) of Law no. 5/1990 on conservation of natural resources and its ecosystem. (ANTARA)

Jakarta - Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati believes the initial trade agreement between the United States and China will lend a sense of certainty to the global economy after the trade war that protracted several months.

"We will see if this agreement could last. This is a good initial step," Indrawati remarked after attending the 2020 Annual Meeting of the Financial Services Industry in Jakarta on Thursday.

The agreement between the two major economies of the world is expected to end the uncertainty rife until now.

She is upbeat about the initial trade agreement being sustainable, so that the global economy shows signs of improvement.

On Wednesday (Jan 15), the United States and China signed an initial trade agreement that will reduce some tariffs and boost Chinese purchases of US products.

The inking is also expected to ease an 18-month dispute between two of the world's biggest economies.

US President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He inked a deal on Wednesday at the White House that cut some US tariffs on Chinese goods in exchange for Chinese pledges to purchase more of the US farm, energy, and manufactured goods and address some US complaints concerning intellectual property practices, Reuters reported. China has agreed to step up purchases of US products and services by at least $200 billion over the next two years. China bought $130 billion in US goods in 2017 before the trade war began and $56 billion in services, according to the US data.

The United States will cut by half the tariff rate it had imposed on Sept 1 on a $120 billion list of Chinese goods, to 7.5 percent.

The US tariffs of 25 percent on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods, put in place earlier, will remain immediately unaltered. These could be rolled back as part of a Phase 2 trade negotiation, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin stated on Wednesday. (ANTARA)

Jakarta - Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi held a meeting with several Vietnamese businesspersons in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday to drive greater two-way investment between both nations.

At a meeting with Traveloka Country Market Manager for Vietnam Huynh May Thy, the minister vowed to encourage Indonesian airline companies to open a direct flight route between Indonesia and Vietnam.

"I have communicated and will continue to do the same with the Vietnamese foreign minister to facilitate licensing of the direct flight route for Indonesian airline companies," she noted in a written statement released on Thursday.

Moreover, the government has encouraged ways to boost air connectivity between Indonesia and Vietnam by launching a direct route connecting Ho Chi Minh City to Bali in 2019.

The new direct flight route has contributed to a 20-percent increase in the number of Indonesian tourists visiting Vietnam and a 21-percent rise in the number of Vietnamese tourists to Indonesia.

Traveloka pointed to the limited choices of direct flights contributing to steep air tickets. It is believed that the opening of the direct flight route by the Indonesian airline company will have a noteworthy impact on the number of tourist arrivals.

In the meantime, at a meeting with General Director of Hai Nam Co. Ltd Nguyen Thi Thu Sac, the Indonesian minister vowed to encourage Indonesian fishery companies to step up their exports to Vietnam.

Last year, Ha Nam Co. Ltd had imported fishery products, valued at nearly US$2.5 million, from Indonesia. "Apart from increasing its Indonesian fishery products, Indonesia also expects Hai Nam Co. Ltd. to make a joint venture investment with an Indonesian company to build a fish processing plant in Indonesia," the minister noted.

To this end, the Indonesian government has invited the chairman of Hai Nam Co. Ltd. to visit Indonesia to witness up-close the fishery potential in several areas, including Natuna.

Traveloka began expanding its business in several Southeast Asian nations in 2015, making it one of the Indonesian unicorns expanding its business in Vietnam. Traveloka continues to dominate the market for online-based travel applications, with high demand in the aviation sector.

Hai Nam Co., Ltd is a private fishery company established in 1982. It currently employs some 2,500 workers and exports seafood to the United States, Japan, Europe, and Taiwan. (ANTARA)