Jakarta - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) confirmed that electric-powered and autonomous vehicles will ply on Indonesia's next capital city to be located in East Kalimantan.

"This is since what we will use later are autonomous and electric vehicles in the city. Others are not allowed," the president noted in his remarks while addressing the Annual Meeting of Financial Services Industry 2020 held in Jakarta, on Thursday.

The head of state gave the event’s audience a peek into the planned new capital city through a video presentation.

The president affirmed that the new capital city will be based on the concept of Green, Smart, and Comfortable City, as well as Autonomous City.

Jokowi expounded that the rationale behind Indonesia moving its capital city was not solely focused on relocation of government buildings but rather a shift to a new mindset, he explained.

"What we want to move is a change in the mindset, work patterns, and the system that are all new. We will 'install' the system, so that everything follows the existing system," Jokowi stated.

Means of public transportation in the new capital will be operated autonomously and run on electric power to realize values in accordance with the concept, he added.

In fact, private cars operating later in the new capital must be electric powered vehicles.

Taking into account the geopolitical and geostrategic aspects as well as the readiness of supporting infrastructure and financing, the government has decided that the country's new capital city will be located in Sepaku Sub-district, North Penajam Paser District, and Kutai Kartanegara District in East Kalimantan Province.

The land area to be provided for the new capital region spans 256 thousand hectares, with an estimated construction cost of Rp466 trillion. The core area of the capital city will be built on an area of 56 thousand hectares. (ANTARA)

Jakarta - The rupiah exchange rate traded among banks in Jakarta on Thursday morning strengthened following the signing of the long-awaited phase one trade agreement between the United States and China on Wednesday (Jan 15).

The Indonesian currency’s response to the trade deal was positive, increasing by 56 points, or 0.41 percent, to Rp13,639 against the US dollar, while the earlier rate was recorded at Rp13,695 against US dollar.

"The US-China trade deal may contribute to the spike in the rupiah exchange rate," Samuel Aset Mangement Head of Research Lana Soelistianingsih noted in Jakarta.  

She forecast that the rupiah would today hover in the range of Rp13,660 to Rp13,690 against the US dollar.

Following the trade deal inked by President of the United States Donald Trump and Vice Premier of China Liu He in Washington D.C., the latter country promised to import US-manufactured goods, worth US$200 billion, for the subsequent two-year period, one of which include US$40 billion worth of agricultural products.

Despite the deal, the US will retain the tariff imposed on some of China's goods until the signing of the phase two trade deal that had yet to be decided by both nations. (ANTARA)

Bandar Seri Begawan - Indonesia has overtly echoed its readiness to co-chair the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) 2021 and host the ASEAN Tourism Forum 2022.

Deputy Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Angela Tanoesoedibjo made this confirmation at the ASEAN Tourism Ministers Meeting at The Empire Hotel, Brunei Darussalam, on Wednesday.

"Next year, precisely in 2021, Indonesia will be the vice chair of ATF activities in Cambodia. In 2022, Indonesia will host ATF activities. We will prepare ourselves well for both events," she stated.

The Indonesian government will prepare a long-term plan for the implementation of the event in 2022.

"We will coordinate with relevant parties to determine our venues for the implementation of activities," he remarked.

The ASEAN Tourism Ministers Meeting was held to coincide with the ASEAN Tourism Forum 2020 organized on January 12-16, 2020.

In addition to the tourism ministers of Southeast Asian nations, several fellow ministers from China, Japan, South Korea, and India attended the meeting.

The ASEAN Tourism Ministers Meeting discussed several issues concerning achievements in 2019 to joint plans in 2020, among other things.

Furthermore, in future, relevant stakeholders will apply the seven pillars of ASEAN as a single tourism destination.

The seven pillars comprise intensifying promotion and marketing; diversifying tourism products; attracting tourism investment; raising capacity and capability of human capital; implementing and expanding ASEAN tourism standards for facilities, services, & destinations; implementing and expanding connectivity & destination infrastructure; and enhancing travel facilitation. (ANTARA)

Jakarta - Indonesian Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto has dispatched a special team to examine and handle the spread of anthrax in Ponjong and Semanu Subdistricts in Gunung Kidul District, Yogyakarta Province.  

"My team has been deployed in the district because the spores are there. We are directly monitoring and examining that," he told journalists at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta Thursday while commenting on the spread of anthrax in Gunung Kidul District.

In helping to cure those who tested positive, the health ministry supplied antibiotics, he said and added that anthrax might have infected several residents who consumed the meat of a dead cow.

On January 4, 2020 the health workers found that 600 residents of the two subdistricts could have been affected by anthrax, and 78 of them were observed to have the clinical features of this disease, Head of the Disease Prevention and Control Unit at the Gunung Kidul Health Office Sumitro said.

The local health authorities sent the blood samples of the victims for tests. The result showed that 27 people had tested positive to the disease, he told journalists.

The infected residents had been administered antibiotic prophylaxis for 20 days, and were required to undergo another blood test at Bogor city's BBVEt facilities in West Java Province, Sumitro said.

The residents who were suffering from the general signs and symptoms of this anthrax were just administered an antibiotic, he said, adding that the infected residents were not isolated because the disease was not contagious.

"Anthrax is a major cause of fatalities in cattle, sheep, goats, camels, horses, and pigs throughout the world," the World Health Organization (WHO) has stated.

It had caused the death of the owner of the infected cow because he had consumed meat of the dead cow and regularly cleaned the cattle cage, Sumitro further said.

In halting the spread of the disease, the district's health authorities had closely coordinated with those from the Food and Agriculture Office regarding education and public awareness campaign programs.

"We have also disseminated information to the people at large urging them to cook all meat properly, and not to consume the meat of ailing animals," he added.

The anthrax poisoning cases have repeatedly occurred in certain parts of Indonesia over these past few years. But, according to Widagdo Sri Nugroho, a University of Gadjah Mada (UGM)'s veterinarian, "anthrax is found in almost all countries."

He was quoted by the UGM's official website (2017) as saying that "Of 180 states that join veterinary health organizations, anthrax is found in 94 percent of states. In Indonesia, it has been identified since 1884 in Teluk Betung, Lampung."

Some 22 provinces in Indonesia are endemic, Nugroho noted. In handling the disease, farmers need to be aware of their cattle's condition and are urged to contact veterinarians who would examine their cattle for any indications of anthrax, he added. (ANTARA)