VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

 JAKARTA - Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi has underscored the necessity to garner optimal advantage from the bilateral cooperation with the Philippines and Malaysia as part of the efforts to prevent militant groups from taking hostages.

Marsudi made the statement while handing over two Indonesian citizens once held hostages by the Abu Sayyaf armed group in South Philippines to their families at the Foreign Ministry in Jakarta on Thursday evening.

The most crucial step that Indonesia will take in the future is preventing the taking of hostages through a trilateral agreement since it victimizes not only Indonesians but also foreign nationals, she emphasized.

"We need to intensify cooperation, so we can take preventive measures to avoid others falling victim in the future,” she noted.

The minister chose to not get into the finer details regarding the mechanism of trilateral cooperation. However, the Indonesian government remains committed to capitalizing on the cooperation, she remarked.

To prevent hostage-taking cases in the future, Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto is scheduled to meet with his Philippine counterpart on Friday.

"I think this is a good opportunity. Mr. defense minister is traveling to Manila to meet the Philippine defense minister. The two defense ministers have a mechanism of trilateral cooperation in place that we will intensify," she stated.

According to data from the Indonesian consulate in Tawau in the Malaysian state of Sabah, 39 Indonesians were abducted and held hostages by the Abu Sayyaf armed group during the period between 2003 and 2019.

Most victims were migrant workers, who were abducted or held hostage while conducting activities in the waters off Sabah's eastern coast, Sulistijo Djati Ismojo, chief of the Indonesian consulate in Tawau, stated on Tuesday (Dec 24).

Of the total, 37 were freed, while one hostage died. Muhammad Farhan is currently the only Indonesian held hostage by the armed group.

Two Indonesians held hostages along with Farhan were freed on December 22, 2019, through an operation launched by the Philippine military. (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Indonesian products clinched Rp9.75 billion in potential transactions at the Vietnam Expo 2019 held at Saigon Exhibition & Convention Center (SECC), Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, from December 4 to 7. "Indonesian products received a good response from buyers and visitors at the expo, recording Rp9.75 billion in potential transactions. The value comprises retail transactions from cosmetics, jewelry and handicraft goods worth Rp12.44 million, and trade contract transactions worth Rp9.74 billion," Chief Indonesian Trade Attaché in Hanoi, Mohammad Iqbal Djamil said in a statement released Friday.

Vietnam Expo is an international expo held twice a year. The expo this time is the 17th of its kind.

Vietnam Expo 2019 displayed a wide range of products and brought together 850 participants from 18 countries including the United Kingdom, India, Taiwan, Germany, South Korea, Malaysia, Russia, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong, Spain, Thailand, Switzerland, China, the United States, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Indonesia needs to better benefit from Vietnam as a market for its exports and a regional supply chain for its national industry, according to Iqbal.

"Vietnam is one of the countries signing free trade agreements on bilateral and regional bases with 13 countries and has fairly large market potentials, with a population of more than 95 million," he said.

In the Vietnam Expo 2019, the Indonesian Trade Attaché in Hanoi and the Director General of National Export Development of the Trade Ministry provided 54 square meters of land for seven Indonesian companies to display a wide range of products.

The seven Indonesian companies are PT Universal Abrasivindo Industrial (producer of sandpaper), CV Bali Bakti Anggara (producer of house decoration), PT Irawan Djaja Agung (producer of medicines for over-the-counter/OTC) sales), CV Jaya Abadi (producer of light meals), PT Dexa Medica (pharmaceutical company), PT Aquasolve Sanaria (producer of healthy foods), and PT Gloria Origita Cosmetics (producer of cosmetics). (ANTARA))

JAKARTA - Vice President Ma'ruf Amin has expressed optimism that the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) would deliver better performance under the leadership of the new commissioners and supervisory council.
Amin remarked at the Vice Presidential Office on Thursday (26/12)
that KPK would be better organized. It has a Supervisory Council and it will be more under control and on target.
He was also optimistic of witnessing an improvement in Indonesia's Corruption Perceptions Index.
In Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, Indonesia scored 38 points on the scale of 0 to 100, increasing from 37 points recorded in 2016 and 2017.It placed Indonesia in the 89th ranking out of 180 countries.//Antara

Jakarta - Vice President, Ma'ruf Amin, directed online movie streaming sites to fulfill their obligations and pay taxes.

"In terms of taxation, I asked the Ministry of Finance how to handle this issue (and coordinate) between the Minister of Communication and Informatics and the Minister of Finance," said Amin at the Vice Presidential Office in Jakarta, Thursday.

Additionally, the Vice President asked the Minister of Communication and Informatics, Johnny G Plate, to monitor film content broadcasted by online film sites and application services.

The Vice President also directed Finance Minister, Sri Mulyani, to regulate online movie streaming sites and ensure they pay taxes.

"For Netflix, it is a matter of tax. We will later ask them to pay taxes and that will be controlled by the Ministry of Finance," he said.

Netflix services cannot be accessed through the services provided by Telkomsel cellular operators, despite the application operating legally.

In addition, the illegal film streaming site, "indoxxi", will also cease operations in 2020.

The government had previously said that it would shut down illegal film and music streaming sites this week, in a bid to protect the intellectual property rights of creators. Plate asked the public to watch movies through legal means, including cinemas and television broadcasts. (ANTARA)