VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

President Joko Widodo on Wednesday released the Indonesian contingent for the 30th SEA Games and appealed to the athletes to grant Indonesia the top two position in the medal tally of the multi-sport event that the Philippines is hosting from November 30 to December 11. "I want us to emerge as the top two at the Philippines 30th SEA Games," President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said in his speech, delivered at a ceremony releasing the Indonesian contingent at the Presidential Palace in Bogor, West Java. Jokowi said the Indonesian athletes were expected to improve their achievements in various international multi-sport events though it was not an easy task. However, with a solid fighting spirit and the support of 260 million Indonesians, the athletes should do their best to grab as many medals as possible at the Philippines 30th SEA Games, he said. At the ceremony, which was also attended by Youth and Sports Minister, Zainudin Amali, President Jokowi handed over a Red and White flag to the Chief of the Indonesian Contingent for the 30th SEA Games, Harry Warganegara. The opening ceremony of the biennial multi-sport event will be held on Saturday (November 30). The Indonesian athletes who just won 38 gold medals at the 2017 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur will compete against those from the Philippines, Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Timor Leste.//antara.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Technical Cooperation on Capital City Relocation and Development was inked between Indonesia and South Korea. "This (MoU) was signed by the Public Works and Public Housing Minister (Basuki Hadimuljono) and his South Korean counterpart. The cooperation concerns city development within the regional perspective, among other things," Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi notified the press at Hotel Lotte, Busan, South Korea, on Monday evening. President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, on Monday, bore witness to the inking of the new capital city MoU and two other agreements. The two other agreements were respectively on conclusion of negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership (CEPA) between Indonesia and South Korea and on Visa Exemption for holders of Diplomatic and Official Passports of both nations. The MoU encompassed city planning and design as well as public works and housing development. "It includes engineering of construction, technology, and management covering roads, bridges, clean water, raw water, dams, flood control, drinking water, drainage system, waste management, domestic waste water, housing, and buildings," she elaborated. The forms of the cooperation comprise current information, experience, knowledge and technology sharing, expert assignment, capacity building, and cooperation in technical aspects that the two countries had agreed upon. While addressing several CEOs of major South Korean companies, Jokowi elaborated on his plan to relocate the capital city from Jakarta to East Kalimantan. "I think you have heard that Indonesia will move its capital city from Jakarta to East Kalimantan,” he stated. Indonesia will design a smart, green, safe, and inclusive capital city, he remarked. "Indonesia is open to establishing cooperation for relocation of this capital city. Once again, I invite you to strengthen our economic and trade cooperation as well as cooperation in investment between Indonesia and Korea," Jokowi remarked. Jokowi was in South Korea to attend the 2019 ASEAN-Republic of KOREA Commemorative Summit in Busan on Nov 25-26 to mark the 30th anniversary of dialogue partnership between the ASEAN and Republic of Korea.//antara.

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) attended the 2019 ASEAN-Republic of Korea (RoK) Commemorative Summit in Busan, South Korea, Tuesday, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of dialogue partnership between ASEAN and the Republic of Korea. South Korean President Moon Jae-in greeted Jokowi upon arrival at the Busan Exhibition Convention Center (BEXCO) at 9 a.m. local time. Leaders of 10 ASEAN member nations, including Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, were attendees at the summit. Moon remarked in a keynote speech that the history of exchanges, lasting over several centuries, was gradually pushing East Asia toward the center of the global economy again. "Asia is the future of the world," he remarked, emphasizing the significance of economic cooperation between South Korea and the ASEAN. The economies of ASEAN and Korea were rapidly approaching, Moon remarked, adding that Korea and the ASEAN were everlasting friends and a community of destiny. "Korea will be a community growing together with the ASEAN, beyond ASEAN friends. Under the thought that the development of ASEAN is that of Korea, Korea will always be with the ASEAN," he stated. Moon also sought deeper cooperation between the ASEAN and South Korea to face protectionism, international crimes, and industry revolution 4.0. "We must strengthen cooperation and solidarity, especially in facing challenges of the industry revolution 4.0," he noted. Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi had earlier expounded that the ASEAN-RoK Commemorative Summit would comprise three sessions. The first session aims at deliberating on the evaluation of three decades of cooperation between the ASEAN and South Korea and future cooperation for the subsequent 30 years. The second session will focus on discussing connectivity issues, while the third session would be a retreat for discussion on regional and global issues. The ASEAN groups Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.//antara

Indonesia has been chosen to host the Fourth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 4) to the Minamata Convention in 2021, Environmental Affairs and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar stated. "During the second plenary on Nov 25, 2019, at 6:20 p.m. local time, it was decided that Indonesia will be the host of the COP 4 to the Minamata Convention in 2021 that is planned in Nusa Dua, Bali," Bakar, who was attending the COP 3 in Geneva, Switzerland, noted in a statement on Tuesday. Indonesia’s appointment to be the next host of the Minamata Convention meeting in 2021 was deemed crucial since Indonesia also faced the problem of mercury pollution, with high complexity, she remarked. "Indonesia has paid special attention to the issue since 2015 when the president was visiting Maluku," she noted. Illegal, small-scale gold mining activities have caused the mercury problem in Indonesia, she added. "We are aware of several problems and victims. Hence, during a limited cabinet meeting in 2017, the president instructed to tackle the problem and prevent the impacts of mercury and the Minamata disease outbreak," she remarked. The minister also echoed the public’s high concern over this case. "On the whole, this is crucial, as the President Jokowi administration is determined to solve environmental problems. Indonesia will benefit from the international event to be held in Indonesia," she remarked. The Minamata Convention on Mercury is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of mercury. It was agreed at the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on mercury in Geneva in January 2013 and adopted on October 10, 2013, in Kumamoto, Japan. Article 3 of the Minamata Convention addresses sources of supply and trade in mercury, laying down measures on primary mercury mining, stocks of mercury or mercury compounds, excess mercury from the decommissioning of chlor-alkali plants, as well as on mercury exports and imports.//antara.