Finland is the first country to apply the concept of Circular Economy. The Finnish Ambassador to Indonesia Jari Sinkari in a special interview with Voice of Indonesia in Jakarta on Thursday (10/10) said the idea of ​​the Circular Economy is to increase economic growth while protecting the environment by recycling a product into new products or new energy. According to Jari Sinkari, the people, especially young people’s awareness to protect the environment is increasing.

“I've been one year here, I've seen during this one year, that there are more and more campaigning for nature and recycling. Already within one year physically I've seen the consciousness is growing, and I think that it starts with the young generations,” said the ambassador.

Furthermore, Jari Sinkari said that Indonesia has begun applying the concept of a circular economy by avoiding the use of plastic bags and recycling waste into economically valuable products. He cited the supermarkets in the city of Bogor which no longer provided plastic bags for free and the use of on-line public transportation as a way to protect the environment. (VOI / AHM / edit r)

Some 1,200 young innovators from 15 countries exhibited their work at the 2019 Indonesia Inventors Day, being held from October 9 to 12, in Taman Mini Indonesia Indah complex, Jakarta. The inventors were from Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, The Philippines, and China, in addition to Korea, Japan, Egypt, India, and Sri Lanka. Inventors from Poland, Saudi Arabia, Croatia, Canada and the United States, also exhibited their works in the fields of technology, science, agriculture, education, among others, as stated by President of the Indonesian Invention and Innovation Promotion Association (INNOPA), Erricha Insan Pratisi in Jakarta, Wednesday.

Participants, as young as elementary school-level students, exhibited 250 innovative works in two series of activities, including the 6th International Young Inventors Award (IYIA) and The 2nd World Invention Technology Expo (Wintex).

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The event provided a platform to local innovators to not only create but also expand their products and gain patents for them until they are ready to be commercialized, she continued.

"Our innovative works should not only be for show, but it should also be useful for the people," she said.

That way, the Indonesian paradigm as a consumptive country can shift into the country of creators, with an abundance of innovative products that can compete at the international level.

 Related news: Moeldoko urges students to innovate

There are differences in product highlights at every level, she further said. For elementary to high- school levels, the emphasis is on research, while for the university-level, the emphasis lay on the application of the work.

The event could present the creativity among the youth from several countries in solving problems in their communities, the lead judge for the IYIA and Wintex, Prof Suharno Harso Supangkat, said.

"This is an event to measure the extent to which our innovation stands against others, but also, together, we solve problems in cooperation. Hopefully, this innovation can be commercialized," Suharno said.

There are several criteria that are considered by the judges, including the value of commercialization, ideas and patents. (ANTARA)

The National Development Planning Ministry/the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with several ministries and private parties to help achieve 17 targets of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). "In essence, we involve non-government and government institutions to achieve (the targets of SDGs," National Development Planning Minister/Bappenas Head Bambang Brodjonegoro said while signing the MoUs with several ministries and private parties during the conclusion of SDGs Annual Conference 2019 in Jakarta, Wednesday.

One of the MoUs is between Bappenas and Ministry of Villages, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration. The MoU deals with ways to accelerate the achievement of SDGs through a pilot rural development project under the social impact financing scheme.

"The MoUs are signed with fellow ministries. Through the cooperation with the Ministry of Villages, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration, we find ways to scale up the best practices, and then multiply and replicate them at a village level," he said.

To achieve the targets of SDGs, Bappenas also teams up with private parties including PT Unilever and PT Sarana Multi Infrastruktur without altering the aims of their businesses, he said.

"We give freedom to the private parties to determine which goals are more important according to them. We show them programs we will achieve and allow them to choose programs in which they will be involved. So it depends on them to set the funding we need," he said.

The signing of MoUs with private parties should not be viewed through the amount of funds, he said. Through the MoU, the government wants to change the notion that they continue their businesses and make a profit as usual while fulfilling SDGs. (ANTARA)

Indonesia’s and Singapore’s governments are on the same page regarding the framework for negotiation over the takeover of control of flight information region (FIR) encompassing Indonesia’s territory in Riau Islands currently from Singapore and Malaysia.

President Joko Widodo was accompanied by Indonesian Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi during a meeting with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at Istana Singapura on Tuesday (Oct 8) in connection with the agreement on the framework for negotiation of FIR realignment.

"With regard to the FIR, we, along with the Foreign Ministry, under the coordination of the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs, have been working for nearly two years now to settle the management of FIR this year as mandated by Mr President Jokowi," Sumadi noted in a written statement released on Wednesday.

The two countries inked the agreement on the framework for negotiation of the FIR on September 12, 2019. The technical teams of both nations met on October 7, 2019, and will hold more intensive meetings in future.

"Alhamdulillah (thank God), progress has been achieved. The framework was agreed upon, and its term of reference (TOR) has been in place. The director general of air transportation has held discussions with the director general at the Foreign Ministry. Several corrections to the agreement on FIR have been in existence since 1995. Of course, the corrections benefit both sides," he stated.

FIR in Riau Islands Province started during the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Convention held in Dublin, Ireland, in 1946 when Singapore, which was still the colony of Britain, was viewed as being capable of managing it in terms of equipment and human resources. Since Indonesia proclaimed its independence only in 1945, it was not present at the convention. Consequently, Singapore and Malaysia manage FIR in Riau Islands.

Singapore controls sectors A and C, while Malaysia controls sector B.

In 1995, the two countries had inked an agreement in which the management of FIR in Riau Islands remains under the control of Singapore.

As mandated by Indonesian Law No. 1 of 2009 on Aviation, flight navigation services in the Indonesian air territory delegated to other country through an agreement must be evaluated and taken over by the Indonesian Flight Navigation Institute no later than 15 years after the law was promulgated or in 2024. (ANTARA)