VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

South Korean Ambassador to Indonesia, Kim Chang-beom on his speech at National Day Reception and South Korea Armed Force in Jakarta on Wednesday evening (2/10) explained that during one year, the relations between South Korea and Indonesia are getting stronger because of the contribution from many parties. Indonesia keeps on stepping forward to be a developed country like South Korea. He also said Indonesia and South Korea are strategic and true partners.

“We are special strategic partners. Our partnership encompasses a broad range of areas, including political security, economic, social patrol, industry, and bilateral cooperation. More importantly, our partnership is purely based on heart to heart, hati ke hati, exchanges and closer partnership between our two people,” said Kim Chang-beom.

Moreover, Ambassador Kim Chang-beom also explained the amount of trade cooperation between Indonesia and South Korea reached US$40 billion dollars last year. Meanwhile, the investment of South Korea in Indonesia reached US$15 billion dollars. Indonesian  President Joko Widodo and South Korean President  Moon Jae-in while meeting at the 34^th ASEAN Summit Conference in Bangkok, Thailand last June, agreed to increase bilateral cooperation of both countries, particularly in the field of investment and trade. (VOI/AHM/nrl/ TRANS:AF)

President Joko Widodo admitted that he is still waiting for the election results of Chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) before discussing the matter of preparation for the inauguration of the elected President and Vice President for the upcoming 2019-2024 period. Speaking after attending the commemoration of the 2019 National Batik Day, Wednesday (Oct 2) at Puro Mangkunegaran, Surakarta, President Joko Widodo said that he can not open communication with the MPR given that the MPR Chairman had not been elected.

“First, the MPR does not have a leader yet. I can not be able to talk to the existing MPR leaders. What do we want to talk about? while the MPR does not have the new leader yet. Once the chairmen of the People's Consultative Assembly are formed, we can convey about the inauguration,” said Jokowi.

Related to the proposal to advance the inauguration, President Joko Widodo conveyed that he fully submits the decision of the inauguration to the Assembly. The president admitted that he received input from a number of volunteers related to discourse of advancing inauguration, but Jokowi fully submits to the Assembly. Earlier, in a press release, Central Representative Council of Projo people organization suggested to General Election Commission (KPU) to bring forward the inauguration of Elected President and Vice President on Saturday, October 19, 2019. This proposal was submitted for practical reasons, in order the community could oversee the inauguration procession of the elected President and Vice President. Jokowi  will  end  his 2014 - 2019 Presidential    period on October  20, 2019. According to the schedule of the Commission, Jokowi will constantly be inaugurated on October 20, 2019//  Ndy/trans.yati

Indonesia is committed to ratifying the Paris Agreement with Law No. 16/2016 and delivered the 'Nationally Determined Contribution' -NDC at the Climate Action Summit in New York, the United States last September. The target is to reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions by 29 up to 41 percent in 2030 if there is international assistance and increase resilience to the effects of climate change through efforts of international technical cooperation. Met after the Climate Festival at the Manggala Wanabhakti Building in Jakarta, Wednesday (2/10), Minister of Environment and Forestry, Siti Nurbaya Bakar said that controlling forest fires is one way to tackle climate change.

“The most sector spaces are the forestry and rich agriculture. We tackle climate change by controlling forest fires. Then, there is peat-land that can store carbon, so it doesn't emit. It can be dozens of times from the forest. Mangroves also become our next agenda. If there is a forest, there is energy. If now here is B-20. Biodiesel is also very good. B-20 has been required by the president. This will develop into B-30, 50 and so on. B means biodiesel mixture for energy. The Ministry of Environment and Forestry  has done the solar panel. Solar energy panels have already been available in remote and urban areas. Several offices have been asked by the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources to install solar panels, including in the Ministry of Environment and Forestry,” said Siti Nurbaya.

Minister Siti also expressed her  gratitude to all elements of the nation who have been involved in which Indonesia prepares to face climate change with the basic concept of 'Strengthening National Resilience'. Following-up the Paris Agreement including the implementation of NDCs depends on the implementation of development policies in key sectors relating to sustainable national development. (NK)

Director of Cultural Heritage and Diplomacy, Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture, Nazaruddin Ramli, at a press conference ahead of the Decade of the National Batik Day Celebration, at the Library of the Ministry of Education and Culture, Tuesday (1 Oct) said, Batik was a masterpiece of Indonesian civilization which had been an honored guest abroad. So that it is natural for Indonesia to host Batik itself and this wealth needs to be passed on to the Indonesian young generations. The same thing was expressed by Aditya Yusma, activist of Central Javanese batik art and culture. He said that currently the number of batik makers who use canting to make batik is very small. Therefore, Aditya Yusma along with batik conservation community facilitated by the Ministry of Education and Culture, will continue to increase the interest in making batik among millennials by holding trainings, even for people abroad.

“We have conducted batik training in more than 147 countries in 5 activities. And I am the third generation of batik. I left my business in film industry a few years ago then I returned to Pekalongan. I began to learn batik until finally given the opportunity by the Ministry of Education and Culture to provide the first training in the World Jamboree. The training is in line with our vision to re-generate batik, especially batik craftsmen, because canting maker is the most important 'tool' in batik,” said Aditya Yusma.

The National Batik Day Celebration is intended to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Batik included into the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) list of UNESCO, precisely on October 2, 2009. This year's commemoration carries the theme: Batik, Khazanah Peradaban or ‘Batik, the Treasury of Civilization’. The highlight of the National Batik Day Celebration is centered on the courtyard of the Ministry of Education and Culture Building, in Jakarta, Wednesday (2 Oct) night. The event attended by 400 invitations including representatives of the Ambassador in Jakarta, relevant ministries and various batik communities. The whole series of activities is packaged in a musical drama featuring world batik figures. This musical show was directed by Aditya Yusma and Dwiki Dharmawan as Music Director // Agus/Trs.YT