VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Indonesian Minister of Trade has conducted a series of bilateral meetings over the two days of organizing the Indonesia Africa Infrastructure Dialogue in Nusa Dua Bali. The Indonesian Minister of Trade, Enggartiasto Lukita in a joint press statement with the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Panjaitan and Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi in Nusa Dua Bali, Wednesday (21/08) explained, they had held bilateral meetings with officials from several African countries such as Djibouti, an autonomous regions of Zanzibar, Somalia, Ethiopia and Uganda. Enggartiasto Lukita explained, Uganda has invited Indonesia to invest in the sharia banking sector and leather shoes.

“With Uganda we are invited to invest in the leather shoes sector and also Islamic banks to open branches in Uganda. And it was proposed by the Ugandan Minister that we prepare a kind of help desk for the export of Indonesian products,” said Enggartiasto Lukita.

Enggartiasto Lukita further explained, in response to the offer from Uganda, his side encouraged to carry out a study to be upgraded to the joint feasibility study stage.

Meanwhile in a bilateral meeting with Zanzibar which is an autonomous region in Tanzania, according to Enggartiasto Lukita, Indonesia was invited to develop tourism in Zanzibar.

In a bilateral meeting with Somalia, Indonesia was invited to invest in the housing sector. In response to the Somali offer, Enggartiasto said it would encourage the Minister of Public Works and Public Housing to follow up on the possibility of building low-priced housing in Somalia. (VOI / Brg / AHM)

The Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno LP Marsudi expressed her satisfaction with the implementation of the Indonesia Africa Infrastructure Dialogue because it produced concrete results in the form of a business agreement reaching 822 million US dollars. Retno Marsudi in a joint press statement with the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Panjaitan and the Minister of Trade Enggartiasto Lukita, at the Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center on Wednesday (21/08) said the number of business agreements is likely to increase again because the business agreement on the second day of Indonesia Africa Infrastructure Dialogue has not been recorded yet. The number of business agreements reached, according to Reno, reflects the potential of the African countries in cooperation with Indonesia.

“We are quite satisfied with the implementation of this meeting, for several reasons. First, when we talk about concrete matters, the figures presented yesterday, the business deal reached 822 Million US dollars which is not a small number and this reflects, once again, the great potential that Africa has to collaborate with Indonesia and this is an increase from last year's results . That was per yesterday (8/20). After that there are still a number of business meetings that we haven't counted today (21/08). So once again we are very satisfied with the implementation of this infrastructure dialogue,” said Retno Marsudi.

Retno explained, the implementation of the Indonesia-Africa Infrastructure Dialogue means that the trust of African countries in Indonesia is even greater. According to Retno, the high trust of African countries in the form of concrete cooperation with Indonesia was a step forward. In addition, Retno added, the implementation of the Indonesia-Africa Infrastructure Dialogue was an opportunity for Indonesia and Africa to see the potential for more clearly cooperation in the infrastructure, railroad, mining, education and tourism sectors. Retno added, in September 2019, the results of an agreement from the Indonesia Africa Infrastructure Dialogue would be immediately followed up by his ministry. (VOI / Brg / AHM)

The rupiah recorded a slight rise in the Jakarta interbank market on Thursday morning as the market awaits the result of the meeting of Bank Indonesia’s (BI’s) board of governors later in the day.

The Indonesian currency climbed two points, or 0.01 percent, to Rp14,238 per US dollar as compared to Rp14,240 per US dollar earlier.

"The rupiah remains stable, as the market awaits the outcome of the monthly meeting of Bank Indonesia (BI) on Thursday to decide its benchmark interest rate," Garuda Berjangka President Director Ibrahim Assuaibi had stated in Jakarta on Thursday.

Assuaibi has forecast that the central bank will keep the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 5.75 percent during the meeting.

"Looking at the current situation, BI is expected to exercise caution and refrain from lowering the interest rate while simultaneously steadily monitoring the global condition due to the trade war that is likely to continue until 2020," he stated.

During Thursday's trading, the rupiah is expected to increase slightly to lie within the range of Rp14,200 to Rp14,300 per US dollar.

In the meantime, Monex Investindo Future chief researcher Ariston Tjendra noted that the sentiment towards the trade war will continue to cast a pall over the rupiah movement following the statement of US President Donald Trump to pressure China even at the cost of harming the US economy.

"Trump stated that the Chinese government has cheated the US economy for decades," he pointed out. (ANTARA)

Indonesian state-owned construction company PT Wijaya Karya (WIKA) has entered into a framework agreement with the Senegalese government to construct La Tour De Goree Tower valued at US$250 million in Dakar, Senegal.

PT WIKA, Indonesia Eximbank, and the Senegalese government signed the agreement on the sidelines of the Indonesia-Africa Infrastructure Dialog (IAID) held in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Tuesday.

"This is a large project that will become an icon in Senegal. The building will also symbolize relations between Senegal and Indonesia," PT WIKA President Director Tumiyana remarked after the signing of the agreement.

La Tour De Goree Tower will be designed to serve a multifunctional building, including an apartment and hotel to support the tourism sector in Senegal.

The hotel at La Tour De Goree is deemed the need of the hour by Senegal that will host the Summer Youth Olympics in 2022.

Senegalese Minister of Growth Affairs Cheikh Kante affirmed that the project, once realized, will double the number of tourist arrivals from the United States, particularly Miami, to Goree Island in Senegal.

The island holds a significant place in the history of the United States and Senegal since in the past, many sleeves sold and employed in the United States came from Goree.

"Goree is a universal tourist site that contributes to the global culture," Kante stated.

The Senegalese government has targeted the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of La Tour De Goree Tower in early December this year to be attended by Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi).

During the IAID, PT WIKA also signed an agreement for the construction of a housing project worth US$200 million in Songon, Ivory Coast, and a bulk liquid terminal worth $190 million in Zanzibar, Tanzania. (ANTARA)