VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Indonesian diaspora could help the government develop the country’s human capital, Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno LP Marsudi has said. "Now, how could the Indonesian Government collaborate with the diaspora? The diaspora could become agents of Indonesian human capital development," the minister said here Saturday in her opening remarks during the Fifth Congress of Indonesian Diaspora (CID-5).

The Indonesian Government has decided to prioritize human resources development (HRD) during the next five years, and the diaspora makes up a significant component of this, she noted.

"HRD will become a priority of the Indonesian Government. I quote the President as saying that human resources development is a key for the Indonesian development in the future. Besides, there is an instruction from the President to support the Indonesian diaspora," she said.

To involve the diaspora in human capital development in Indonesia, there should first be a database on them and their skills.

With the help of the database, it would be easy to locate and identify experts from among the diaspora that could help develop education and particularly vocational schools in the country.

The three-day CID-5 is being organized in Jakarta, beginning Saturday, August 10 and concluding August 13, 2019. "The theme of this year's conference is 'Empowering Indonesia's Human Capital', Indonesian Diaspora Network Global (IDN-Global) President Mark Gerald Eman, said during a press conference in Jakarta Monday, August 5.

The theme was chosen keeping in mind the fact that human resource development is the key to Indonesia's future.

The theme was also in line with President Joko Widodo's instructions regarding human resources and the development of the diaspora, Deputy Chairman of IDN Global Said Zaidansyah, stated.

"One of the main agendas of the Diaspora Congress is the development of human resources in accordance with the instructions of President Joko Widodo during his remarks in Sentul where he also highlighted the issue of human resource development," Zaidansyah said.

The congress could provide a platform to discuss the issues and challenges related to human resources in Indonesia and the challenges they face.

The conference is expected to be the biggest meeting of the Indonesian diaspora and as many as 5,000 are expected to attend the event.

The Indonesian crude price (ICP) stood at US$61.32 per barrel in July 2019, a slight increase of $0.32 per barrel, from $61 per barrel a month earlier.

A decrease in oil production by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) allegedly affected the ICP in July 2019, according to information gathered by Antara on Monday.

The ICP team pointed to OPEC's oil production plunging 68 thousand barrels per day to 29.8 million barrels per day in June 2019 than the previous month.

Apart from the decline in OPEC oil production, a surge in geopolitical tensions in the Middle East was also believed to have raised the ICP in July 2019.

Among issues raising the geopolitical tensions were Iran’s announcement to begin enriching uranium at higher level in days to come, viewed as violating the 2015 nuclear agreement; Britain’s detention of an Iranian tanker in the Gibraltar Strait and Iran’s seizure of two British tankers in Hormuz Strait; and US President Donald Trump’s statement that the US Navy has shot an Iranian drone in Hormuz Strait.

In the Asia-Pacific region, crude prices rose owing to China's policy to increase the quota of its refineries' imports at a total of 56.85 million metric tons, raising crude demand and crude oil throughput in China by 1.2 percent to 6.6 million barrels per day and in Taiwan, by one percent. to 970 thousand barrels per day as compared to early July 2019.

The other factor is the Energy Information Administration (EIA) report that the US crude oil stocks in July 2019 had dropped 32 million barrels to 436.5 million barrels as compared to June 2019 due to Barry typhoon affecting several production facilities in the Mexico Bay.

Following is the development of average crude prices in the global market in July 2019.

1. WTI (Nymex) rose $0.33 per barrel, from $54.71 per barrel to $55.04 per barrel.
2. Basket OPEC surged $1.75 per barrel, from $62.92 per barrel to $64.67 per barrel.
3. Brent (ICE) went up US$1.17 per barrel, from $63.04 per barrel to $64.21 per barrel.
4. ICP SLC increased, from $61.84 per barrel to $61.98 per barrel. However, dated Brent decreased $0.06 per barrel, from $64.10 per barrel to $64.04 per barrel.

 Vice President Jusuf Kalla has called on the  people to pray together for all hajj pilgrims who are in the Holy Land to conduct worship well and peacefully this year.

"Let us all pray for the pilgrims, who are in Arafat to perform their worship peacefully," Kalla said before performing Eid al-Adha prayer at Karebosi Square in Makassar, South Sulawesi,  on Sunday morning.

In addition to praying for the pilgrims, Kalla also appealed to  the whole community to pray for Indonesia so that the country will always receive mercy from the Lord of the universe.

"And of course, we pray for our country, so it  is blessed by Allah," Kalla noted.

Eid al-Adha, according to him, is a moment where humans have to sacrifice to prove their patience and increase the deeds of worship to Allah.

"The day of sacrifice is not only that we sacrifice cows or goats, but sacrificing according to our capacities because it is a form of perfection in carrying out our worship," he said.

Kalla also expressed his happiness of being able to come back to his hometown, Makassar, and celebrate Eid al-Adha together with the people of South Sulawesi.

"Alhamdulillah, I was able to attend this morning (prayer). Last year I was not present in celebrating Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. I still remember of my youth on how I celebrated Eid and Eid al-Adha in this place every year," Kalla said.

"Once again I say, happy celebrating Eid al-Adha, may we all be given the blessing of Allah SWT," he added.

The number of hotspots in the provinces of Riau, South Kalimantan, East Kalimantan and North Kalimantan have declined on Sunday, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).

A spokesman of the BNPB Agus Wibowo said in a statement here on Sunday, the number of hotspots in Riau has declined to 29, from 126  detected on Saturday (Aug 10).

The agency has also detected a declining number of hotspots in South Kalimantan from 41 to 14, East Kalimantan from 23 to 20, and in North Kalimantan from 29 to 23.

However, in some other provinces, the number of hotspots has increased, such as in West Kalimantan where it increased 27 to 605 and in Central Kalimantan where it increased four to 163.

Jambi has recorded an increase in the number of hotspots to three, South Sumatra to 19, and Bangka Belitung increased 10 to 14.

BNPB said, haze has shrouded Sumatra and Kalimantan regions, though it was not descending over Malaysia and Singapore.

Pekanbaru was still blanketed by haze with visibility of five kilometers, while the visibility in Jambi (cloudy) is 9 km, Palembang (cloudy) 10 km, Pontianak (smoky) 5 km, Pangkalan Bun (cloudy) 9 km, Palangkaraya (smoky) 5 km, Sanggu-Buntok (smoky) 4 km, Banjarmasin (cloudy) 10 km, and Tanjung Harapan - Tanjung Selor (smoky) 5 km.

The air quality based on the concentration of particulate matter (PM10) showed unhealthy air quality in Pekanbaru with PM10 concentration 166, Pontianak with 253 PM10 or very unhealthy, Palangkaraya 217 (very unhealthy), and Sampit 26 (healthy)

On Sunday, 9,072 personnel of the joint task force that comprise of the BNPB, the military, police, regional mitigation agency (BPBD), and local residents have continued to put out the fire in six provinces namely Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, and South Kalimantan.