VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The trade value between Indonesia and Vietnam has risen quite rapidly. The total trade between the two countries in 2018 increased by almost 30 percent compared to the previous year. In 2018, the trade value between Indonesia and Vietnam reached US $ 8.6 billion. In the first 6 months of 2019, the trade value between Indonesia and Vietnam has reached 4.26 billion US Dollars. This was stated by the Indonesian Ambassador to Vietnam, Ibnu Hadi, when conducting a video conference with the media in Jakarta, Thursday (2/8).

“Now what makes us proud, even though we also have to work hard, is that our exports to Vietnam have risen by almost 30 percent, to be exact 27.4 percent. Then our imports declined greatly from Vietnam.

Furthermore, Ambassador Ibnu Hadi said, this year he project the trade value of Indonesia-Vietnam could reach more than 9 billion US Dollars. In fact, he hopes to reach 9.5 or 9.6 billion so that the trade value target of 10 billion US dollars in 2020 as stated by the Heads of State of Indonesia and Vietnam can be realized. Indonesia's exports to Vietnam include computers, electrical equipment and components, fabric materials, telephones, cellular phones and spare parts, as well as iron and steel. (VOI / AHM / EDT R)

The Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture in cooperation with the Paramarta Karya Budaya Foundation and the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in Hamburg will organize Karavan Budaya (Cultural Caravan) and Wayang Orang Human Puppet Performance in several cities in Germany in August to September 2019. In a media briefing held by the Ministry of Education and Culture, Jakarta, Thursday (1/08), Director of Cultural Heritage and Diplomacy at the Ministry of Education and Culture Nadjamuddin Ramly said the program was initiated by the Indonesian diaspora and related to cultural diplomacy.

“This activity is related to cultural diplomacy, our activities abroad with an international dimension. And this is the embodiment of Law No. 5 of 2017 on cultural progress and is also strengthened by the Indonesian Cultural Congress in December 2018 which produced 3 important points, firstly Indonesian cultural strategy, secondly the master plan for cultural progress, and thirdly 7 cultural resolutions,” said Nadjamuddin Ramly.

The Director of Cultural Heritage and Diplomacy at the Ministry of Education and Culture Nadjamuddin Ramly further said the Cultural Caravan consists of a series of interactive cultural arts activities, which tour various cities in Germany namely Hamburg, Gottingen, Rotenberg, Hannover, Bremen, Kiel and return to Hamburg . The Kresna Duta puppet show, which lasts 90 minutes, will be held in three performance halls located in three different cities in Germany, Neue Flora in Hamburg on September 2, 2019, Altes Magazin in Hannover, September 4, 2019 and Metropol in Bremen, September 7. 2019. (VOI / AHM / edit r)

The state-owned fertilizer maker PT Petrokimia Gresik will export 45 tons urea to India on the second week of August, the President Director, Rahmad Pribadi, stated here Thursday. The export marked the company's achievement in maintaining the urea business and remaining competitive although the commodity's price has been falling for the past few years in the world market, Pribadi noted.

"Amid the urea oversupply that resulted in the commodity's low price in the international market, the company is still able to export urea overseas," he stated, adding that the company exported not only to India, but also to Sri Lanka, China, and the Philippines.

Following the export to India, the company's export figures would reach 202 thousand tons of urea, 80.8 thousand tons of NPS fertilizer, and 3.35 thousand tons of ZK fertilizer.

After the company's Amoniak-Urea II plant went operational in 2018, the fertilizer maker was able to double the production of urea from 460 thousand tons to a million tons per year.

PT Petrokimia Gresik is a subsidiary of the state-owned PT Pupuk Indonesia that focused on producing inorganic fertilizers such as urea, ZA, SP-36, Phonska, DAP, NPK, ZK, Petroganic, KCL, Rock Phosphate, and TSP (ANTARA)

The Nielsen research institute stated that Indonesia is the third-most optimistic nation in the world in the second quarter (Q2) of 2019.

"Indonesia's consumer confidence index is relatively stable at 126 pp (percentage point) in the second quarter of 2019. Indonesian consumers are the third most optimistic in the world, preceded by India, (138 pp), and the Philippines (126 pp)," Managing Director of Nielsen Indonesia Agus Nurudin stated here on Wednesday.

Nurudin noted that the index was influenced by three indicators in the next 12 months, including consumer perceptions of job prospects.

"The index declined to 70 percent in the second quarter, from 72 percent in the previous period this year, which is relatively stable," he expounded.

During the same period, the consumer perception index over financial security also plunged to 80 percent, from 83 percent.

Spending optimism, the last indicator, increased to 61 percent compared to only 56 percent in the first quarter of 2019.

"With the stable index, it shows that the community is relatively calm, especially in terms of political stability. Levels for 'spending' are rising, so activity is fine," he affirmed.

He pointed to consumers in the Asia-Pacific region also remaining optimistic, with China, India, and Indonesia functioning as the main pillars of the Global Confidence Index, while Japan and Korea saw confidence move in opposite directions.

Nevertheless, Nurudin stated that despite the Indonesian consumer confidence index being stable, concerns rode high over the condition of Indonesia’s economy. It was noted that consumer concerns over the economic situation rose quite sharply to 37 percent during the Q2 of 2019 than 31 percent in the previous quarter of the same year.

"In the second quarter of 2019, increasingly more number of Indonesian consumers are concerned about economic conditions. It seems that this is the impact of the election, where consumers still sense that the post-election economic situation remains uncertain," he added (ANTARA)