The governor of Jakarta, Anies Baswedan, expressed pride over Jakarta becoming a host of the launch of the C40 Cities Climate Action Planning Program for the Southeast Asian region.

"I am truly proud, as Jakarta becomes a host for the launch of the C40 Cities Climate Action Planning Program for the Southeast Asian region. The activity is being held in Jakarta from today until tomorrow," Jakarta Governor Baswedan remarked at the launch of the C40 Cities Climate Action Planning Program for the Southeast Asia region at the Jakarta City Hall on Tuesday.

Being the host of this activity lends an opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences among others.

Moreover, Baswedan, along with representatives of the five cities of Jakarta in Indonesia, Hanoi in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, and Quezon City in the Philippines, expressed joint commitment to fulfilling the Paris Agreement.

The five cities and 70 other cities, under the auspices of the C40, officially launched the C40 Climate Action Planning Program for the Southeast Asia Region.

Furthermore, Governor Baswedan highlighted the need to discuss varied challenges related to environmental issues encountered by the Jakarta government in a bid to find the best alternative solutions from different parts of the world.

"Our challenge today is how to ensure that economic development in Jakarta is also in line with ecology. This is since in the past, economy and ecology apparently worked hand in hand," he emphasized.

Some of these environmental issues comprise greenhouse gas emissions, the transition from private vehicles to public transportation, land subsidence, and water discharge from upstream areas. (ANTARA)

The Indian Embassy in Jakarta in collaboration with the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism and the Borobudur Temple, Prambanan and Ratu Boko Tourism Park are to hold the 5th International Day of Yoga in the Prambanan Temple Complex, Yogyakarta, June 23, 2019. Besides in Yogyakarta, the celebration of International Yoga Day is also held in five popular tourist destinations in Indonesia, namely Bali, Makassar, Surabaya, Medan. In a press conference at the Indian Embassy, ​​Jakarta, Monday (17/06), Deputy Minister of Marketing Development II of the Ministry of Tourism, Nia Niscaya explained, yoga activities has become one of the attractions for foreign tourists from India to come to Indonesia especially to Prambanan Yogyakarta and Bali as favorite destinations for yoga festivals. Therefore Nia hopes that the holding of the International Yoga Festival at Prambanan Temple can increase the number of Indian foreign tourist visits to Indonesia which ranks second after China.

"Then, in terms of the Indian tourists coming to Indonesia, I (am) thankful to all the Indian tourists because the growth is the highest growth after China. So we got China first, and then India. In fact they are very lack of direct connectivity from India, even no more. But the growth even bigger and strongly increase," Nia Niscaya said.

Meanwhile, Ambassador of India to Indonesia Pradeep Kumar Rawat said that the celebration of 2019 International Yoga Day has a very important meaning in improving India-Indonesia diplomatic relations which this year celebrate their 70th year. (VOI / AHM)

The people of the Indonesian province of Aceh living in neighboring Malaysia, particularly in Kuala Lumpur, have agreed to set up cooperatives.

"The agreement is a decision reached at the halal bi halal (post-fasting month) get-together, or Eid-al-Fitr open house 1440 Hijrah at the Kuala Lumpur International Hotel," President of the Malay Community of Aceh-Malaysia (KMAM) Datuk Haji Mansyur bin Usman said in Kauala Lumpur on Monday.

During the event, KMAM also held a joint meeting with the employees of the Malaysian Cooperative Office (SKM), along with acting Director of Petro Teguh (M) Sdn. Bhd Dato 'Sri Azmin Mustam.

Among SKM officials who were present were Executive Chief of the Malaysian Cooperative Council Datuk Nordin Salleh and Director of Law and Registration Division of the Malaysian Cooperative Council Puan Siti Azlin Ahmad Dauta.

Usman said, in the short run, those at the meeting agreed to set up cooperatives, including primary and secondary cooperatives which are expected to become well-run operations in the future.

The event brought together some 50 regional executives from throughout Malaysia, with each regional branch having hundreds of Aceh stalls.(ANTARA)

Indonesian company PT HM Sampoerna Tbk. has received the Asia Responsible Enterprise Award 2019 for reducing its carbon footprint, during a ceremony in Taipei, Taiwan.

Enterprise Asia chose Sampoerna in recognition of its success in reducing its carbon footprint in running its business, according to a statement made available to Antara on Monday.

Enterprise Asia is an international non-governmental organization focusing on responsible entrepreneurship.

One of the efforts that earned Sampoerna the award was the development of a global road map related to sustainable vehicle fleets. The company has always made every effort to reduce the environmental impact of its operations and supply chains.

In 2018, the company reduced the use of trucks by up to 11 percent, while increasing its use of ships by 7 percent and trains by 4 percent, enabling it to reduce its carbon production by 8.9 percent.

"We will go ahead with this initiative, while at the same time trying to find new opportunities to better reduce the carbon footprint of our businesses," Head of Sampoerna Stakeholders Regional Relations and CSR Ervin Laurence Pakpahan said.

Ervin added that Sampoerna is open to cooperating with various institutions in reducing carbon footprints from their businesses. Sampoerna pays special attention to the use of environmentally friendly sustainable energy.

"Reducing carbon footprints in the environment is one of Sampoerna's sustainable strategic pillars. The effective environmental management in the business chain goes beyond what the legislation underlines," Ervin said. (ANTARA)