VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian President Joko Widodo welcomed the plan of the Association of Indonesian Handicraft Exporters and Producers-ASEPHI which planned to create the Inacraft Online mobile application. After officially opening the 21st international handicraft trade exhibition in Jakarta, Wednesday (24/4), the President said, currently Indonesian handicraft entrepreneurs are ready to market their products through an offline mechanism. Therefore, according to him, the step to encourage the entry of Indonesian handicraft products into the online market is a positive step in increasing market share, both in the country and overseas.

“Yes, all of this, the off-ecosystem is ready. Just lift it to the online ecosystem. Later there will be a national place market in connection with global market place. This product has already been selected for 21 years. The market already exists. Just increase it to global market place,” said President Joko Widodo.

Previously, Deputy Chairperson for Institutional Cooperation and Promotion of the Association of Indonesian Handicraft Exporters and Producers, Gusmardi Bustomi, said that the Association of Indonesian Handicraft Exporters and Producers was preparing an Inacraft Online application that would accommodate all Small and Medium Enterprises in Indonesia. This application is prepared to deal with the global changes and developments marked by technological progress. In 2018, Inacraft has successfully sold handicraft products to a total value of 136 billion rupiah. This year, Inacraft is targeted to achieve sales of 140 up to 145 billion rupiah. In this year also, Inacraft targets to achieve export transactions reaching 13 to 14 million US dollars, an increase from the previous year which reached 12 million US dollars. (VOI/NDY/AHM)

Sekar Laras Art Society has its own way of commemorating Kartini Day on Sunday. Its members performed the Sintren dance for 21 hours in a show highlighting the theme of "Unlimited Space".

Chairman of the Sekar Laras Art Society Darto said the Sintren dance became a symbol of a woman's struggle like the struggle that had ever been carried out by Indonesia's heroine
Raden Ajeng Kartini.

"On Kartini Day, we tried to revive the women's fighting spirit," said Darto at Bandung City's Cikapayang Park on Ir Djuanda Street.

Darto said the art heritage that he has been preserving through the Sekar Laras Art Society has yet to get sufficient attention from the government. Indeed, the Sintren dance is part of the people's cultural heritage.

"There has been a shift in cultural values. The people's attention is diverted by popular culture though the Sintren dance had once been so loved by the people," he said.

Through the Kartini Day commemoration, he and his art community members attempted to reintroduce the Sintren dance to the people.  The arts need to be collaborated with something that can be absorbed by the community members, and every art has its own meaning, he said.

"The art will remain alive when the people keep it alive," he said. He hopes that with this event, the arts that he cultivates along with his colleagues will remain alive.

The absence of spaces for performing the art works will make them easily go extinct, he added. (ANTARA)

The Indonesian Government strongly condemned the coordinated bombings striking several churches and hotels  in Sri Lanka on Sunday morning.

The government and the people of Indonesia conveyed deep condolences to the victims and their families.  

As revealed by a press statement made available to ANTARA on Sunday, the Indonesian Embassy in Colombo kept monitoring the progress of the situation and had coordinated with local security authorities, hospitals and local Indonesian citizen associations.

The Indonesian Foreign Ministry confirmed that none of Indonesian citizens felt victims of these bombing attacks. 

There are around 374 Indonesian citizens in Sri Lanka, where 140 of them domiciled in the capital city of Colombo.

The Indonesian Government believes that the Sri Lankan Government could handle the situation well, and was also willing to provide the necessary assistance.

The Indonesian Government also calls on its citizens in Sri Lanka to remain vigilant and cautious and follow directions from the local security authorities.

For families and relatives pf the Indonesians living in Sri Lanka who are willing to have further information and consular assistance, they can contact the KBRI Colombo hotline at +94772773127. (ANTARA)

The Cairo Election Supervisory Committee assessed that during the 2019 elections in Egypt there were no significant violations found in both the voting and vote counting processes. Chairman of the Election Supervisory Committee of Cairo, Muhammad Nura revealed that there were a number of technical problems that could be quickly resolved by the Overseas Election Committee (PPLN) along with the ranks of the Foreign Voting Organizers Group - KPPSLN. According to him, violations of the 2019 Election in Egypt are more about ethical violations and even then after being warned, it could be immediately resolved by the local Overseas Election Committee.

"There are no violations which are considered severe, there is no money politics here, there are no violations that violate the administration. Most are violations of ethics and some violations or more precisely the mistakes made by the committee, it is normal," said Muhammaad Nura.

In addition to the Election Supervisory Committee, the Indonesian Ambassador to Egypt Helmy Fauzy, who had talked a lot about the election, including his appeal to Indonesian citizens in Egypt to maintain unity, also considered that the implementation of the presidential and legislative elections in Cairo ran smoothly and conducive. (KRBN/ROCKY/AHM)