VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The governments of Indonesia and Finland have collaborated in three main areas, since the visit of Finnish President Sauli Niinisto to Indonesia in 2015, namely in the fields of energy, forestry and education. Finnish Ambassador to Indonesia, Jari Sinkari, said, the three collaborations were very important cooperation for Indonesia and Finland.

"Our cooperation the strong is on three fields namely Energy Cooperation, Forestry Cooperation and Education. And there were three MoUs that were signed during the presidential visit. And for example in the forestry cooperation that very recently there was big group of Indonesian specialist went to Finland, and there was workshop that was tied this MoU. And this forestry cooperation has been going on between Finland and Indonesia for several decades already," said Finnish Ambassador to Indonesia, Jari Sinkari, in a special interview with RRI World Service Voice of Indonesia in Jakarta recently.

Furthermore Jari Sinkari said, Finland which has the best education system in the world is conducting an education project in Purwakarta, West Java specifically for young people. Besides that, according to Jari Sinkari, cooperation between Indonesia and Finland which this year commemorates its 101st national day was also established in other fields, such as in maintaining peace. (VOI/Viqran Shink Khan/AHM)

An Indonesian citizen who was kidnapped in Sabah waters, Malaysia, and later held hostage in the Sulu Islands, Southern Philippines, was successfully released and handed over to the family, an official stated.

The ill-fated citizen Usman Yunus (35) was handed over by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs AM Fachir to the former`s family brought in from Polewali Mandar, West Sulawesi.

Usman, in his homecoming to the country, was accompanied directly by the Indonesian Ambassador to the Philippines, Sonny Sarundajang.

"The government uses all of its assets to free the hostages. But the situation in the southern Philippines, due to martial law, makes efforts should be done very carefully to ensure the safety of the hostages," AM Fachir said in a written statement, in Jakarta on Thursday.

Usman was released on December 7, 2018. Following his release, Usman underwent a medical examination at the Armed Forces Hospital in Jolo, Sulu, Southern Philippines.

According to the statement, Usman was then taken to Manila to manage the immigration administration for his returning home.

"Thank you, (Mr) President and Foreign Minister, I am almost desperate. Alhamdulillah (Thank God, my husband is free," said Usman’s wife, Julianti, to Vice Minister Fachir while meeting with Usman.

Usman was kidnapped along with another Indonesian citizen, Samsul Saguni (40), by armed groups in waters near Pulau Gaya, Samporna, Sabah (Malaysia) on September 11, 2018. Usman was held hostage for two months and 26 days.

"On the direction of the Foreign Minister, I communicated directly with the Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to seek liberation. Therefore, all parties in the Philippines support the efforts that we have made", said Ambassador Sonny Sarundajang.

From 2016 to November 2018, 34 Indonesian citizens were taken hostage in the southern Philippines. A total of 33 of them have been released.

The Indonesian government will also continue to seek the release of Indonesian citizens who are still held hostage.

At the same time, the Indonesian Consulate General in Kota Kinabalu and Indonesian Consulate General Tawau continued to urge Indonesian citizens who work as fishermen in the Sabah region not to go to the sea until there is a guarantee of security from Malaysian authorities. (ANTARA)

During the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN Summit which was held in Singapore, in November, Indonesia was appointed to be the ASEAN-Russia Partnership Coordinator for the period 2018-2021. As the ASEAN-Russia Coordinator, Indonesia proposed three priorities. cooperation, namely counter terrorism, cyber security, and natural disaster management. Regarding cyber security, the Director General of ASEAN Cooperation of the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jose Antonio Morato Tavares, to RRI World Service in Jakarta, recently said, Indonesia and other ASEAN countries are not afraid to cooperate and learn cyber security from Russia.

"Every country has its own rules regarding Cyber ​​Security. It certainly has capacity building, and can share its best practices. So there is no legal umbrella for all, because each country has its own rule. But we can learn from each other. The issue of this accusation in which Russia is conducting cyber crime, is very difficult for us to prove. It is up to the accusing country because the proof is also necessary, so we don't follow it but we see this country has the capability there, so we can learn from them too," said Jose Tavares

According to Jose Tavares, Indonesia and other ASEAN member countries will continue to learn from Russia on a number of issues, especially in the area of ​​capacity building and cyber security. Because Russia has more capabilities in the field of cyber security. ASEAN countries hope to reach a collective agreement about cyber security with Russia. (VOI/Lalu Viqran Shink Khan/AHM)

Indonesian President Joko Widodo officially opened the National Working Meeting of the Indonesian Market Management Association -Asparindo in 2018 on Wednesday (12/12). On this occasion, the President supported the creation of a market ecosystem that was integrated online and offline. President Jokowi said, currently traditional markets in Indonesia have quite high competitiveness in terms of prices with modern shopping centers. Nevertheless, traditional markets still have challenges, especially in terms of order and cleanliness. This should receive attention government so that traditional markets are not abandoned by buyers. According to the President, in addition to traditional market rejuvenation efforts, the steps to sell traditional market products using technology also need to be developed.

"Therefore it is necessary to go forward. It is necessary to build a connected online and offline ecosystem. The market is offline, how can it be connected to the online one. The two systems must be connected, the market is fast developing. Because on the price side it can compete, the figure is indeed far away. 2,000 with 3,400, 2,000 with 3,500," said President Joko Widodo.

Furthermore, President Joko Widodo said that the payment system in traditional markets should also use Electronic Data Capture-EDC which can minimize the use of cash payments. According to Jokowi, the introduction of such technology is aimed to enhance traditional market competitiveness among a number of modern shopping centers. Regarding this, the President at the opening of the Asparindo National Working Meeting, themed Digitizing the People's Market, asked the Minister of Communication and Informatics, Rudiantara to intervene so that this program could run immediately. (VOI/Ndy/AHM)