President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) installed nine governors and their deputies for the 2018-2023 period at the Merdeka Palace, in Jakarta, Wednesday.

The governors are from South Sulawesi, North Sumatra, West Java, West Kalimantan, Central Java, Bali, Southeast Sulawesi, Papua, and East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).

Jokowi was accompanied by Vice President M. Jusuf Kalla and Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo during the inauguration ceremony.

The newly installed governors and deputies are Nurdin Abdullah-Andi Sudirman Sulaiman of South Sulawesi, Edy Rahmayadi-Musa Rajekshah of North Sumatra, M. Ridwan Kamil-Uu Ruzhanul Ulum of West Java, Sutarmidji-Ria Norsan of West Kalimantan, Ganjar Pranowo-Taj Yasin of Central Java, I Wayan Koster-Tjok Oka Artha Ardhana Sukawati of Bali, Ali Mazi-Lukman Abunawas of Southeast Sulawesi, Lukas Enembe-Klemen Tinal of Papua, and Victor B Laiskodat-Josef Nae Soi of NTT.

The governors and deputies were elected or re-elected during the third simultaneous regional head elections held in 171 regions, comprising 17 provinces, 39 municipalities, and 115 districts across the country, on June 27, 2018.

The number of eligible voters for the pilkada 2018 reached 158 million, or some 80 percent of the total number of eligible voters for the presidential and legislative elections in 2019, which is some 197 million.

Head of General and Cooperation Affairs of the Directorate General of Culture of Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture, Ahmad Mahendra on Tuesday, August 28, 2018 in Jakarta said Indonesiana cultural platform which was formed some time ago would be used to encourage the regions to become organizers of independent and professional cultural festivals. By doing this, he said, it is expected that each region can hold various cultural festivals with their own ideas based on the local values ​​and culture. According to Ahmad Mahendra, currently many regions in Indonesia have realized the importance of promoting local values ​​and local culture. They are also proud and have high confidence in their values ​​and local culture. However, there are still many of them who have not been able to promote the values ​​and local culture they have. Therefore the Indonesiana cultural platform is here to help them.

"So it really needs to be encouraged, the regions need to be encouraged, then they need to be confident, so that immediately they can, Indonesia can, we can. Like that. So the function of Indonesiana is to encourage those who are confident about their area, to their locality so that their ideas emerge. We are like public relations, they never know what kind of social media they are, but after the workshop, after mentoring from public relations on how to perform public relations, they finally do it themselves," said Ahmad Mehndra.

Ahmad Mahendra further explained that the values ​​and local culture of the region have considerable potential for the progress and welfare of the community. Therefore, he encouraged all regions to seriously promote the values ​​and local culture they have and synergize with the central government through the Indonesiana cultural platform. The Indonesiana cultural platform itself has helped the government in various regions to hold four festivals from 13 festivals in 2018. The four festivals include the Foho Rai Festival in Belu, East Nusa Tenggara Province, the International Gamelan Festival in Central Java and the festival on Mount Sintuvu in Central Sulawesi. In addition there are also other cultural festivals that will be held in the near future, including the Multatuli Arts Festival in Lebak, Banten, the Blora Folklore Festival in Blora, Central Java, and the Saman Cultural Festival in Gayo Lues, Aceh, the Nusantara Weaving Festival in North Tapanuli, North Sumatra, Ambonia International Bamboowind Music Festival in Ambon, to Silek Artis Festival in Padang, Padang Pariaman, Solok, Sawahlunto, Tanahdatar, Payakumbuh, and Bukit Tinggi, also South Sumatra. (VOI/Rezha/AHM)

The Indonesian government is currently encouraging the development of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in various regions in Indonesia. The aim is to attract more foreign investors to Indonesia. It is recorded there are 12 SEZs that are currently being built including Tourism SEZ in Mandalika, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) and Tanjung Kelayang, Bangka Belitung Islands. However, related to the development of tourism SEZ, the Government of Indonesia was asked to be aware of the emergence of social and cultural issues due to the exclusivity of the economic activities by foreign investors in the region. The social and cultural issues will certainly be a problem for those in the Special Economic Zones (SEZ), including investors and tourists who visit there. This was stated by the Researcher of the Center for Economic Research at Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) Maxensius Tri Sambodo in a media briefing related to studies at the Mandalika and Tanjung Kelayang Special Economic Zones, Tuesday, August 28, 2018 in Jakarta.

"I had read the Special Economic Zones reference in India, Tourism Special Economic Zones. So it turns out that the Special Tourism Zone would be opposed by the Indians. Because what they feel is that there is an uninclusive enclave for them, high class people enter, they only see the laughters and so on. So, there is a contradiction. It might happen in Indonesia. They see this, how come the people can enter the area? What benefits can the periphery community get from this special zone? This is what we are worried about, because before that, tourism SEZ was special economic zone with social culture issues. Because we are different in nature from the industry. The social culture issue is already crowded. So the investors are not interested in it anymore. What for? So we hope tourists will come again, come again, just like in Bali, said Maxensius.

Maxensius added the Indonesian Government was asked to involve the local communities in economic activities in the SEZ to avoid social and cultural problems. Furthermore, Maxensius said, the success or the failure of tourism SEZ development also requires the role of science and technology and innovation from the local communities. The role of science and technology and innovation is very large to build uniqueness. According to Maxensius, if a Special Economic Zone-SEZ area grows, it automatically needs food supply through the agricultural sector. To open agricultural land certainly needs technology. In addition, aspects of potential disasters and security of tourism facilities must also be considered. So that the safety of visitors are guaranteed in various conditions. (VOI/Rezha/AHM)

Indonesian Minister of Youth and Sports, Imam Nahrowi, said he is proud of the achievements of the Indonesian contingent at the 2018 Asian Games. Because up to the 11th day, Indonesian contingent has managed to gain 24 gold medals, 19 silver and 29 bronze medals. That number is far more than the target set by the government which is only 16 gold and Indonesia’s target to be in the top 10 positions. But until Tuesday (Aug 28), the Indonesian contingent has managed to rank the 4th after China which was firmly in the top position followed by Japan and South Korea in the second and third ranks. Imam Nahrowi, to RRI after watching the final round of single badminton match at Istora Senayan Stadium, Jakarta, said that the achievement of the Indonesian contingent in Asia's four-year multi-event sports was extraordinary and he thanked for the hard work of all team who have jointly worked together to give the best for the country. The minister believes that Indonesia will be able to add more gold medals as there are still many sports predicted to win more medals.

"Thank God. This is an extraordinary gift from Allah, to the Indonesian people, where all our struggles and efforts are accepted and granted and now we can see Indonesia can collect medals. Therefore we continue to encourage the athletes so that in the remaining time until September 1, Indonesian contingent will be able to get more new gold medals," Imam Nahrowi said.

Meanwhile Imam Nahrowi added it has been predicted that Indonesian badminton players are able to gain 2 gold medals from the men's badminton singles Jonathan Christie and Badminton pair Kevin Sajaya / Markus Gideon. According to Imam, Indonesian badminton players often won titles in various super series. For this achievement, the government also promised bonuses not only for gold, silver and bronze medalists but also their coaches and assistants. According to him, until now gold medalists will get a bonus of Rp 1.5 billion which will be disbursed after the the Asian Paragames ends in October. (KBRN/EDWI/AHM)