VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian Vice President, Jusuf Kalla, received his counterpart, Iranian vice president for Women and Family Affairs, Masoumeh Ebtekar, at the Vice President`s in Jakarta on Wednesday, July 11.

The two vice presidents, in general, discussed the strengthening of bilateral cooperation between Indonesia and Iran, especially with regard to Iran`s request to Indonesia for support over the development of Iran`s nuclear agreement or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

"I come to Indonesia, as President Hassan Rouhani`s envoy to President Joko Widodo, to discuss the latest developments in the world nuclear deal, especially regarding US withdrawal," Ebtekar stated, after meeting Kalla at the Vice President`s Office, Jakarta, on Wednesday.

During the meeting, Ebtekar conveyed a long history of cooperation between Indonesia and Iran in various ways and expressed hope that Indonesia would remain in a position to support Iran's nuclear deal.

"Various efforts should be made to defend this nuclear non-proliferation treaty, where the international agreement is based on the UN Human Rights Council to protect the peace and security of the world today," he explained.

In addition, Ebtekar`s visit to Indonesia is also intended to improve bilateral ties between Iran and Indonesia, among others, in the fields of women`s empowerment, trade, economy, and oil and gas.

Earlier, Rouhani had threatened to reduce cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, following the withdrawal of US President Donald Trump from Iran`s nuclear deal JCPOA.

"Iran's nuclear activities are always aimed at peaceful purposes, but it is Iran who will decide on the level of cooperation that it will provide with the IAEA," IRNA quoted Rouhani as saying.

Rouhani blamed Trump for the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal, leading to the complicated situation. If Iran would not benefit from a nuclear deal after the US withdraws from the deal, then Rouhani will make a new decision. (ANTARA)

Ministry of Research Technology and Higher Education (KEMRISTEKDIKTI) Director of Research and Community Services Prof. Dr. Ocky Karna Radjasa, M.Sc., and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Acting Mission Director David Hoffman opened the first Collaboration for Innovation conference at Institut Pertanian Bogor International Convention Center yesterday. This is the first annual gathering of university partners and stakeholders of the USAID Sustainable Higher Education Research Alliance (SHERA) program, a collaborative research partnership program between select Indonesian and U.S. universities implemented with KEMRISTEKDIKTI.

The conference brought together universities, government entities, research and development institutions, the private sectors, non-governmental organizations and donors to discuss ongoing research partnerships and future collaborations while facilitating knowledge exchange among participants. “The United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), has a long history of supporting science, technology and innovative research in Indonesia. We are proud to continue this commitment through the SHERA program,” said Acting Mission Director Hoffman.

USAID SHERA partnerships are increasing the capacity of Indonesian higher education institutions to find solutions for the country’s most pressing development challenges. The program supports five Centers for Collaborative Research (CCR) in science, technology and innovation at lead universities, namely Universitas Indonesia, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Universitas Padjadjaran, Universitas Gadjah Mada and Institut Pertanian Bogor. These universities foster research collaboration with 17 other universities across Indonesia and eight universities in the U.S., namely University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Denver, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Rhode Island; Mississippi State University, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Florida and Savannah State University. The research subjects range from clean water distribution to food security to renewable energy solutions.

“Private sector demand is for innovative ideas that are ready to be put to immediate use—that is, ready to market and commercialize. It’s our responsibility to foster the CCRs in such a way that the research results have market value for the private sector,” said Prof. Dr. Ocky. “The private sector is an untapped resource that can transform these research efforts into greater innovations that can reap greater economic returns and prosperity for Indonesia and other countries around the region and indeed the world,” added Hoffman. (Release)

The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology released “Duta Suporter Indonesia” or "Indonesian Supporters Ambassador" application last week in Palembang to support the 2018 Asian Games. The Lead Team of the Application Development, Enda Nasution in a special interview with Voice of Indonesia in Jakarta said the application was developed to involve Indonesian people from 34 provinces in Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, South Sumatra. Through the application launched on July 7 and 30 days ahead, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology held a competition to elect 68 people as the Ambassador Supporter from every province. According to Enda, the participation of the young generation to become an ambassador of Indonesian supporters is quite high.

"In the next 7 days until last night there have been 12 thousand people signing up, but it is different in each province. There are some provinces with many registrations, but some are not, because we choose a winner in every province. But we have also promoted it in social media. There have been more than 3 million Indonesian people in 34 provinces which have seen this application," Enda Nasution said.

Enda Nasution further explained the selected Indonesian supporter ambassador will get an invitation to attend the opening of the Asian Games 2018. Sixty eight people consist of 1 man and 1 woman from respective province. Supporter Ambassadors are selected on voting basis from the public after they complete they assignments each week. (VOI/SEKAR/AHM)

Indonesian Minister of National Development Planning / Head of National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) Bambang Brodjonegoro is concerned that a US-led trade war will affect regional economic development in Indonesia. Because the impact of trade war has the potential to lead to an area with people who depend on the manufacturing industry, especially textiles. The reason is that textiles become one of the export goods that will be affected by the elimination of Generalized System of Preference (GSP) incentive by the US. This was stated by Bambang on the sidelines of Indonesia Development Forum (IDF) 2018 in Jakarta, Tuesday 10 July.

"How about the potential impact of a trade war? Yes we have to see what sectors are affected, possibly the manufacturing sector. Its manufacturing may be related to textiles. But it could also later if the United States challenges Indonesia regarding the products that currently have GSP (Generalized System of Preferences). Well of course this will also affect Indonesia's exports to the United States. If then we face obstacles from the United States but then we can divert our export products to other countries, then this is not a problem," Bambang Brodjonegoro said.

Furthermore, Bambang Brodjonegoro said Indonesia should still be prepared to face all possibilities of trade war between the US and China. One way that the Government of Indonesia can do is to increase competitiveness so that Indonesian export products can be diverted to other countries if Indonesia gets obstacles from the US related to export. In addition, it is also expected that negotiations by the Government of Indonesia with the US Government will continue to produce the best possible agreement for the interests of both parties. Last week, US President Donald Trump said he would evaluate 124 products or export commodities coming into the country. The US government plans to revoke the special tariffs or GSP incentives that it has from exported products from various countries, including Indonesia. (VOI / Rezha Hadyan/AHM)