VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Industry ministry and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) encourage all parties in Indonesia to do actions to reduce plastic pollution.

About 13 million tons plastis waste going to the sea affected environment worldwide every year, UNDP estimated.

"Therefore, the government, private sector and community should share responsibility to handle this plastic waste," the ministry`s Industry research and development agency head Ngakan Timur Antara said in a press release on Sunday.

The efforts to reduce plastic waste can be carried out in three ways including minimizing the use of disposable plastic product, using alternative materials that more easily decompose and recycling plastic waste into goods which have economic value.

Using biodegradable plastic can be one of the solutions to reduce plastic waste, Antara said.

"However, it is not so popular among non-retailers because it is relatively pricey compared to conventional plastics," he explained.

Not only biodegradable plastic technology that promises changes in plastic consumption pattern in the society, but also edible coating which began to grow in use.

Edible coating material, which has plastic-like characteristics and commonly used in the food industry, is usually made from vegetables such as tapioca flour that is more environmentally friendly and certainly edible.

Antara believes that in the future, more technology will be emerged to help solve plastic problems, but putting plastic into the circular economy is considered as the fastest solution today.

"A simple example of how people can contribute in the circular economy is by throwing the trash in the garbage can or the collecting point," he said.

He also mentions that one of the leading cosmetic brands even rewards some points to their customers who return the used packaging. The points are redeemable in rupiah which can be spent on products from the brands.

Another action is plastic straw reduction that has been initiated by a famous fast food franchise in Indonesia.

Such movements has in fact, created new opportunity of promoting eco-friendly and sustainable straws made by bamboo or stainless.

UNDP Indonesia Senior Programme Manager Anton Sri Probiyantono said, the risks posed by plastic pollution to the environment and human health have driven the international community to act through the global movement of "Beat Plastic Pollution" in the framework of World Environment Day on June 5.

"We want to encourage everyone to start doing something simple in everyday life to save the environment", he noted.

In order to contribute to the goal of reducing plastic pollution, Industry Ministry and UNDP held special events through exhibitions of photography and art installations made by plastic waste, workshop of dyeing fabric shopping bags, waste sorting contests and documentary films on sustainable development.

This activities are expected to target the Indonesian young generation to raise their attention to the issue of environmental development.

Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto has confirmed the commitment to encouraging the growth of sustainable and environmentally friendly industries, one of them through biodegradable plastic producers to increase production.

This effort is expected to contribute significantly to environment preservation.

"Within two years, the product (of biodegradable plastic) is expected to be 10 times fold, so it will not only replace the shopping bag but also packaging as a whole, and not only in modern market but also traditional," he said.

To that end, the minister spurred the increase of biodegradable plastic production up to five percent of the current national capacity of 200 thousand tons per year to replace conventional plastic.

"Meanwhile, plastic consumption in Indonesia reaches five million tons per year, and only 50 percent can be met from the domestic industry," he said.

Moreover, the Indonesian government is actively promoting the concept of a circular economy with a principle known as 5R comprises of reduce, reuse, recycle, recovery, and repair. (ANTARA)

Indonesia is targeting the American market as the main destination for local streetwear brands to expand their business.

Streetwear fashion was born from skate and surf cultures in the US, Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) deputy head Ricky Pesik stated in Jakarta on Friday.

The US is also Indonesia`s largest export market for Indonesian fashion products, with an export value of US$4.72 billion.

"The biggest commodity for fashion products to the United States comes from the apparel industry," he said, especially since the young generation prefers to buy independent products made by artisans that have certain characteristics, he added.

Streetwear fashion, he added, will provide the opening for Indonesian artisans to introduce their local products.

Fashion observer Khairiyyah Sari said that although streetwear clothing originally came from America, local Indonesian brands have successfully developed their products with unique characteristics.

It also became the artisan`s main source of capital for its products to be marketed globally.

"In America, these brands have stories behind them. Therefore, Indonesian products also need a good story as their selling points," she said.

Indonesia`s competitors in the streetwear industry, according to her, are Japan and South Korea, as these two countries` products have unique and detailed designs.

"Their enthusiasm to make good clothing is their strategy to profit in the global market," she said.

For the first time, Bekraf supports five local brands to showcase its products at the largest streetware exhibition, "Agenda Show", in California, USA, from 28-30 June 2018.

One of the participating brands is the "Paradise Youth Club". The brand owner, whose products are inspired by the style of the 90s, Hendrick Setio, said his participation in the exhibition, which will be represented by 50 countries, can become their opportunity to penetrate the American market.

"We already have distribution channels in some countries, such as in the UK and South Korea, but until now we have not found the right distributors in the US. Hopefully, by participating in this event, we can find the right one," he said.

The other four brands that will showcase their products in the US are "Elhaus", which focuses on men`s and denim outfits, "OldBlueCo", the classic denim focus born from American miners, "Monstore", which creates clothing oriented to history and then combines it with pop art, as well as "Popmeetpop" which is very creative with modern denim designs. (ANTARA)

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said he was optimistic the 1,167 kilometer Trans Java toll road extending between Merak in the western end of Java and Banyuwangi in the eastern coast of Java would be fully completed by the end of 2019.

"The toll road will increase the mobility of people, facilitate distribution of goods and the logistic cost would be cheaper," Jokowi said after officially commissioning the Gempol-Pasuruan toll road project on Friday.

The 20.5 kilometer Gempol-Pasuruan toll road is part of the Trans Java toll road project in East Java.

The president said construction of toll road projects, which are crucial for goods and service distribution, has been completed one by one.

The government has given high priority to infrastructure development mainly in the transport sector in its economic development program.

Massive infrastructure projects including toll roads, railways , ports and airports have been built or under construction all over the country.

The president was accompanied by Public Work and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono, East Java Governor Soekarwo, Head of the Toll Road Regulator (BPJT) Hery Trisaputra Zuna, and Chief Executive of state-owned toll road developer PT Jasa Marga Desi Arryani when commissioning the Gempol-Pasuruan section of the Trans Java toll road project.

The section was built by PT Transmarga Jatim Pasuruan (TJP) a subsidiary of PT Jasamarga Gempol Pasuruan (JGP).

It was built at a total cost of Rp4.03 trillion including Rp2.82 trillion in loan from a bank syndicate. (ANTARA)

The Indonesian Trade Ministry that has targeted export value rise for 11 percent in 2018 has an opportunity to fulfill the target through Shanghai Expo that will be held on November 5^th to 10^th , 2018. On the gathering occasion at Main Building Auditorium of Indonesian Trade Ministry on Friday, June 22^nd 2018, Trade Minister, Enggartiasto Lukita mentioned that Indonesia will make an effort to increase export value with many countries, especially China.

“In Tokyo early this month, we will hold a bilateral meeting with several countries, including People’s Republic of China to discuss possibilities that we can do to increase our export. There are many products that we will put on the Shanghai Expo. Now, we have an extra quota because of Indonesian President meeting with Prime Minister Li Ping; the extra quota is at least 500 thousand tons of CPO and we will also see the textiles products or garment and steel product because I heard that China is over supply. So, everything has a chance, we will see later and we’ll talk about it,” Enggartiasto Lukita said.

Furthermore, Director General of National Export Development of Trade Ministry, Arlinda said that Indonesia will do transaction as much as possible in the Shanghai Expo to fulfill the trade target with China.

“As much as possible yes so it means that if I’m not mistaken, we have a target worth $45 billion dollars but we have deficit with China for about $15 billion dollars. So, we have to do great effort. Actually, there are many countries that have good potency to do trade with us, but we haven’t tried to do it,” Arlinda said.

Arlinda added that the Trade Ministry targets Africa as one of the regions that has high potency to establish trade cooperation. Food commodity is one of the potencies to trade with African regions, such Kenya and Ethiopia, including Turkey. (VOI/NK/RHM)