VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Fajar / Rian got  title in the Swiss Open Super 300 .  In the final, Men Double, Fajar Alfian / Mohammed Rian beat Lee / Wang Chi Lin from China Taipei. Before the tournament, Fajar and Rian was semifinalist of the All England. After this they will directly fly to Hong Kong to take part in Indonesia's squad. (badmintonindonesia)

The official opening activities of the "International South Pacific-Indonesia Entrepreneurship Camp: Sharing Experience to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)". Support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the "Indonesia-South Pacific Forum (ISPF)" 2019. (kemlu)

ASEAN and Japan agreed to explore new initiatives for cooperation to further advance their strategic partnership following the 13^th ASEAN-Japan Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) Meeting held at the ASEAN Secretariat on 14 March.

The meeting underscored the commitment of both sides to build on their achievements to take the relations to a greater height. It acknowledged that substantive progress had been made in the implementation of the Plan of the Vision Statement on ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation with the conduct of a large number of activities and projects in more than 90% of the action lines under the Plan since its adoption in 2017. A number of activities have also been planned in 2019 such as the continuation of the Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths programme or the adoption of a joint statement on connectivity by the Leaders at their Summit in November this year.

Both sides noted the importance of continuing efforts to advance cooperation in the areas of common strategic priorities, such as trade and investment, infrastructure; disaster management; humanitarian assistance; people-to-people exchanges; as well as emerging areas responding to the 4.0 Industrial Revolution such as e-commerce and cybersecurity.

ASEAN welcomed Japan’s continued support for ASEAN Community-building including its contribution to the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund to support cooperation programmes and projects aimed at enhancing connectivity and narrowing development gaps in the region. Both sides agreed to further streamline and provide necessary flexibilities to facilitate the utilisation of the Fund. The meeting also discussed preparations for the implementation of the Technical Cooperation Agreement between ASEAN and Japan which is expected to be signed in May this year.

ASEAN and Japan also exchanged views on recent developments in their respective region. ASEAN welcomed Japan’s continued support for ASEAN’s central role in ASEAN-led regional frameworks.

The 13^th ASEAN-Japan JCC Meeting was co-chaired by Permanent Representative of Viet Nam to ASEAN Tran Duc Binh and Ambassador of Japan to ASEAN Kazuo Sunaga. It was attended by members of the Committee of Permanent Representatives to ASEAN and their representatives as well as the Deputy Secretary-General for ASEAN Political -Security Community Department of the ASEAN Secretariat.(asean)

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has ordered the extension of Ferdinand Lumban (FL) Tobing Airport's runway in Sibolga, Central Tapanuli district, North Sumatra province.

"When I had just descended from the plane at the airport, the Central Tapanuli district head proposed the extension of the runway. (The Sibolga) mayor also proposed the extension of the runway to enable wide-bodied planes to land," the president said while inaugurating Sibolga port in Central Tapanuli on Sunday.

The president further ordered Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi who was also present at the inauguration ceremony to extend the airport's runway.

"How many flights are there from Jakarta (to Sibolga) everyday? There are one flight (from Jakarta) and two to three flights from other regions. I hope the number could be increased to more than seven to boost the economy," he said.

The government was encouraging the growth and improvement of land, sea and air transportation services, he said.

"Mr. Transportation Minister will calculate it (the cost) so not only sea transportation but also air transportation will grow. The palm oil and mining industries here begin to grow well and that we must pay attention to facilities related to land, sea and air transportation services," he said.

He believed that after the central government had built infrastructures regional governments could prepare new economic growth centres.

"Our task is preparing infrastructures, while the tasks of provincial, municipal and district governments is preparing new economic growth centers. I believe there will be more companies engaged in mining, palm oil and fishery sectors here the more so because facilities including processing units have been built," he said.

State port operator PT Pelindo 1 has completed the construction of Sibolga port including the arrangement of multi-purpose terminal, the expansion of pier for containers and general cargoes, the expansion of ferry pier, the construction of container yard and the instalation of fix crane.

Also present at the inauguration ceremony were First Lady Iriana Joko Widodo, State Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno, Chief of the Presidential Staff Moeldoko, North Sumatra Governor Utara Edy Rahmayadi, Deputy Chief of the Golkar Party's Honorary Council Akbar Tanjung, Pelindo 1 President Director Bambang Eka Cahyana, Central Tapanuli District Head Bakhtiar Ahmad Sibarani, and Sibolga Mayor Syarfi Hutauruk. (ant)