VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

 Indonesia experienced a period of self-sufficiency in food, especially rice, in the 1980s. At that time,  World Food Organization, FAO even gave a special award to the Indonesian government for its extraordinary achievements. However, many years after that,  the self-sufficiency in rice seems difficult to repeat itself. Very often  Indonesia had  to import rice from neighboring countries, such as Thailand and Vietnam.

Today, during President Joko Widodo and vice-president Jusuf Kalla administration, Indonesia's desire to return to food self-sufficiency, especially rice, chili, corn and onions, is likely to come true. In early 2018, it looks like that Indonesia’s  food self-sufficiency will  be realized soon,  as stated by Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman some time ago.

The desire is further strengthened by the revelation of the Head of Agricultural Counseling and Development Agency of the Ministry of Agriculture, Momon Rusmono. After harvesting rice crop in Kutuk Village, Undaan District, Kudus Regency, Central Java, Sunday (07/01/2018), Momon Rusmono said at present,  the rice import discourse is considered not urgent,  because domestic  rice crop is currently quite abundant.

 Nationally, Momon said, rice stock could reach one million tons, so it is enough to meet the needs for the next two to three months. Especially in the next month there will be a great harvest, so the target of 2018 for the absorption of 3.7 million tons of rice by the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) is likely to be achieved. If this happens, until next year Indonesia will no longer lack of rice, and food self-sufficiency target can be met.

Several efforts have been made by the Indonesian government, in this case the Ministry of Agriculture, to achieve food self-sufficiency. Among others is through the food self-sufficiency Special Effort program in 2015-2017, which focused on three commodities, namely rice, corn, and soybean. In addition, the government is also working to increase the area of planting. Based on data from the Ministry of Agriculture, the national planting area in July-September 2017 reached 1 to 1.1 million hectares per month. It doubled compared to the period before the program, which was only 500,000 hectares per month.

Of course Indonesia's desire to return to a self-sufficient state in  food, especially rice, is not a grandiose desire that can not be achieved. But it's not as easy as turning a palm. It takes the government's hard work and also support from various parties such as agricultural counseling  workers, farmers, traders and other stakeholders.

Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas said on Wednesday (3/1/2018) that he would not exchange Jerusalem with money or gold. In addition, the Palestinians did not reject the negotiations. Spokesperson of the President, Nabil Abu Rudeina said that President Abbas wants negotiations under international law and the resolution states that East Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine.

This statement responds to the statement of US President Donald Trump in social media, if the Palestine is reluctant to negotiate. In addition, President Trump also threatens not to provide assistance to the Palestine. He made the point because of Abbas's statement that rejected US involvement in peace talks with Israel. If America does stop the aid, the impact is serious enough for the Palestinian government.

The amount of US aid to Palestine in 2016 reached nearly $320 million dollars for the construction and security of the Palestine. In addition to that assistance, the US provides security mission assistance in Gaza and the West Bank, which reached more than $300 million dollars. But the voice of the US representative at the United Nations, Nikki Haley is softer that the US will not give more money until the Palestine advances to the negotiation.

In addition to threatening the reduction of funds to the Palestine, President Donald Trump also threatens the termination of aid to Pakistan. He reasons that it is useless to provide 15-year assistance for Pakistan. Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Khawaja Muhammad Asif stated that the United States is only covering up its failure in Afghanistan.

It is expected that Palestine does not depend on US aid. As a country that supports Palestinian independence, Indonesia can play a major role to invite countries to jointly support for aid-fund raising. The Palestinian independency on American aid makes Palestinian government has a stronger bargaining position in negotiations with Israel.

President Joko Widodo established ‘Siber and Sandi Negara –BSSN’. This body was formed through Presidential Regulation No. 53/2017 which was then revised to be Presidential Decree -Perpres No. 133/2017. In the regulation, Head of BSSN and his deputy are directly responsible to the President. The threat in cyberspace is an infinite threat. A serious threat to cyber-terrorism is the threat of terrorism and warfare via cyberspace.

In regard to the establishment, President Joko Widodo said that the existence of BSSN is very important and in the future, it is needed by the state, especially in anticipating the rapid development of cyber-crime in the world. In addition, the threats are increasingly diverse from the development of cyber abroad. So, Indonesia must immediately respond the challenge.

Previously, Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto in presenting his vision and mission before Commission I of the House of Representatives –DPR said  that terrorism, the threat of war, and conflict are global challenges that need anticipating. Among the possible threats, Hybrid war is the one that combines conventional, irregular, and cyber wars. Marshal Hadi also said that on one hand, the rapid development of information technology is also increasingly supporting the movement of individuals or groups of terrorism to realize their interests. On the other hand, cyber warfare must also be a major consideration in the implementation of national defense and security functions.

Meanwhile, during the discussion of Policy Paper of Indonesian Cyber  Diplomacy: Now and Later, November 2017, in Yogyakarta, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared that cyber diplomacy is absolutely necessary to respond to the challenges and problems arising from the development of cyber technology that cannot be separated from millennial communities nowadays. In this regard, Head of the Center for Policy Review and Development of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Fikry Cassidi said that nationally the cyber-technology challenge is well responded by the government. He views that the policy paper is prepared to support national policy in the field of cyber by contributing ideas on defining the position and strategy of Indonesian cyber diplomacy.

The technology of the virtual world is growing rapidly without a clear boundary. Indeed, the government of Indonesia should respond and be pro-active in facing cyber governance through multilateral and regional forums. Without the regulation and legal basis for addressing cyberspace, Indonesia will be powerless in its efforts. At present, almost all aspects use cyber technology in the activity. Moreover, the growth of the Internet and information technology has increased more than eight times since 2000 with more than 3 billion users. Based on the growth and development, colonization and crime can now happen not only in the real world, but also through the virtual world. Therefore, without clear legal basis, the handling of cyber threats and other devices will threaten the existence of the state, not only in terms of security, economy but also socio-culture.