VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

President Joko Widodo held a bilateral meeting with Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Prince Mohammad bin Salman. The meeting was held on the sidelines of the second day of the G20 Summit, at INTEX, Osaka, Japan, Saturday, June 29, 2019.

In the meeting, President Jokowi put forward several things.

First, related to the plan to form a High-level Consultative Council proposed by Saudi Arabia.

As a follow-up to Indonesia's seriousness in this regard, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi discussed it with Saudi Foreign Minister Ibrahim bin Abdulaziz Al-Assaf when the two met on the sidelines of the OIC meeting in Jeddah, May 29, 2019.

"I hope the formation of the council can be inaugurated along with His Holiness's visit to Indonesia which was delayed," said President Jokowi.

The second issue raised by President Jokowi was cooperation between Pertamina and Aramco. Regarding this, the foreign ministers of the two countries have discussed it in Jeddah and agreed to encourage the ministerial meeting of the two countries.

As a follow up, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Ignasius Jonan, BUMN Minister Rini Soemarno, and Pertamina Managing Director Nicke Widyawati had a meeting with Saudi Arabia's Minister of Energy Khalid Al-Falih on the sidelines of the G20 Energy Ministerial Meeting on 16 June 2019 Japan.

It is expected that the cooperation discussion can be completed in October, so that cooperation can be carried out immediately.

Indonesia is also ready to send a team to discuss other cooperation, for example in the field of petrochemicals.

On this occasion, President Jokowi also expressed Indonesia's desire to participate in the economic revolution to achieve Saudi 2030's vision. At present Indonesia has two state-owned enterprises namely Wijaya Karya and Waskita Karya that have experience and have representative offices in Saudi Arabia.

"I convey that Indonesian construction BUMNs are ready to support development in the housing sector or for the construction of NEOM projects," said the Head of State.

In addition, President Jokowi also expressed Indonesia's interest in being involved in the Saudi Arabia railway sector project. For this reason, the President wants the team from both parties to meet to discuss this specifically. (Source: Setkab)

Indonesian Minister of Trade Enggartiasto Lukita with Indonesian Minister of Industry Airlangga Hartarto held a bilateral meeting with the Minister of Economy, Trade and Japanese Industry Hiroshige Seko. The meeting discussed the completion of the General Review of the Indonesian Economic Partnership Agreement (GR-IJEPA) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, on Thursday (9/27).

"Me and Minister Seko have met three times this month. This is because Indonesia and Japan are important partners with various shared agendas in the field of trade, including bilateral issues GR-IJEPA and RCEP, "said the Minister of Trade. 

The Minister of Trade emphasized that Indonesia could benefit economically from GR-IJEPA and RCEP through the use of more open access to goods and services markets and the entry of investment and cooperation in increasing capacity and capacity.

"Seeing the magnitude of this potential, at the moment both parties are trying with every effort to reach a final agreement," he continued.
At this meeting, the two Ministers agreed to work hard so that RCEP multiregional negotiations could be completed before the end of 2019. "Me and Minister Seko agreed that the completion of RCEP was very important and would provide encouragement to trade cooperation amid the trade tensions experienced by the world lately, "Said the Trade Minister.

The bilateral meeting also discussed sector issues, such as the implementation of the New Manufacturing Industry Development Center (New MIDEC) cooperation, the development of the automotive industry, and Indonesian policies related to Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV).

On this occasion the signing of the Framework Document on New MIDEC was carried out under the IJEPA framework between the Minister of Industry and Minister Seko. Framework Document on New MIDEC is a program that can support industrial 4.0 programs. This is due to its comprehensive coverage, which includes the automotive, electronic, textile and food and beverage sectors with cross-sectoral programs which include workmanship, printing, metal welding, SME development, export and import promotion, and green and industrial industries 4.0.

"Indonesia welcomes the signing of the New MIDEC cooperation framework initiated under the IJEPA. New MIDEC will be a program to increase sustainable industrial sector cooperation with Japan. This is in line with industrial policy 4.0 which is being initiated by the government. This cooperation is also a capital to grow together for the future of the two countries, "concluded the Trade Minister.

In addition to conducting bilateral meetings, the Minister of Trade Engaged in attending the CEO Roundtable meeting and one on one business meeting. The meeting was also attended by Maritime Coordinating Minister Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, Minister of Industry, and Head of the Investment Coordinating Board Tom Lembong. In addition, 21 leaders of Japanese companies are investing in Indonesia.

GR-IJEPA Overview
IJEPA is the first bilateral trade agreement owned by Indonesia. This agreement was signed on August 20, 2007 in Jakarta and became effective on July 1, 2008. Based on mandate of article 151 of the IJEPA Agreement, Indonesia and Japan can conduct a review of the implementation and operationalization of the agreement in the fifth year since it was implemented. GR-IJEPA is a momentum to renegotiate the expansion of market access between the two countries, and increase economic cooperation.

The initial meeting (preliminary meeting) of the GR-IJEPA discussion was held in Jakarta on September 12, 2014 and the last (11th) meeting was held on March 26-29 2019 in Tokyo, Japan. At the last meeting, the two countries agreed to announce the completion of the GRIJEPA by the two ministers in the trade sector on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in June 2019 in Osaka, Japan.

Japan is the second largest export destination for Indonesia and ranks third as Indonesia's main import origin country. According to Central Statistics Agency data, in 2018, Indonesia-Japan trade reached USD 37.40 billion with a surplus for Indonesia amounting to USD 1.50 billion. During this period, Indonesia's exports to Japan amounted to USD 19.47 billion. Indonesia's mainstay export commodities to Japan are coal, ore and copper concentrates, precious metal waste and pieces, natural rubber, and insulated wire.

While Indonesia's imports from Japan were recorded at USD 17.97 billion. Import commodities include motor vehicle parts and accessories, semi-finished vehicles, printing machines, cars and other vehicles, and iron platinum rolls. (kemendag)

Collective efforts of the government, business circles and the community are considered successful in maintaining the sustainability of peatlands and oil palm. This was raised in a seminar entitled "Peat Contribution and Sustainable Palm Oil in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals" organized by the Indonesian Embassy in Oslo (28/6) in the Norwegian Business Confederation meeting building (Næringslivets Hovedorganisasjon / NHO) in Oslo, Norway. The seminar was attended by around 80 (eighty) participants from government, academia, business, and NGOs in Norway.

The Indonesian Ambassador to Norway and Iceland, Todung Mulya Lubis, said that the seminar aimed to provide the Norwegian public with the latest understanding of the contribution of the sustainable palm oil and peat head industry to efforts to achieve the targets of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in Indonesia.

"Indonesia's success in preserving oil palm and peat cannot be separated from the collective work of the government, business, and society," said Ambassador Mulya Lubis. "The visit of the Minister of Climate and Environment of Norway to West Papua in February 2019, can witness firsthand the success of Indonesia in preserving the environment. Indonesia can intensify sustainable palm production without reducing the area of ​​forests in West Papua. "

Present as a speaker was Nazir Foead, Head of the Peat Restoration Agency (BRG); Dono Boestami, President Director of the Palm Oil Plantation Fund Management Agency (BPDP-KS); Vemund Olsen, Rainforest Foundation Norway; Prof. Yanto Santosa, Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB); Togar Sitanggang, Deputy General Chair of the Indonesian Palm Oil Businessmen Association (GAPKI); Kristine Vergli Grant-Carlsen, CEO of St1 Norway energy company; Axel Heiberg-Andersen, Corporate Communication Manager of Nestlé Norway; Prof. Pietro Paganini, John Cabot University, Rome; and moderator Pål Davidsen from Rud Pedersen.

Marit Vea, Political Advisor for Norway's Minister of Climate and Environment, said that Norway and Indonesia needed to find a solution to the palm oil issue. "We have managed to find a common interest in the REDD + environmental cooperation program and the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA)," said Marit Vea.

As is known, the Norwegian Parliament in 2017 issued a resolution to reduce the use of palm oil in circulating biodiesel products in Norway. On the other hand, Indonesia continues to strive for the quality of sustainable palm oil, one of which is through the biodiesel program.

"Indonesia is developing technology to convert palm oil into bio-hydrocarbon fuel to produce green diesel, green gasoline and green avtur," said Dono Boestami, Managing Director of BPDP-KS.

Rainforest Foundation Norway, NGOs that are critical of environmental policies in Indonesia actually appreciate the success of environmental preservation in the country lately. "This achievement needs to be appreciated, but a long-term policy is needed to maintain a good trend in environmental preservation in Indonesia," Vemund Olsen said.

Responding to this, the Head of BRG, Nazir Foead, revealed Indonesia's secrets of successfully reducing forest fire hotspots. "Indonesia is developing a peatland monitoring system technology called peatland resotration information and montoring system (PRIMS), which is integrated, online, and directly connected with the Office of the President of the Republic of Indonesia," said Nazir Foead.

Meanwhile, Prof. Yanto Santosa from IPB presented statistical data and historical facts that oil palm is not a direct cause of deforestation of tropical rainforests in Indonesia. The loss of tropical rainforests was drastically caused by transmigration policies in the 1960s, the issuance of Forest Concession Rights (HPH) in the 1970s, and massive forest fires. "The transmigration commodity was not originally oil palm, but coffee, chocolate, candlenut, pepper, and other plantation products. But people tend to compare between past and present only, but forget about the history. Instead, the oil palm planted began contributing to greening of deforested forests in the 1980s, "said the Professor of IPB.

Furthermore, ST1 Norway's energy company claimed at least 40% of the total biofuel was used in the Nordic region. Unfortunately, deforestation has resulted in palm oil getting a serious rejection in Norway. This was justified by Nestle Norway, which became the target of Greenpeace's environmental campaign in 2010. Since then, Nestle has been a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and targets 100% using certified palm oil products in 2020. (indonesian embassy Oslo) 

During the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, President Joko Widodo received many congratulations on his re-election as President of the Republic of Indonesia in the 2019 presidential election.

Head of State Protocol Andri Hadi who accompanied and was close to President Joko Widodo said that almost all heads of state / heads of government who met President Jokowi expressed their congratulations.

"Congratulation ... congratulation," said Andri Hadi mimicking the first words of the heads of state / head of government when meeting President Jokowi.

According to Andri, the speech was conveyed on various occasions on the sidelines of the G20 Summit, such as when waiting for official welcome and family photos, and when the heads of state / head of government will start the Leader's Side Event.

The heads of state / heads of government include US President Donald Trump, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Saudi Royal Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Australian PM Scott Morrison, Dutch PM Mark Rutte, President of France Emmanuel Macron, Italian PM Giuseppe Conte, British Prime Minister Theresa May, Indian PM Narendra Modi and Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez.

In addition, also congratulating President Jokowi was IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. (biro pers)