VOInews, Jakarta: The Indonesian Culinary Association of Victoria (ICAV) in collaboration with the Indonesian Consulate General in Melbourne successfully held the 2024 Indonesian Street Food Festival (ISFF) on 16-17 March 2024. The head of the 2024 ISFF Committee Michael Samsir said this activity could become an annual agenda that the Melburnian can enjoy.
"We are proud to be able to hold the Indonesian Street Food Festival for the first time in Melbourne's traditional market and we hope that it can become an annual agenda that can be enjoyed by the people of Melbourne," said Michael Samsir in a statement received on Wednesday (20/3) in Jakarta.
This activity with the theme "From Bali to Jakarta" can take visitors to explore Indonesia through the taste of Indonesian food snacks, arts and culture through regional dances, regional songs and music, traditional clothing, and even martial arts.
The ISFF festival also introduces Eastern Indonesian cultures such as traditional Papuan clothing worn by the presenters. Apart from that, there were regional dance performances from East Nusa Tenggara, the excitement of the Maumere line dance which was participated in by visitors, and the Papeda workshop which allowed visitors to taste typical food made from sago originating from the islands of Maluku and Papua.
The Indonesian Consul General in Melbourne, Kuncoro Waseso, said he was proud of the Indonesian Culinary Association of Victoria (ICAV) for organizing this event. "I am proud of ICAV for initiating this activity. I am also grateful to all the Indonesian diaspora who have helped make this event a success," he said.
Meanwhile, Australian citizen Giorgina said she was very happy to be able to visit the Indonesian Snack Festival because she admitted that she liked Indonesian food, especially spicy food.
“I like Indonesian food, especially spicy food, so I'm happy to be able to come to this festival. "One more thing, this is the first time I have tried papeda and yellow fish sauce, the taste is extraordinary," said Giorgina. (Daniel)
VOInews, Jakarta: Indonesian Ambassador to Namibia Wisnu Edi Pratignyo expressed the need for training support to increase the optimization of natural resource processing in Namibia. Wisnu gave an example that by increasing such training, the people of Namibia can create marketable products to improve the country's economy.
"For example, they have clay, but they can't make full use of it. They only know how to make bricks. Even though they can make various kinds of products. They have gemstones. (in making use of those raw materials) they need trained personnel. "How to process the stones into more valuable products and so on. So overall that is what the Indonesian Embassy is doing to assist (to provide training)," said Wisnu Edi to Voice of Indonesia (01/03).
Wisnu said that Namibia has oil and gas wealth but still lacks skilled workers. He took the initiative through the Owned Business Entity to provide training to several workers from Namibia.
"Namibia has oil and gas, now we are in the final stage of exploration. Namely, we are providing skill training to several Namibian workers to be trained by Pertamina in Indonesia, at the Training Center, in Cirebon for drilling. Based on the plan, it will start on April 1 this year for several months," said Vishnu Edi Pratignyo.
Previously, Wisnu revealed that Indonesia has provided training in the fisheries and marine sector in 2023.
"In 2023, we also provided training to one of the educational institutions here, namely fisheries and marine education, which was sponsored by the Indonesian Ministry of Transportation, quite a large value of USD 256,000, that was also in the form of training. So in my opinion, Namibia still really needs training "what we can supply, what we can give to them, this is very important," he explained.
Namibia is one of sixteen countries on the African continent in which the Indonesian representative office is based. Indonesia-Namibia diplomatic relations have been established since May 13, 1991, a year after the independence of the former German colony. Namibia has abundant natural and mineral resources but they have not been exploited optimally. (VOI/Daniel)
VOInews, Jakarta: Deputy Head of the Indonesian Representative Office in Vienna, Akio Alfiano Tamala, is optimistic that Indonesia-Austria relations are becoming stronger considering the seventy years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
"Regarding how the two countries relation is developed, especially in the context of these 70 years, I am optimistic that relations between Indonesia and Austria in the future will be closer, increasingly improving, and both countries can certainly benefit from this good relationship," said Akio Alfiano to Voice of Indonesia, Tuesday (5/3) in Jakarta.
Akio believes that diplomatic relations between the two countries are getting stronger due to various factors such as the similarity of the Non-Aligned principles adhered to by both countries.
"I think there are actually three capitals that we can use as opportunities to improve relations, especially politically, as stated earlier, the two countries shared similarities, neutrality so that they can both stand in the same position, to discuss, to sit down and talk about world problems will also be more convenient because they have same principles," he said.
Apart from that, Akio assessed that the interest of the Indonesian-Austrian people in getting to know each other's culture is also an asset for improving bilateral relations.
"(Besides) people-to-people contact (between the people of the two countries), they also intensively promote music, through classical music of course in Indonesia," continued Akio.
"And then the last thing is that we hope that with (the optimization of) this port, economically our relations with Austria will further improve our trade relations with Austria," said Akio Alfiano.
Akio Alfiano Tamala outlined the prospects for cooperation between Indonesia and Austria, including in the fields of environmental technology, law and tourism.
"They have a waste processing building in the middle of the city that is odorless, clean, and the building is even unique, (the design of a building) made unique so that it attracts tourists to take photos. "These may also be things we can explore to develop cooperation," he said.
In addition, according to Akio Alfiano Tamala, cooperation in the legal sector can be carried out considering that Austria is a pioneer in constitutional law in the world. In the tourism sector, Indonesia and Austria are world-class tourist destinations with their characteristics. It is recorded that approximately 40 million total tourists visit Austria every year.
"And I think maybe Indonesia can exchange ideas, can discuss with Austria how to improve tourism, tourism management, the tourism industry, including promotion, because we know, for example, here in Austria there is something called the city of Hallstatt for example, which was promoted as filming location for the film Frozen," he said. (VOI/Daniel)
East Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara has a natural tourism spot which is worth visited, namely Tanggedu Waterfall. Tanggedu Waterfall is also often called as the "Grand Canyon" of East Sumba, because of its location between beautiful cliffs. The location is in Tanggedu Village, Kanatang sub district, about 46 kilometers from Waingapu City, the capital of East Sumba. To arrive at Tanggedu Waterfall, it takes approximately two hours from Waingapu. During the trip, the visitors can enjoy beautiful panoramic view. From Tanggedu village, Tanggedu Waterfall can be reached through a 3 kilometre’s trek.
Tanggedu Waterfall is open daily from 08.00 AM to 17.00 PM local time. The entrance ticket price is 5,000 Rupiah. Upon their arrival at Tanggedu Waterfall, visitors will be greeted by the sound of gurgling water flowing from a height of about eight meters. There are two waterfalls from different river flows. The water is very clear and clean, so you can see the blue bottom of the pool. This pool is quite wide and shallow, so visitors can swim or do body raft.
Besides swimming, please visitors can also capture the moment by taking photos. Tanggedu Waterfall provides several interesting natural photo backdrops. Each background provides a unique image. Visitors can pose with a waterfall in the background. The photo angle that is no less interesting is the background of the rock cliffs on the left and right banks of the river. Apart from that, the bathing pool with various coloured rock reliefs around it is a beautiful photo spot. For facilities, a restaurant and bathrooms are available there.