VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesia successfully held two major events in October 2018. The first one is the Asian Para Games held in Jakarta on 6-13 October 2018. While the second one is the Annual Meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group (IMF-WBG) in Nusa Dua, Bali, 8-14 October 2018. At the 2018 Asian Para Games, Indonesia succeeded in becoming a good host for 43 countries participating in the event. This is evidenced by the statement of the President of the Asian Paralympic Committee -APC, Majid Rashed to the media before the closing ceremony. Rashed was very impressed by the organizing of the third Asian disability sports event in Jakarta October 6-13 2018. According to Rashed, the Asian Para Games Organizing Committee (INAPGOC) has worked very well and professionally. He also said that the 2018 Asian Para Games was much bigger in terms of the number of participants, the number of media that covered and the number of spectators who watched, and more lively than the two previous Asian Para Games. The second event was the International Monetary Fund-World Bank Group Annual Meeting –IMF-WBG held in Nusa Dua, Bali, 8-14 October 2018. Managing Director of IMF, Christine Lagarde and President of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim also expressed their appreciation for Indonesia's success in organizing the international meeting. This appreciation was even followed by the provision of assistance worth US$1 billion dollars for disaster victims in Central Sulawesi and Lombok by the World Bank. The praise and appreciation for the two big events are given because of the hard work and good cooperation among the organizing committee, the government, the security, and the Indonesian people as a whole. At the closing of the Asian Para Games on Saturday, October 13, 2018, Vice President Jusuf Kalla affirmed that the Asian Para Games was more than sports event among Asian countries. He considered that the Asian Para Games 2018 gives a spirit of equality in humanity and is an important momentum or part of the history of Asian nations, especially Indonesia. Hopefully, the 2018 Asian Para Games and the Annual Meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group can give a good impression, not only to the guests who come, but also to the country and the people of Indonesia. The success achieved is a proof that Indonesia is a country that deserves to be taken into account and has more value in international world now and in the future.

Youth and Sports Minister, Imam Nahrawi wrote his pride in Instagram social media accounts for badminton team men's team numbers after presenting Indonesia's first gold medal at the 2018 Asian Para Games after beating Malaysia 2-1 in the final at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Senayan in Jakarta, Sunday (7/10). He also expressed his gratitude for the first gold medal. He hopes the first gold medal won by Fredy Setiawan, Harfizh Briliansyah, Hary Susanto and Deva Anrimusthi to be a good start. Previously, Indonesia first took the first game points through the victory of two direct games won through SL4 men's singles: Fredy Setiawan over Muhammad Nurhilmie, 21-6, 21-12. Unfortunately, Indonesia's efforts to ensure gold earlier failed because the men's double pair: Hafizh Briliansyah Prawiranegara / Hary Susanto was conquered by two games directly 10-21, 17-21 by Cheah Liek Hou / Hoirul Fozi Saaba. Meanwhile, bronze medals were won jointly by Thailand and India. Thailand surrendered in the semi-final in the hands of Indonesia, while India was conquered by Malaysia.

Chief de Mission of the Indonesian Contingent, Arminsyah on Wednesday, October 10 proudly said that the target set by the government in the Asia Para Games event has exceeded.

“We got the news that it was calculated to get 18 gold medals which greatly adds to the assessment of gold is chess. We get 6 gold, and gold for lawn bowls branch. So there are 18 gold in total. We still have more than that, we will get more medals”, saidArminsyah

Arminsyah hopes that the addition of a gold medal will continue to occur for the Indonesian contingent, so that success is not only in the medal acquisition, the country's ranking in the total medals at the 2018 Asian Para Games, but also the existence of a Phycology team that maintains mentality and enthusiasm to compete with other disabled athletes in Indonesia.

The chess and lawn bowls sports branch were able to increase the Indonesian contingent's medal in the 2018 Asian Para Games which took place in Jakarta on Wednesday. This placed Indonesia in sixth temporary position with a total of 23 gold medals, 29 silver and 34 bronze until Thursday afternoon.The Indonesian chess team wins six gold, three silver, and three bronze medals in the chess category. Apart from chess and lawn bowls, the tennis branch contributes three gold medals, two silver and seven bronze medals.In addition, the Red-White Para-athletic team also contributes two gold medals, four silver medals and two bronze medals. Each gold medals was donated by Charisma Evi Tiarani at the women's T42 / T63 100-meter run and Putri Aulia on the women's 100-meter T13. Nurtani Purba in 73 kilograms. Meanwhile, Siti Mahmudah in the 79 kilogram class contributes an additional silver medal to the Asian Para Games weightlifting branch.The mixed ten-pin bowling team: Elsa Maris and Andrey contributed one silver medal in the fifth-day match on the mixed doubles number TPB4. Finally in the Para-swimming branch, Indriani Syuci added a silver medal collection to the S14 butterfly 100-meter swimming number. President Joko Widodo at the Sudirman Hall, Jakarta, Wednesday (10/10) during his visit to the arena of heavy-handed competition, predicted that the Indonesian contingent would win 20 gold medals and exceed the target of 16 gold medals.

Three goals, one from Alberto "Beto" Goncalves's heading and two from Irfan Jaya's kicks brought Indonesian national football team to beat Myanmar 3-0 in FIFA's international friendly on Wednesday (10/10).In the match held at Wibawa Mukti Stadium, Cikarang, West Java, Alberto Goncalves scored in the 19th minute, while Irfan Jaya scored his goal in the 25th and 39th minutes. Indonesian national team coach, Bima Sakti let his two naturalized players: Alberto "Beto" Goncalves and Stefano Lilipaly play from the start to help their team. Bima positioned Irfan Jaya and Febri Hariyadi on the right and left side.Playing with short passes and utilizing wing speed, Indonesia has repeatedly overwhelmed Myanmar's defence. Goals for Indonesia came in the 19th minute. Beto successfully converted Febri Hariyadi's goal tactic into a goal with his heading. Six minutes later, it was Irfan Jaya's turn to act. The player who was plotted as a right wing made good use of Beto's passing to beat Myanmar goalkeeper Sann Sat Naing and the score increased for Indonesia, 2-0. Indonesia continued to press; the third goal was created at the 39th minute by Irfan Jaya again who kicked the ball into the net after receiving a bouncing ball from Beto who hit the post. There were no additional goals afterwards; Indonesia won 3-0 until the match entered the break.Score 3 - 0 lasted until the end of the second round. Although the Bima Sakti coach made a lot of substitutions by providing opportunities for naturalized players: Esteban Vizcarra and Alfath Faathier. Even so, changes in players did not bring about fresh air to score any goals. Esteban Vizcarra had a chance in Myanmar's penalty box in the 85th minute, but his kicked ball was saved by goalkeeper, Sann Sat Naing. No additional goals were created in the second half. Indonesia won 3-0 over Myanmar.

The International Monetary Fund -IMF) called Indonesia's economic growth relatively good amid the heat of trade tension and the global economic slowdown. The IMF estimates that Indonesia's economy will still grow above 5 percent this year. The latest IMF World Economic Outlook (WEO) report projects global economic growth this year stagnates at 3.7 percent. The IMF also revised the 2019 global economic projection from 3.9 percent to 3.7 percent. Meanwhile, Indonesia's economy in 2018 is predicted to grow 5.1 percent or lower than the IMF projection in April 2018 which was 5.3 percent. IMF Chief Economist, Maurice Obstfeld at a press conference at the IMF Annual Meeting - World Bank in Nusa Dua, Bali Tuesday (9/10) said that Indonesia's economic growth projections were revised as the global economy declined. Because Indonesia will be affected by tightening monetary policy in the world, oil prices and trade wars. Even so, he saw Indonesia's economic growth is still quite strong. Based on the WEO report, Indonesia which groups the IMF into ASEAN-5 has the third highest economic growth. The ASEAN-5 countries in question are Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. Indonesia's economic growth rate is higher than Malaysia and Thailand until 2019. Obstfeld also said, the IMF also views Indonesia to be able to maintain a consistent growth rate. He said, the Indonesian economy can grow higher if it is able to take advantage of all the potential it possesses. Indonesia has population growth. Indonesia will get a lot of tax revenue. According to Obstfeld, the government's seriousness in building infrastructure is considered to be a lure of investors to invest in Indonesia. He emphasized that Indonesia's economy is still strong because the rupiah exchange rate against the currencies of trading partner countries other than the United States had depreciated by only about 4 percent since the beginning of the year. The depreciation against the US dollar reaches 10 percent. In addition, the inflation rate is considered to be maintained amid the weakening exchange rate. Previously, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde said that Indonesia's economy has been managed so well that the IMF does not feel the need to provide loans to Indonesia. The same confirmation was made by Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani at a press conference in Nusa Dua, Bali on Monday. According to her, Indonesia will not borrow money to the IMF because the loans are only given to countries that are experiencing a balance of payments crisis. According to Minister Sri Mulyani, the government has already anticipated measures in facing global risks, including running a mixed policy between Bank Indonesia and the Ministry of Finance. She believes that Bank Indonesia's response to US interest rate increases is able to maintain market interest in investing in Indonesia.

A proud achievement was made by a team of students from Bandung Institute of Technology –ITB at the Taiwan Innotech Expo 2018 event. The event took place at the Taiwan World Trade Center at the end of September. The student team consisted of five people from various departments. They are Eka Febriana Triastiningsih (Geological Engineering), Irfan Ibrahim (Geodesy Engineering), Michael Simorangkir (Chemical Engineering), Reza Prama Arviandi (Civil Engineering), and Yudhi Kurniawan (Engineering Physics). The team won a bronze medal in the Communication Technology category through a prototype named NT Obelia 107. Team Leader, Eka Febriana Triastiningsih explained, NT Obelia 107 is a subsea station design that serves as a first step to monitor Indonesia's underwater conditions. Indonesia is rich of underwater natural resources. Through the sub-sea station, the most up-to-date information on the number of natural resources can be obtained. The development of the tool began with the Student Creativity Program held by the Ministry of Technology Research and Higher Education. The design and working principle of NT Obelia 107 is by adapting the morphology and working principle of one of the underwater living creatures, namely Obelia Sp. While number 107 is the longitude coordinate of the location planned for the station to be implemented in Indonesia, namely in the Karimata Strait. The Karimata Strait has a strategic location, the outermost waters of Indonesia and is in line with other countries. By monitoring from the station, it will simultaneously be able to monitor Indonesia's defense and security. As for the building structure, Eka added, the prototype has been categorized to be feasibly implemented. This design can also be implemented in the deep sea and resistant to the physical conditions of the deep sea. The material planned in The Taiwan Innotech Expo 2018 event was attended by many countries. From Indonesia, there are six participating universities. In addition to innovation competitions, there is also an exhibition of innovative product works. Eka hopes that students who have good ideas in creating innovative products can showcase their work by participating in competitions. In the future, because it is still a prototype, the NT Obelia 107 tool will be developed again so that it can be marketed. the implementation of this design is steel and concrete.