VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Bank Indonesia (BI) promotes the pearls and Gedogan woven fabric of Pringgasela Village, East Lombok Regency, West Nusa Tenggara -NTB at the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in Bali. Deputy Head of BI Representative at NTB, Wahyu Ari Wibowo said in Mataram on last Tuesday (9/10) that the meeting was an opportunity to meet and interact directly with guests from various countries to promote NTB. He also used the momentum to not only promote pearls and woven fabrics, but also to introduce NTB in general so that it is known to be in normal condition again after the earthquake. Wahyu also said that the promotion of Lombok sea pearls is actually the result of curation, where Lombok is very well known for the quality of its natural products. Likewise, the Pringgasela Gedogan cloth is something that has passed the curation so that it can be promoted at the IMF-World Bank annual meeting. The hope is that both products are increasingly widely known at the international level, thus opening up export. In addition to introducing physical products, he also promoted Pringgasela pearls and woven fabrics by distributing leaflets in English.

Makassar International Eight Festival or commonly called F8 is officially held October 10-14 2018. Around 27 countries attend and witness the excitement of the national event initiated by Mayor of Makassar, Moh Ramdhan Danny Pomanto. Guests are from Japan, United States, South Korea, Italy, Mexico, Malaysia, Australia, Poland, the Philippines, and Spain. Governor of South Sulawesi, Nurdin Abdullah when opening Makassar International Eight Festival 2018 at the Losari Beach Pavilion on Wednesday (10/10) expressed deep appreciation for the implementation of the event known as the F8 carrying the theme ‘Palu Rises Together’. He hopes that this event can continue to improve from year to year. Mayor Danny added, the Center Point of Indonesia Region (CPI) is used as one of the F8 event areas, where there will be a floating market in the form of fishing vessels that will sell their seafood to F8 participants. In the CPI carnival venue, there are also booths that are installed to sell. On the edge of the white sand beach, there will be a dinner with VIP guests. In addition, Mayor Danny explained that in the CPI area, there are also lights that have romantic nuances, adding to the excitement of the F8 event. He said that there are 10 thousand lamps in the form of lanterns, plants and flags of F8 needs. He added, the CPI area take part of ‘Fruit, Food and Fish’ which is part of F8. In addition, there is additional pontoon of Floating Zoo in which there will be animals and crazy bamboo game, a typical one of Ambon City.

The Culture and Tourism Office of Ternate City, North Maluku will build a Tourism Information Center to make it easier for tourists to get tourism information while visiting the area. Head of the Culture and Tourism Office of Ternate, Samin Marsaoly said in Ternate on Thursday that with presence of the tourism information center, tourists visiting Ternate would be easier to choose the tourist objects to be visited, including access and the costs needed to reach them without being accompanied by a tour guide. According to him, the Tourism Information Center will be built next to the resident docks, one of the historical sites in Ternate with the consideration of its location in the city center and it is easily accessible from various directions. The Tourism Information Center will be integrated with Babullah Ternate Sultan Airport and many hotels in the area so that tourists, who have just arrived at Sultan Babullah Airport or those are in hotels, can directly access it. He added, Ternate City has many interesting tourist objects to visit, including six colonial heritage fortresses, Kedaton Sultanate of Ternate, Tolire Lake and marine tourism in the form of beaches and under-water panoramas.

The United States of America feels inconvenient to see the value of Yuan fall. US Treasury Secretary, Steven Munchin in Nusa Dua, Bali on Wednesday (10 October 2018) warned China not to devaluate its Yuan. The US wants this monetary move is discussed in the US-China trade agenda. In fact, that China devaluated its Yuan is not done for the first time when  the US has imposed tariffs on Chinese products. Several years earlier, China also devalued its  Yuan against the US dollar. In August 2015, this action was carried out by China in a bid to boost the performance of Chinese exports which experienced a decline. A weaker Yuan makes the competitive edge of products made in China be able to compete in the global market. When this was carried out, Trump has not been in power in the US and has not yet begun trade war between US and China. As a result, Yuan's devaluation at that time made the flow of funds worth US$8 trillion dollars withdrawn from stock exchanges throughout world. Last April, US President Donald Trump accused Russia and China devalued their currencies, when the US raised interest rates. Since in January 2017,  Trump has served as US president, the US dollar value actually has dropped against Yuan, reaching more than 8%. Why does the United States object to the devaluation of the Yuan, Ruble or other foreign currencies? The answer is if the value of the foreign currencies is low, the products are more competitive. High interest rates in the US make the dollar value rise and make US products more expensive. In addition, if Yuan is evaluated, the application of high tariffs carried out by President Trump towards Chinese products will be in vain. This is due to the high price of Chinese products because of the US tariff, it drops as the value of low Yuan makes the tariffs decrease. In addition to the Yuan or Ruble whose value may be deliberately lowered, Indonesia does not reduce the value of its money. But, Indonesia’s need for dollars is high because of the debt payment needs and imported product. Consequently, this causes the US dollar value has risen significantly so far. Actually, this makes the value of Indonesian products is more competitive. The question is that whether we will take the opportunity to devaluate rupiah to boost revenue though there is an economic slowdown due to the US-China trade war.

Professor of Fishery Faculty of Hasanuddin Univresity, Ambo Tuwo called for the residents of Palu and Donggala not to worry of consuming fish, especially from sea, because it is not dangerous. The call is related to a report that the residents of Palu and Donggala are afraid of consuming sea fish at the post of earthquake and tsunami that killed thousands of people in the region. Prof. Ambo Tuwo said in Makassar, South Sulawesi on Sunday (7/10) that the people should not worry to consume the fish eve though the fish has eaten corpse. Because the fish has naturally underwent energy flow or nutrient cycle. According to him, all foods which enter into the fish’s body will be digested to become protein. People only need to clan it and throw part which is not needed. But, if the people in the region are not sure yet or still worry to consume the sea fish, they can choose other alternative fish sich as fresh fish, dried fish or sea fish from outside Central Sulawesi.

Students of Sebelas Maret University of Surakarta who join Semar Solid team, have succeeded in creating high quality concrete with natural material, namely cow’s bone. Besides cow’s bone, the concrete also uses marble waste. That was stated by one of team members, Panji Pramayswara Pamilih, in Solo, Central Java on Monday (8/10). Panji also said that the concrete has self-compacting concrete type which can be solid by itself. According to Panji, the concrete created by the team, is environmentally friendly, because they use a method in which the concrete can become solid by itself without requiring vibration or other efforts to compact the concrete. Panji Pramayswara Pamilih also explained, in the method, marble waste and cow’s bone are processed as mixture materials in the concrete. The bone is used in the concrete’s structure because it contains large calcium oxide. According to Panji, calcium oxide itself is the largest composition in the cement. Besides chemical element, the marble is also known of having high compressive strength. When tested, the compressive strength of the concrete reaches 20-mega pascal in 24 hours. Another member of the team, Yesika Azzukhruf, said their innovation of the concrete can applied to make road, as it does not need too much time to harden the concrete. As a comparison, common concrete takes 3 days to get 40 percent compressive strength, the self-compacting concrete only takes a day. In addition, using both materials are viewed to be more economical, because it can save cost around 7.78 percent from the common concrete.

Regent of West Manggarai, Agustinus Dula said that Labuan Bajo is ready to welcome the guests of IMF and World Bank annual meeting after the meeting is held in Bali. This was stated by Dula to Antara News Agency in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara on Tuesday (9/10). The regent also said he does not know the exact number of the guests who will come to Labuan Bajo and Komodo National Park in West Manggarai, Flores Island, but it is expected to reach thousands of people. Government of West Manggarai fully supported by the Central government has conducted various supporting infrastructure developments such as roads, sidewalks, and light’s street in the city, clean water, culinary and garbage management to welcome the delegations from various counties. Agustinus hoped the readiness of the supporting infrastructures can give comfort to the guests who will have vacation in Labuan Bajo or Komodo National Park. Besides that, the regent also asked the local people to play an active role to support the visit of the IMF World Bank annual meeting participants who are most;y high ranking officials from various countries. Meanwhile, a number of Police Mobile Brigade apparatus of East Nusa Tenggara Province are deployed to secure instalation of Waemese water management during the guest visit to Labuan Bajo.

Indonesia, one of coffee, tea and cocoa producing countries is participating again in coffee, tea and cocoa exhibition held every two-year in Hamburg. The exhibition is held for 3 days starting from October 10-12, 2018. The goal of the Indonesian participation in COTECA 2018 exhibition is to penetrate Indonesian coffee, tea and cocoa product export to Germany which is the biggest market in European Union with total population of 82 million people. Special for coffee sector, Indonesia’s participation at COTECA 2018 is also aimed to promote Indonesian specialty coffee product to German, which is the potential market. Representative of Indonesian government in Germany, in this regard Indonesian embassy in Berlin, Indonesian Consulate General in Hamburg and also Indonesia Trade Promotion Center (ITPC) of Hamburg along with nine companies exporting coffee, tea and cocoa products, is taking Country Pavilion. During the exhibition, Indonesia participates actively in various activities, among others: Seminar on Luwak and Indonesian coffee by KOPI ROSS company.

To promote Indonesian culture in Switzerland, Indonesian ambassador hands over a set of shadow puppets to Center for Training and Performance of Gamelan of Sion.

Last weekend, it was a historical moment and new momentum for the Center of Training and Performance of Gamelan, Switzerland. Nicole Coppey, the head of the Center on Friday (5/10) directly received a set of shadow Puppet equipment, part of assistance of social program of Bank Indonesia which was handed over by the Indonesian ambassador of Bern, Muliaman D. Hadad and witnessed by the Indonesian embassy’s staffs of Bern. According to ambassador Muliaman Hadad, in the next future, the Center of Sion is hoped to become an Indonesian Cultural Center which can promote other Indonesian arts and cultures such as traditional music and dance, batik making, and carving.

At invitation of commander of Indonesian Peacekeeping Forces in Unifil, South Lebanon, Indonesian ambassador to Jordan and Palestine, Andy Rachmianto, attended “Medal Parade of Garuda Forces of Unifil 2018” in Indobatt headquater, South Lebanon (4/10). In the event which was also attended by Force Commander of UNIFIL, Major General Stefano Del Col and Indonesian ambassador to Lebanon, Achmad Chozin Chumaidy, there was award medal from Secretary General of the United Nations to the commanders and personnel of Indonesian peacekeeping forces for their services in the UN peace mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL). During luncheon held after the parade, force commander Col. Murbianto Adhi Wibowo, who was witnessed by ambassador Ahmad Chozin, has awarded and  pinned Garude Force’s brevet to Indonesian ambassador Andy Rachmianto. The handing over of the brevet is a form of appreciation on the role of ambassador Andy when still officiating as Director of International Security and Disarmament of Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry, in 2013-2017 period, that helped coordinating policy and preparing the sending of Indonesian forces to the UN peace mission in various countries, including UNIFIL.