VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian Ambassador to Sweden, Kamapradipta Isnomo called for Mayor of Gothenburg, Anneli Rhedin to jointly boost the economic relations, particularly between Indonesia and business people in Gothenburg.  He mentioned that  Sweden is an important partner for Indonesia in the Nordic region and both countries still have many opportunities to further increase the value and volume of trade and investment. The Indonesian Embassy in Stockholm in its written statement on Tuesday (21/9) stated that  Ambassador Kamapradipta noted, by applying the  implementation  of the Job Creation Law and an increasingly conducive business environment, Indonesia has opened up opportunities for Swedish companies to establish production and distribution hubs in Indonesia in order to reach domestic, Southeast Asia and Pacific markets.

Ambassador Kamapradipta at the meeting on Monday (20/9), also expressed his congratulation on the 400th anniversary of Gothenburg City. He told the long history of relations between Indonesia and Gothenburg through Swedish East India Company travel, which ever dropped in Batavia since the trading company was formed in 1731. Ambassador Kamapradipta hopes that Indonesia can participate in the city's big celebrations by 2023.

Besides meeting Mayor Anneli Rhedin, the Indonesian Ambassador also met  the CEO of the Gothenburg Business Region, Patrik Andersson to explore opportunities for cooperation in green city development. Recently, Gothenburg  has launched  the green city zone project, including three inter-connecting regions: Lindholmen, downtown of Gothenburg and Forsaker. The project is a trial site for city planning design, infrastructure, and emission-free transportation technology. The Gothenburg Green City Zone is a joint project with the Gothenburg City government with the business and education sectors, including the Research Institutes of Sweden, the Volvo Group and Gothenburg University. To follow up  the results of meeting with business stakeholders in Gothenburg, the Indonesian Embassy in Stockholm will explore sister-city cooperation with cities in Indonesia that have commitments and plans to develop green cities.

Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi called for the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes during the virtual meeting of the 65th General Conference of the World Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Monday (20/9).

It is undeniable, according to Minister Retno Marsudi, nuclear weapons can indeed be a terrible weapon. Currently, the world is still not completely free from the threat of nuclear weapons and the nuclear arms race is still going on. But at the same time, nuclear can also be used for purposes that benefit human beings. Thereby, three important aspects must be ensured. They are safety, security, and nuclear safeguards.

Minister Retno Marsudi called for all parties to continue to encourage the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. One of its applications is the use of nuclear technology to develop superior rice varieties. Since 2013, Indonesia, represented by the Food Crop Breeding Research Group (PAIR) in collaboration with the IAEA and the World Food Agency (FAO) has developed 23 new rice varieties. Indonesia's achievements have been appreciated by the international community and won the FAO/IAEA Outstanding Achievement Award twice in 2014 and 2021.

Minister Retno was honored to receive the FAO/IAEA Outstanding Achievement Award. This award is a form of acknowledgment of the socio-economic impact of the collaboration and evidence of nuclear contributions to sustainable development. In addition, nuclear technology can also play a major role in efforts to overcome pandemics, namely to detect new virus variants and prevent future pandemics.

Indonesia is committed to continuing to support the IAEA in increasing the capacity of developing countries' nuclear science and technology, through inclusive technical cooperation, including through South-South Cooperation.

The IAEA's 65th General Conference (GC) takes place from September 20 to 24. The GC is an annual conference at the UN Headquarters in Vienna since 1956, which has been held for IAEA member countries to determine the direction of the IAEA's policy in ensuring the use of nuclear energy and technology solely for peaceful purposes.

The number of productive people in Indonesia surpasses the elderly and children. Yet, the population will undergo aging where the productive people will decrease in 2035 until 2040, and the elderly will increase. Statistics Indonesia (BPS) showed that the number of people 65 years old and older will increase by 25 percent or 80 million in 2050 from 25 million in 2019.

If the welfare, health, and social existence of the elderly are not taken care of well enough, the elderly will become a burden for the productive people both in familial level and national level.

The Indonesian government keeps paying more attention so that the elderly will not become a burden, namely by keeping them healthy, happy, and productive according to their capacity. One of which was the signing of the Presidential Decree on Elderly National Strategy by President Joko Widodo.

Poverty Eradication and Welfare Director at National Development Planning Ministry, Maliki has said recently that the national strategy consists of five pillars. First is social protection, income guarantee, and individual capacity. Second is elderly's health and quality. Third is elderly-friendly environment development. Fourth is elderly program institution. Fifth is elderly's rights protection and reverence.

Maliki also said those strategies are early steps in realizing self-reliant, prosperous and dignified elderly people.

The National Strategy for Elderly is very urgent. With the presidential decree, the preparation for elderly issues can be implemented sooner. In addition, all should do more efforts in optimizing the elderly population's productivity, especially when facing the oncoming demographic bonus, so Indonesian elderly can be self-reliant, healthy, and prosperous.

If you travel to Madiun City, East Java, please try to taste a variety of delicious foods. The most famous one is Pecel Madiun which is made from a variety of boiled vegetables, including long beans, turi flowers, sprouts, kenikir, spinach, cassava leaves, and papaya leaves, which are doused with peanut sauce. The appealling thing of this Pecel lies in its spicy peanut sauce. Besides Pecel Madiun, there is also another specialty food, namely Sego Jotos or in English means Jotos rice that you must try. In Javanese, Jotos means punch or fist. The name Sego Jotos itself comes from the size of the rice which is the size of an adult's fist.

Sego Jotos contains white rice along with additional dishes, such as tempeh, tofu, eggs and noodles or vermicelli. The white rice is usually wrapped in banana leaves. As an additional menu, usually there are sellers who provide other side dishes, such as Bakwan, egg satay, and Pindang offal. The thing that makes this Sego Jotos special is the Sambal. The sambal is spicy and delicious, perfect for eating with warm rice and a variety of other dishes.

Sego Jotos is usually sold in stalls in the afternoon until the evening. This food is usually sold with a variety of other hot drinks. In Madiun, Sego Jotos is widely sold in roadside food stalls with relatively cheap prices, starting from only Rp. 5 thousand. Sego Jotos has become a daily menu for Madiun residents and is often served at important events. If you are interested in enjoying Sego Jotos, please visit  Madiun City by applying health protocols due to the Covid-19 pandemic.