VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Bilateral relations between Indonesia and Russia have been established for a long time, starting from the cooperation with Soviet Union during the post-independence era.  The closeness of the Red Bear with Indonesia at that time has made Indonesia be respected in Asia and the world. At that time, Indonesia received some great support from Soviet Union, namely in infrastructure and military. 

Today, relations between Indonesia and Russia continue. Various collaborations are being improved. To further strengthen the relations, Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov made an official visit to Indonesia on Tuesday (6/7).

In a press conference after the meeting, Minister Lavrov said that the visit to Indonesia was to strengthen two countries' relations. He affirmed that both countries will strengthen cooperation in security, technology, trade, investment, and humanism. Economic cooperation will also be increased, following the trade target failure in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno LP Marsuid said that amid the pandemic, Indonesia and Russia are strengthening cooperation in the health sector. Russia has earlier provided support, such as health equipment. In the near future, medicine and Sputnik V vaccine will be shipped to Indonesia.

Minister Retno Marsudi further stated that Indonesian Foods and Drugs Monitoring Agency had visited Russia to observe the production process of Sputnik V. The Sputnik V will be produced in Indonesia for the Mutual Cooperation Gotong Royong vaccination program. She also affirmed that all cooperation to handle the Covid-19 pandemic will comply with the regulation and guidance of the two countries' health authorities and World Health Organization -WHO.

With tight cooperation in the health sector, the Sputnik V production between Indonesia and Russia will accelerate the national vaccination program. Indonesia plans to order 20 million doses of Sputnik V for the program.

Meat Village is located in Tampahan District, Toba Regency, North Sumatra. This village is one of 34 spots for developing Lake Toba tourism which was initiated by the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy. Located under the hills with a population of approximately 900 people with a village area of approximately 300 hectares, the residents of the Meat Village make a living as fishermen and Ulos craftsmen. The  Meat Village is also one of the locations for the annual '1000 Caldera Tent' event. This event is the only village community-based festival that aims to develop tourism through an artistic and cultural approach.

In addition, the village which is estimated to be 300 years old also has several traditional Batak houses; one of which is decorated with typical Batak carvings. There are also paintings of people wearing VOC uniforms worn during the Dutch colonial era. Villages that still uphold their culture through traditions that are still being carried out today are the advantages of this tourism village. The facilities for tourists who visit this village are quite complete, ranging from homestays that are being built, restaurants typical of the Meat village community to toilets that are kept clean.

The village can be reached within 30 minutes from Sisimangaraja XII International Airport or Silangit Airport by motor vehicles and it presents a stretch of green hills from a height with the arrangement of village hamlets located far apart in the background. At first glance, the scenery looks like New Zealand or the rice fields in Bali. The green hills with terraced rice fields and a view overlooking Lake Toba fascinate anyone who comes to visit.

Stunting is still a major issue which is being faced by Indonesia. According to the Ministry of Health, stunting is a condition in which toddlers have a length or height that is less than their age. Stunting in toddlers includes chronic nutritional problems caused by many factors, such as socioeconomic conditions, maternal nutrition during pregnancy, infant morbidity, and lack of nutritional intake in infants. Stunting toddlers in the future will have difficulty in achieving optimal physical and cognitive development.

In 2019, the National Development Planning Agency determined 160 Cities and Regencies which were priorities for stunting management. One of them is Subang Regency in West Java Province. The Center for Appropriate Technology Research as a government institution has the responsibility to help reduce the prevalence of stunting in Indonesian toddlers, especially in Subang Regency through the Nutritious Local Food Innovation program. Through the National Research Priority for Revitalizing Food Security and Nutrition for Stunting Prevention, Ainia Herminiati and the LIPI team conducted a research 'Application of Micronutrient Premix in Complementary Foods for Mother's Milk (MP-ASI) and Its Effectiveness for Prevention of Stunting Toddlers in Subang Regency'. Ainia and the team have developed products that can be consumed by toddlers, including pudding and instant baby porridge as complementary food for mother’s milk (MP-ASI) for babies aged 6 to 24 months. The instant porridge product as MP-ASI which is given the brand 'Pro Babies' uses the basic ingredients of mocaf flour which is produced by Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in Tanjung Siang District, Subang Regency. Mocaf flour is an intermediate product from cassava. Supporting food crops of agricultural development programs and activities in West Java Province in 2015-2019 used rice, corn, and soybean. One of the locations for the development of plant cultivation is in Subang Regency.

The "Pro Babies" product is a local food innovation made from mocaf flour with supporting ingredients of skim milk and tempe flour, fortified by micronutrient premix (Fe, Zn, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, folic acid), and enriched with inulin. The product form chosen is instant porridge and pudding with consideration of relatively long shelf life, more practical because it reduces volume and it is easy to serve and to handle in the distribution process.

Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi and her Russian counterpart, Minister Sergey Lavrov co-chaired the ASEAN-Russia Special Ministerial Meeting held virtually on July 6, 2021. The meeting discussed the strategic partnership between ASEAN and Russia, which this year is entering its 25th year. Minister Retno Marsudi presented two main issues at the meeting. The first issue is about cooperation in handling the Covid-19 pandemic. Minister Retno Marsudi encourages Russia to support the fulfillment of vaccine needs in the region through dose-sharing, and prioritizes ASEAN countries as Russian vaccine recipients and explores the possibility of joint-production with ASEAN Member countries. She also called for ASEAN and Russia to jointly strengthen support for the COVAX Facility, negotiations on the TRIPS Waiver and equality of recognition for vaccines.

The second issue is related to regional architecture. Minister Retno saw the similarities in the principles of the Russian Vision regarding regional architecture and the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo Pacific (AOIP), which are becoming increasingly relevant during the Covid-19 pandemic. Indonesia also called for Russia to support ASEAN centrality and efforts to overcome the situation in Myanmar.

Regarding Russia's proposal to hold the Russia-ASEAN High Level Meeting in October 2021, Minister Retno Marsudi emphasized that the summit must be a momentum to strengthen ASEAN and Russia's partnership to overcome various challenges and also increase Russia's contribution in the region.

The meeting, which was held to encourage Russia's commitment and active role in the Southeast Asian region, has produced an outcome document in the form of a Co-chairs Summary. The point is to agree on accelerating the post-pandemic recovery process, including reducing socio-economic impacts, restoring macroeconomic and financial stability, supply chain, connectivity and strengthening environmental resilience.

The meeting also agreed on a plan to hold the ASEAN-Russia Summit in October 2021. The meeting also agreed on various collaborations in various fields, including maritime security, information and communication technology security, disaster management, and counterterrorism and trans-boundary crime.