VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian Minister of Trade, Muhammad Lutfi along with Canadian Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion, and International Trade, Mary Ng officially launched the beginning of Indonesia-Canada Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (ICA-CEPA) negotiation. The launching was held virtually on Monday (21/06).

Minister Muhammad Lutfi remarked that the ICA-CEPA launching is a milestone in Indonesia-Canada relations that have been ongoing for 69 years. This agreement is expected to support the economy, trade, and investment growth, including to create jobs for the people of both nations. He added that this is foreign cooperation relations of strengthening the strategy for Indonesia and Canada as equal, important, and strategic partners - mainly amid the very dynamic global geopolitics.

Minister Muhammad Lutfi also explained, this is also a follow-up of President Joko Widodo's direction to make Indonesia actively form international trade negotiation with potential trade partners to open new market, especially to create an export opportunity amid the pandemic.

He further stated that the Indonesia-Canada agreement is a strategic move to open the chance for greater penetration of Indonesian products in North America. Until now, Indonesia only has one trade agreement in the American continent namely with Chile in South America.

Meanwhile, Director General  of the Trade Ministry's International Negotiation, Djatmiko Bris Witjaksono remarked that both ministers gave instructions for the two negotiation teams to immediately prepare the technicalities before starting the negotiation.

The first round of negotiation is planned to be held before the end of 2021. During the first quarter of 2021, both nations have had some online intensive discussions on potential issues to include in the agreement. The issues to be discussed include market access for goods trade, services trade, investment, and economic cooperation.

Djatmiko also said that Indonesian government hopes that with the ICA-CEPA, Indonesia can compete better with her neighbors in Southeast Asia that have earlier made trade agreements with Canada or joined in the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement.

Meanwhile, quoted from Canadian government official website canada.ca, Minister Mary Ng said that the trade relations between Canada and Indonesia have a significant growth potential. According to her, a comprehensive agreement can give the citizens of Canada a better access to Southeast Asian supply chain, open opportunities for Canadian goods and services into the world class in the rapidly developing market, as well as push long-term job creation and sustainable inclusive growth for the next generation.

Voice of Indonesia with Let’s Speak Indonesian, a program that introduces the Indonesian vocabulary and guides you to speak in the language. Mari Berbahasa Indonesia or Let’s Speak Indonesian is a joint initiative of Voice of Indonesia and the Language Development Agency of the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture.  Today’s topic is about Kesehatan which means Health.

Here is the conversation entitled Mencuci Tangan dengan Sabun which means Washing Hands with Soap. This dialog is between Kevin and a pharmacist. The pharmacist offers Kevin a hand sanitizer. Kevin tells the pharmacist that he washes hands more often with soap than hand sanitizer. Let’s listen to the conversation.

After listening to the conversation, now I am going to introduce some vocabulary and expressions related to the topic of the day.

In the dialog, you listen to a statement Saya sering mencuci tangan dengan sabun (2x) which means I often wash hands with soap. In the statement, there is a connecting word dengan (2x) which means with. In the dialog context, it is used to inform a tool that is used. For example, Saya mencuci tangan dengan sabun (2x) which means I often wash hands with soap.

Let’s read to the other examples of the connecting word dengan (2x) which means with.

Kevin                             : Saya sering mencuci tangan dengan sabun (2x) which means I often wash hands with soap

Pharmacist                   : Bagus (2x) which means Good

Pharmacist                   : Bagi dua obat dengan pisau! (2x) which means Split the medicine into two with knife

Kevin                   : Baik (2x) which means Alright

Since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, many people have been aware of the importance of keeping health and self-cleanliness. One of ways to keep self-cleanliness is by always bringing along hand sanitizer anywhere to make us easier to wash hands every time we touch objects.

That was “Let’s Speak Indonesian” for today. Hopefully, this edition can be useful for those of you who want to know more about Indonesian language. 

The Indonesian Embassy in Tokyo and University of Osaka signed a cooperation agreement in the fields of food, biotechnology and health to promote sustainable development goals and deal with the crisis as a consequence of the global impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Indonesian Embassy in its written statement in Tokyo on Saturday (18/6) stated that the cooperation was signed by Indonesian Ambassador to Japan, Heri Akhmadi and President of Osaka University, Shojiro Nishio in Osaka on Friday (18/6). The agreement is a follow-up of the visit of Japanese Prime Minister, Yoshihide Suga to Indonesia in October 2020.

Ambassador Heri Akhmadi affirmed that Indonesia believes the global community must work more closely to cope with the global crisis caused of the Covid-19 pandemic. Since no one country has been able to overcome this Covid-19 pandemic without collaborating with other countries. He also explained that international cooperation between Indonesia and Japan in response to the global pandemic is very important. Thus, the Indonesian Embassy in Tokyo welcomes the efforts to strengthen the existing and future cooperation between Indonesia and Japan, particularly among stakeholders in the fields of health, food and biotechnology.

Besides, Ambassador Heri further said that communication with related parties in Indonesia needs to be done by the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Bandung Institute of Technology and research institutions in Indonesia, to encourage concrete cooperation with Osaka University. He also hopes that various stakeholders in Indonesia and Osaka University can hold a virtual meeting immediately to discuss the scope of cooperation between Indonesia and Japan.

Meanwhile, President of Osaka University, Shojiro Nishio explained that his side welcomes the cooperation and partnership between Indonesia and Japan. He also hopes for closer cooperation with institutions in Indonesia, both government, private sectors, and academics.

Increasing resistance from armed militias against the military junta could spark a civil war in Myanmar. Tuesday, June 22 armed conflict between the military and militia occurred in the city of Mandalay. Attempts to raid a school building using armored vehicles were met with resistance by the militia. A number of soldiers were injured, while on the militia side 4 people were killed. The video of the incident has been widely circulated on social media. It is said, hundreds of anti-coup protesters from various corners of small towns and villages had attended military trainings, preparing against the military junta's troops.

The worsening conditions indicate that the five consensus of ASEAN leaders when they met in Jakarta last April did not have a positive impact on resolving the conditions in Myanmar, a member of ASEAN. As stated by a number of observers, the leader of the Myanmar Junta considers the Jakarta consensus not a binding agreement that must be implemented. It was the scepticism of the opponents of the military junta, as well as the non-implementation of the consensus, that caused the situation to become more uncertain and local militias arose.

The half-hearted attitude of some ASEAN member states in resolving the political crisis and military violence in Myanmar can be cited as one of the causes of the escalation of violence there. As is known, two ASEAN member countries, Thailand and Singapore, have shown a friendly attitude to the military government. Singapore is even reported to have invested in the conflict-ridden country.

The different attitudes of ASEAN member countries were also shown when the United Nations drafted a resolution to stop arms supplies to Myanmar. At the time of voting on the UN resolution to impose an arms embargo on Myanmar, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia and Laos all abstained. Indonesia is one of the supporters of the UN resolution along with 198 other countries, while 36 countries have abstained, including China.

To what extent the impact of the UN resolution will be, is still unknown. What is certain, the political and economic interests of various countries, including within ASEAN, can be an indication of the complexity of solving problems in Myanmar. China's position as one of the big countries that supports the military junta, both tangible and intangible, is an indicator of the difficulty of solving the problems. China's attitude is different from the United States and the European Union which openly stopped cooperation with Myanmar's top military officials.

 If the UN resolution does not have an impact, it is very likely that the conflict will escalate. Fears of a civil war in Myanmar are becoming more and more justified. Facing this uncertainty, ASEAN member countries that have a clear commitment must be willing to come forward, at least become the initiators for solving the problem.