VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian Ambassador to Ethiopia, Djibouti and the African Union, Al Busyra Basnur explained five strategies to increase the role of Indonesian education on the international stage amid Indonesia's major role in research and education development.  The five strategies were presented in a public discussion entitled “The Position of Indonesian Education in the International World'' which was organized by “Forum Berbagi Ilmu Indonesia” an Indonesian youth organization, to commemorate the National Education Day on Thursday (6/5). During the discussion, Ambassador Al Busyra stated that the five strategies are that the government needs to expand international networks and multiply the scholarships for foreign students. In addition, the government is also required to improve the role of public diplomacy by educational institutions and organizations, then develop informal relationships with foreign educators and attempt to empower Indonesian representatives abroad.  

At the discussion, Ambassador Al Busyra also explained about the strengths and challenges faced by Indonesia to improve the role of Indonesian education on the world stage.

 He further said that Indonesia has become an increasingly important partner in research and education development. One of them can be seen from Indonesia's key role in the development of education in Ethiopia done through cooperation in the field of education of both countries.  The discussion was attended by Chairperson of the “Forum Berbagi Ilmu Indonesia“ Ivan Oktabi, and Yoga Ilhamsyah from the Indonesian Coloring Expedition as  speakers.

The Indonesian government's efforts to keep increasing various export commodities are beginning to show some results. One of them is the export of ornamental plants and vegetable seeds. When releasing these commodity exports from Bogor, West Java last Thursday (6/5), Coordinating Minister for the Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto appreciated the hard work of the Ministry of Agriculture which continues to encourage increased exports of agricultural products, including ornamental plants. He hopes that this achievement will be maintained and continuously improved by facilitating the export process.

Minister Airlangga further stated that the ornamental plants (Florikuktura) have a large market share. He also remarked that Indonesia should not lose opportunities to other countries that export similar products, such as the Netherlands. He perceived that if the Netherlands can export a large scale of the ornamental plants, so can Indonesia. Moreover, Indonesia has Bogor City and its surroundings which have a very supportive climate.

The export value of Indonesian ornamental plants according to the records of the Central Statistics Agency -BPS per year from 2017 to 2020 averaged US$p20 million dollars. This condition provides opportunities for domestic entrepreneurs, because the potential for developing tropical ornamental plants in Indonesia is very high.

Meanwhile, Minister of Agriculture, Syahrul Yasin Limpo expressed his gratitude and appreciation to the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs for his support and attention so far in the agricultural sector. Minister Syahrul also stated that throughout 2020, the exports of Indonesian ornamental plants reached Rp53 billion with the destination countries of the Netherlands, the United States of America, Canada, Australia, Thailand, Germany, England and Singapore. He added that until April 2021, the volume of ornamental plants exported reached 8.5 million stems or the equivalent of Rp22.6 billion.

Nirup Island is located in the southwest of Batam Island in Riau Province. In some areas of the coastal area, mangrove forests grow quite densely, and some areas are also grown with dense tropical trees that become the habitats for wildlife, such as monkeys, lizards and sea birds. Nirup Island also has a fairly long coastline with natural sand, making this island very appropriate to carry out various beach sports activities, such as beach volleyball and beach soccer. With such island topography, visitors can camp and spend the night on this island. If they want to do snorkeling, Nirup Island can also be a favorite place for them. Coral reefs grow well here and so do the marine habitats where colorful fish and other marine creatures live. 

Nirup Island is actually located in bay-like waters, where in the northern part it is adjacent to Pucan Island. Because it is flanked by a cluster of islands; the waves and winds that hit the island are relatively calm. So, it doesn't endanger visitors who want to swim or do other activities. From the west part of Nirup Island, they can freely see Pemping Island, which is inhabited by several fishing families.

To go to Nirup Island from Batam City, visitors have to go to the ferry port at Sekupang. From there, they have to take a boat to the Belakang Padang district. The price of boat ticket is around Rp 10,000 per person for one way. From Belakang Padang, they can continue their journey by renting a boat to Nirup Island. The boat rental price can be bargained with the boatman. From Belakang Padang to Nirup, it takes about 20 minutes. Before going to Nirup Island, visitors have to bring their own food supplies, because there are no restaurants on this island. If they want to stay overnight, there are no hotels here, but they can set up tents near the beach. In addition, they also have to bring camping supplies.

With abundant mineral reserves, Indonesia can not only become part of the vehicle battery supply chain, but also has the potential to become a leader in electric vehicle technology. As one of the steps to develop the potential, on Thursday (6/5), a Letter of Intent (LoI) was signed between the Road Transportation Safety Polytechnic (PKTJ) belonging to the Indonesian Ministry of Transportation and the University of Nottingham. Both institutions will carry out collaborative researches and academic exchanges.

The signing of the Letter of Intent was done virtually by the Polytechnic Director, Dr. Siti Maimunah, and the University of Nottingham's Pro-Vice-Chancellor Global Engagement, Prof. Robert Mokaya. Indonesian Minister of Transportation, Budi Karya Sumadi, and Indonesian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Desra Percaya witnessed the signing.

Ambassador Desra Percaya in his opening remarks stated that through the cooperation in strengthening human resource capacity, Indonesia's competitiveness is expected to keep increasing, especially in achieving the commitment to sustainable development and low-carbon transportation through the development of electric vehicles.  He hopes that the signing of the Letter of Intent can encourage practical solutions in the government's efforts to develop electric vehicles based on the Indonesian-British research collaboration.

To provide the next policy recommendations and identify future collaborations, the Letter of Intent signing event was continued with the implementation of a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) with the theme "Sustainable Transportation for Low-Carbon and Resilient Future".