VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

PT Pindad, an Indonesian state-owned company engaged in the defense industry, will focus on producing a number of orders from the Ministry of Defense or from within the country this year.

President Director of PT Pindad, Abraham Mose said for domestic demand, currently they are  focusing on prioritizing the manufacture of munitions, weapons for reserve components, special vehicles "Anoa" and medium tanks and tactical vehicles "Maung". All of which are to meet the needs of the main weaponry system ordered by the Ministry of Defense. 

Previously, Minister of Defense, Prabowo Subianto wanted  PT Pindad to be able to meet the needs of 4 billion Indonesian military munitions of various calibers. Currently, PT Pindad's production capacity has only reached 400 million items and is being increased to reach 600 million. Meanwhile, the target of providing 4 billion munitions is PT Pindad's first priority. 

The second priority is the manufacture of weapons to support the reserve component program of 25,000 weapons. Currently, the manufacture of these weapons has been completed. The third priority is the manufacture of special "Anoa" vehicles and medium tanks. Meanwhile, the fourth priority is to meet the demand to produce "Maung" tactical vehicles.

PT Pindad's ability to produce quality main weaponry system equipment has not only received recognition from within the country but also internationally. This is indicated by the high demand from European and Asian countries for Indonesia's domestic defense industry.

The defense industry is currently classified as promising, considering that many countries in the world spend large amounts of defense budget, even increasing from year to year. Despite the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, in 2020 the alliance across Europe and Canada increased its defense budget for the sixth time in a row with a real increase of 3.9 percent. China even increased its defense spending by 6.8% this year.

The Indonesian Defense Industry needs to be continuously supported by the government and all elements of society, because it is not only beneficial for national defense, but also for national economic development.

Recently, Rawon has been labeled as the most delicious soup in Asia by TasteAtlas.  TasteAtlas is a culinary site from Croatia that reviews various kinds of foods around the world.  Rawon attracts a wide attention because it tastes delicious and it is processed with a variety of herbs and spices. Apart from Rawon, there is also ‘Sayur Asem’ which is also included in the TasteAtlas version of the best soup list. The dish is in the 12^th position. Today’s edition of Indonesian Wonder lets you know Sayur Asem Culinary.

Sayur Asem is a typical Indonesian vegetable dish. Generally,  Sayur Asem uses peanuts, young jackfruit, melinjo, vegetables, star-fruit, chayote, long beans, and tamarind. Corn is also often added for the dish. Each region across Indonesia has also other additions for Sayur Asem.   There are many local variations of Sayur Asem such as Sayur Asem Jakarta or Sayur Asem Betawi, Sayur Asem kangkung (a variation using kale), and salted fish Sayur Asem.  There is Sayur Asem of Sumatra which has more and oily sauce. There is also Sayur Sunti of Aceh. Then, there is the East Javanese style of Sayur Asem which is known to have a spicy taste; while Sayur Asem from West Java region tends to have less vegetables and its prominent characteristic uses peeled peanuts.

Sayur Asam has a philosophy which describes diversity. This can be seen from the various contents of the vegetables. There are long beans, sweet corn, pumpkin, peanuts, melinjo, eggplant, jackfruit, sweet corn, melinjo leaves. Even though there are a lot of vegetables used, it can give a special taste. The flavors that are created are savory and sour. In addition, tamarind vegetables also remind you not to be careless and patient. And this simple menu is often reminiscent of home and family. The way to enjoy Sayur Asem is also various.  In West Java and Jakarta, the people usually enjoy Sayur Asem in a bowl.It is separated with cooked rice. But in East Java, they prefer to mix Sayur Asem, cooked rice and side dishes.

Indonesian Ambassador to Sweden, Kamapradipta Isnomo shared a meeting with Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ann Linde to discuss economic cooperation, and to increase two-way trade and investment on Wednesday (31/3). In a virtual meeting, Ambassador Kama highlighted the importance of Sweden for Indonesia as the largest trade and investment partner in the Nordic region. In a written statement from the Indonesian Embassy in Stockholm, Ambassador Kamapradipta stated that there are a lot of  improvement ways to increase investment and two-way trade between Indonesia and Sweden. He also explained that both countries need to increase cooperation to materialize   all the existing potentials.

Ambassador Kama also introduced the Indonesian Investment Authority (INA) that has been established to support the development of important infrastructure projects in Indonesia. He further remarked that the first Sovereign Wealth Fund in Indonesia could be an opportunity to explore better and stronger economic cooperation with Swedish companies which have existed in Indonesia in the fields of infrastructure and telecommunications. Meanwhile, Minister Ann Linde welcomed increased cooperation with Indonesia. He recalled the climate-friendly bus system in Sweden, which was discussed as one of the main topics in the Sweden-Indonesia Sustainability Partnership (SISP) Week discussion last November to commemorate 70 years of diplomatic relations of both countries.

Minister Linde also praised Indonesia's efforts under the leadership of Minister Retno Marsudi to form the Southeast Asian Women's Peace Negotiators and Mediators Network (SEANWPNM) and Minister Linde hopes that there would be more exchanges between Sweden and the network. Minister Linde and Ambassador Kamapradipta expressed their positive views on the relationship between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union (EU) which has developed to be a strategic partnership in December 2020.

The Pamekasan Regency Government in East Java, is taking advantage of the world’s beauty pageant, Miss Universe 2021 to promote hand-crafted batik from Pamekasan people. Pamekasan written batik will be worn by Puteri Indonesia 2020 at the event. The written batik that Puteri Indonesia will use is the hand-crafted batik made by the residents of Toket Village, Proppo District, Pamekasan. The batik is called "Batik Toket ".

Puteri Indonesia, Ayu Maulida is interested in wearing Pamekasan batik in the beauty pageant, after knowing the first-hand quality and beauty of Pamekasan batik. She considered that Pamekasan has an extraordinary batik potential, and its quality is not inferior to hand-written batik from other regions across Indonesia. She said she had a great duty and responsibility for preserving Indonesia's wealth. One of them is Pamekasan batik so that it can inspire women in Indonesia and be known throughout the world.

Ayu Maulida, apart from introducing Pamekasan batik specifically at the international arena, will also bring some souvenirs from East Java to be distributed to the contestants from 90 countries around the world, who are present at the search for the Most Beautiful Queen of the Universe on May 16, 2021. So far, Pamekasan batik has indeed been supplied to foreign countries, such as Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, and several other countries in Asia.