VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Indonesian Embassy in Khartoum Takes Part at the 38th International Fair of Khartoum to increase trade volume between Indonesia and Sudan

Indonesian representatives in foreign countries have duties to continuously carry out economic diplomacy and increase Indonesia's trade with accredited countries. One of the ways done by the Indonesian Embassy in Khartoum was by attending the International Fair of Khartoum (IFK) last Friday (22/1). The IFK 2021 exhibition is a step done by the Government of Sudan to collaborate and promote many potentials of Sudan to friendly countries that are expected to be able to push the economic recovery of Sudan.

During the event of IFK, there was also a Business Forum held to facilitate business contacts of the participants and promote the potential for trade and investment cooperation in Sudan. Indonesian Ambassador to Sudan, Rossalis R. Adenan explained that the political relations between Indonesia and Sudan have been running well for a long time, but it has not been reflected  in the economic  cooperation because the current trade volume between the two countries is still far under its real potential. It needs joint efforts to continuously  increase trade and investment cooperation of both countries.

The Indonesian Embassy in Khartoum keeps on  encouraging actively the business actors of the two countries, including by facilitating business contacts between business actors of the two countries to explore  various opportunities for cooperation. The Indonesian Embassy in Khartoum also asked for support related to the plan of establishing the Indonesia-Sudan Business Council (ISBC) as a communication platform for business players of the two countries that have been friendly for a long time.

Garut has a lot of tourism potential, such as hot springs, waterfalls, beaches and other natural attractions. One of the most popular natural tourism destinations is Pyramid View of Mount Sadahurip that offers amazing beauty. Even, some people call it the "Dieng" of Garut Regency.  The Pyramid View is located in Sindanggalih Village, Karangtengah District, Garut Regency. The natural beauty of the highlands of Mount Sadahurip which is above an altitude of 1300 meters above sea level is as amazing as Dieng tourism attraction in Wonosobo Regency.

The Pyramid Mount Sadahurip has a shape resembling the Pyramids in Egypt. It is said that this mountain in Cicapar Village, Sukahurip Village, Pangatikan District has a mystery about the existence of a treasure behind it. Apart from its unique shape, the mountain surrounding looks beautiful with a stretch of trees and green plants. Being aware of the potential of the area, the Regional Government of Garut will fully support the local village government program in developing the Pyramid View tourism destination. The local government appreciates the community and local village government officials who have succeeded in exploring the potential of the area, namely the natural scenery of Mount Pyramid.

The regional government of Garut will coordinate with related agencies to rebuild road infrastructure to the tourism area, and add comfortable, safe and attractive facilities at the tourism attractions.  The local government must be present to encourage tourism by repairing the tourism road infrastructure as well as the tourism attraction facilities. It is hoped that each village can explore their respective areas, such as developing tourism potential in order to grow the economy of the surrounding community.

The United States and China, may improve relations in the future. The authorities in Beijing have hinted at this, albeit with a few caveats. Not long after Joe Biden took his oath as the 46th President of the United States, the Chinese government expressed hope for better relations with the United States.

As reported by the CNBC network, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying expressed the hope of a new day in relations between the two countries.

Beijing's relations with Washington have deteriorated in the last year of Donald Trump's administration. The trade war between the two major countries has even affected the global economy. No wonder the Chinese government hopes for an improvement in relations in the near future.

Tensions between the US and China were still strong at the end of the Domald Trump administration. Shortly before Trump left the White House, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo strongly criticized the Chinese government and declared it was committing genocide against Muslims in Uygur. The remarks that angered the government in Beijing were met with Chinese sanctions against a number of Americans, one of whom was Mike Pompeo. The Chinese government will sanction US companies associated with names that are mostly elements of Donald Trump's administration.

So far, the Joe Biden administration has not provided a concrete response in the form of policies regarding future relations with China. However, it is interesting to note that at the time of the inauguration of the president, the Biden administration had invited representatives of Taiwan. Joe Biden and his government certainly have certain intentions by inviting Taiwanese representatives to the event, given Beijing's policy regarding One China Policy. The fact of Taiwan's presence in the Capitol Hill Building becomes interesting when it is related to Beijing's statement that it will improve relations with the note that the United States must pay attention to China's sovereignty.

From the recent facts, it can be seen there are intentions of the two major countries to improve relations, under certain conditions.

What can be said is, there will be a change in the White House's policy in looking at relations with China. At least under Joe Biden's administration, the United States government's policy towards China could become more lenient, according to the character of every President who comes from the Democratic Party.

Indonesian Minister of Communication and Information Technology and Singapore Discuss IT Cooperation

Indonesian Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Johnny G. Plate held a bilateral meeting with his Singaporean counterpart, S. Iswaran to discuss the agenda of strengthening cooperation in the telecommunications and information technology sector.  This hearing was held on the sidelines of the ASEAN Digital Ministers' Meeting (ADGMIN) which took place virtually on 21-22 January 2021. Since 2007, Indonesia and Singapore have had a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the telecommunications and informatics sector. In the past year, preliminary assessments had been carried out for updating the MoU to make it more relevant to the latest digital developments, including data protection and sovereignty. In addition to the data protection, the issue of cross-border data flow is also increasingly crucial to discuss comprehensively, considering that this data exchange can encourage the development of a more massive economic sector. As an illustration, more definite policies related to cross-border data exchange will support the expansion of companies and Indonesia to other ASEAN countries. The Memorandum of Understanding between Singapore and Indonesia will also include cooperation in developing digital talent of both countries.