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President Joko Widodo and First Lady Iriana Widodo leave for Indonesia using Garuda Indonesia GIA-1 aircraft from Andrews Military Base, Washington DC, US, on May 14. 2022. (ANTARA/HO-Press Bureau of Presidential Secretariat/Muchlis Jr/uyu) - 

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and First Lady Iriana Widodo left for home on Saturday local time (GMT-4) after  a five-day working visit to the United States since May 10, 2022.

The president and his entourage took off from Andrews Military Base, Washington DC, US, on Saturday, at 05:38 p.m. local time aboard the Indonesian flag carrier Garuda Indonesia GIA-1 plane.

They were sent off by Indonesian Ambassador to the United States Rosan Roeslani and his wife.

The president  is scheduled to make a stopover at Abu Dhabi International Airport, United Arab Emirates (UAE), on Sunday afternoon (GMT+4, May 15, 2022) local time to express his condolences to the UAE government and people, as well as the family of the late His Excellency Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The former president of UAE passed away on May 13, 2022.

President Jokowi and his entourage are expected to arrive home on Monday morning (May 16, 2022, UTC+7).

During his five-day visit in the US, he attended a series of meetings of ASEAN-US Special Summit (AUSS).

The summit agenda included a number of meetings with the members of the US Congress, CEOs of various American companies, as well as US Vice President Kamala Harris and Climate Change Team, and a summit between the ASEAN leaders and US President Joe Biden.

The  Indonesian president also attended a dinner with leaders of other countries at the White House, Washington DC.

On the last day of his US visit, Jokowi reviewed the Space X rocket production facility in Boca Chica, US, and met the company’s founder, Elon Musk.

Indonesia currently serves as the coordinator of 2021-2024 ASEAN-US Dialogue Partnership.

During the summit, Jokowi had highlighted a number of issues, such as the importance of international cooperation on climate change mitigation, the Indonesia and ASEAN’s clean energy transformation potential and commitment, as well as the urgency to halt the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war//ANT

Secretary general of the Health Ministry, Kunta Wibawa Dasa Nugraha, agreed to the 2022–2023 Biennium Grant Agreement in Bali province on Saturday (May 14, 2022). (ANTARA/HO-Health Ministry/uyu) - 

The Indonesian Health Ministry's Secretary General Kunta Wibawa Dasa Nugraha and World Health Organization (WHO) Representative to Indonesia N. Paranietharan agreed to the 2022–2023 Biennium Grant Agreement in Bali province on Saturday. The secretary general delivered the information in a statement on Saturday. The agreement health cooperation will serve as a reference for the establishment of a budget plan for a work program of the ministry, he added.

Meanwhile, the budget plan program will act as a grant agreement between WHO Indonesia and grant recipients, which are the technical units at the ministry. It will also be the basis for registering grant permits in accordance with the Finance Minister’s Regulation Number 99 of 2017 and the Health Minister’s Regulation Number 55 of 2017.

"The collaboration will support various strategic activities to implement health sector transformation with good accountability," Nugraha said.

The cooperation between the ministry and WHO Indonesia is being implemented according to the WHO Country Cooperation Strategy, which is synergized with the country’s Mid-Term National Development Program (RPJMN), he informed.

Hence, the current agreement will implement the activities outlined in the Joint Work Plan of the Indonesian Health Ministry and WHO Indonesia for the WHO Program Budget 2022–2023 to support the implementation of the WHO 13th General Program of Work, Indonesia’s 2020–2024 RPJMN, as well as the transformation pillars of the ministry.

He noted that the technical cooperation of the two parties began with the signing of the Basic Agreement in 1951, which was renewed in 1958.

Currently, the ministry is carrying out a health sector transformation, which covers primary services, secondary services, resilience system, financing system, human resources, as well as technology, the secretary general added.

Furthermore, he lauded WHO Indonesia for supporting various health sector development programs in the country, including for handling the pandemic.

He said he expected that the collaboration will be strengthened and continue to be implemented in accordance with applicable regulations.

"Thus, it is necessary to carry out continuous monitoring and evaluation to maintain the sustainable improvement (of the programs)," he added//ANT

Indonesian men's doubles players Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (left) and Mohammad Ahsan (right) prevailed over Japan's Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi in the semi-final of the 2022 Thomas Cup at Impact Arena, Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday (May 13, 2022). (ANTARA PHOTO/M Risyal Hidayat/foc/uyu) - 

The Indonesian 2022 Thomas Cup team has completed preparations for facing the Indian team in the final of the tournament, which will be held at Impact Arena Bangkok, Thailand, on Sunday (May 15, 2022).

"The Indonesian team will compete seriously against India tomorrow. Hence, this afternoon they are practicing for the final," the team manager, Hendro Santoso, informed here on Saturday.

The starting line-up of the players will be further discussed by the coaches, physical trainers, doctors, and psychologists before being submitted on Sunday—at least four hours before the match, which will begin at 1 p.m. local time (GMT+7).

"We will discuss tomorrow morning about the formation of the players. Certainly, we will dispatch the best ones," the team manager remarked.

Meanwhile, the men's singles coach, Irwansyah, assured that all players were in good condition.

Although they were tired after facing the Japanese team in the semi-final on Friday (May 13, 2022), he said he was optimistic that the players would recover quickly since they had a full day to rest on Saturday.

The men’s singles coach asked the athletes to be ready for the match against India. Whoever is chosen to play will need to snatch points for Indonesia.

"(Anthony Sinisuka) Ginting's performance is getting better and his confidence has increased. It is a positive sign, especially since he could beat (Kento) Momota on Friday," he noted.

Meanwhile, the men's doubles coach, Herry Iman Pierngadi, asked the players to give their best in the final match, saying facing the Indian team could be difficult, hence they were required to work really hard.

Regarding the player line-up, he said he will make a decision after reviewing the result of the practice on Saturday afternoon and having a personal discussion with the players.

“In fact, all players are ready to compete. However, I will personally discuss with them first to see their physical, technical, and, especially, mental readiness,” the coach added//ANT

Illustration—While some disruptions were more severe during the first stage of the pandemic, the challenges persist. Some of the export restrictions on essential goods are still in place, the services trade has yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels, and cross-border data restrictions have increased globally. (ANTARA/HO-APEC Secretariat) - 

There is no better time than now for APEC members to revive work on integrating the Asia-Pacific and bringing new energy to the long-term prospect of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP).

The APEC Policy Support Unit made the statement in a new policy brief.

"The pandemic and the aftermath of COVID-19 have only stressed the significance of regional economic integration," director of the APEC Policy Support Unit, Denis Hew, said, according to a release issued by the APEC Secretariat and received here on Saturday.

"APEC policy makers need to address emerging trade-related issues and challenges in order to realize deeper regional economic integration," Hew argued.

Meanwhile, a senior analyst with the APEC Policy Support Unit, Carlos Kuriyama, who is also the author of the policy brief, said that it is not enough for governments to take decisive action at the domestic level when the world faces a pandemic.

International collaboration has to be a part of the solution, he stressed.

"Most importantly, any regional integration scheme, including free and/or regional trade agreements, could assist to overcome pandemic-related challenges," Kuriyama added.

The report identifies six main challenges affecting trade that are deemed most critical, namely disruption in accessing essential goods, disruption in trade in services, difficulties in supply chain logistics, digital transformation, transparency, and regulatory bottlenecks affecting trade in essential goods.

While some of these disruptions were far more severe during the first stage of the pandemic, the challenges persist.

For example, some of the export restrictions on essential goods are still in place, the services trade has yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels, and cross-border data restrictions have increased globally.

"There’s a need for us to resolve bottlenecks in supply chain logistics. Delays in vessel arrivals have increased by almost 50 percent since the pandemic started and freight rates for 40-feetlong containers have skyrocketed by more than 600 percent," Kuriyama said.

The policy brief highlighted that APEC, as an incubator of ideas, could take those challenges into account and incorporate new topics related to the trade in goods, services, trade facilitation and digital issues, among others, into the FTAAP work program.

Member economies could come together and collectively commit to not implement export restrictions on essential goods and ensure their availability for commercial purchase, Kuriyama suggested.

They could also ensure that airports, ports, customs, and border facilities remain operational during pandemics.

"There is also a need for APEC economies to facilitate the movement of essential workers, including aircrews and maritime seafarers across borders," he said.

"Border cooperation and technical assistance needs to be strengthened by adapting modern technologies and paperless procedures," he added.

Important to the future of work and trade is digitalization. According to the report, modern trade rules for data privacy, data localization, cross-border data flows, and electronic commerce -- such as consumer protection, electronic payments, and electronic signatures, among others -- are needed to foster the digital economy.

"While the pandemic has accelerated structural changes in the economy, APEC is in a position to influence the global trade agenda," Kuriyama said.

"APEC encourages the resilience of economies by undertaking collective initiatives, including capacity-building activities, in areas of growing interest. We must seize this momentum to achieve a more inclusive and sustainable future," he added//ANT