Day: February 11, 2022

The Indonesian and Australian armies on Friday agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation for developing their capabilities.

The agreement was inked during a video conference between Indonesian Army Chief of Staff, General Dudung Abdurrachman, and Australian Chief of Army, Lieutenant General Rick Burr, on Friday.

During the video conference, Abdurrachman expressed confidence that cooperation between the Indonesian and Australian armies will flourish further in the future.

The collaboration will be essential to enhancing cooperation, particularly in the training and education sectors, as well as dialogue between the two national armies, he said.

“After the COVID-19 pandemic ends, it will be the best moment to enhance the cooperation between the two national armies that would also bolster the Indonesian-Australian bilateral relations,” he remarked in a statement received in Jakarta on Friday.

Meanwhile, Burr affirmed that deliberations on partnership and cooperation commenced by Abdurrachman’s predecessor would be continued by him and his successor in the future.

Exchange of army personnel and instructors must be initiated to enhance human resources of the Indonesian and Australian armies, the Australian army chief said.

Concurring with Burr, Abdurrachman reiterated the importance of maintaining fraternal relations between both national armies.

“Let us initiate a joint activity or training session in the future, and I hope the relationship between Indonesian and Australian armies will be enhanced further,” he said.

Training and education aspects must be prioritized in the cooperation between the two armies, he added.

Indonesia and Australia must also align their perspectives and combine the tactics and techniques that they would develop, including the education aspect that is essential for enhancing the quality of commissioned and non-commissioned officers, he said.

“We must align our perspective in our training, and the education must not be reserved only for commissioned officers but must extend to non-commissioned and lower non-commissioned officers as well,” the army chief of staff added.

To follow up on the meeting, Abdurrachman is expected to visit Australia in April 2022.

Source: Antara News

The price of fermented food products made from soybean, namely tofu and tempe, will increase in Indonesia in the coming months due to soaring international soybean prices, the Trade Ministry has informed.

“The global soybean supply is currently disrupted. There is a decline in soybean production in Brazil, which was originally predicted to produce 140 million tons in January, but its production has fallen to 125 million tons,” Director of Domestic Trade at the ministry Oke Nurwan said.

This decline in production has had an impact on increasing world soybean prices, he informed at a virtual press conference on Friday.

Another cause for the price rise has been inflation in the United States, which has reached 7 percent, he said. This has resulted in price increases in soybean product inputs, he explained.

In addition, labor reductions, increases in land rental costs, and weather-related uncertainties in soybean-producing countries have also led soybean farmers in the United States to raise prices, he informed.

“Based on data from the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), soybean prices in the first week of February 2022 reached US$15.77 per bushel or around Rp11,240 per kilogram at the domestic importer level,” he noted.

It is estimated that the prices will continue to increase until May 2022 to reach US$15.79 per bushel, he informed. Furthermore, there will be a decline in prices in July to US$15.74 per bushel at the importer level, he said.

Thus, the increase in global soybean prices would inflate soybean prices for domestic tofu and tempe producers, Nurwan added.

“The increase in soybean prices directly affects the prices of derivative products from soybeans, especially tofu and tempe,” he said.

Based on data from the Association of Indonesian Tempe and Tofu Producers Cooperatives (Gakoptindo), the current price of soybeans is Rp10,800–Rp11,000 per kilogram, he noted.

Meanwhile, soybean stock at importers is currently around 140 thousand tons and additional stock of 160 thousand tons is expected to be added, he said.

Thus, the supply of soybeans is estimated to be sufficient to meet domestic demand for the next two months, he added.

However, Nurwan emphasized, the government will maintain the availability of soybeans even though the prices are rising.

“We understand that tofu and tempe are some of the most consumed food products in Indonesia,” he said.

At least 80 percent of Indonesia’s soybean needs are currently supplied from abroad since domestic production is not sufficient, Nurwan explained.

As an initial estimate, the price of tempe would be around Rp10,300–Rp10,600 per kilogram, he said. Meanwhile, the price of tofu would range between Rp52,450–Rp 53,700 per board or Rp650–Rp700 per piece, he added.

Source: Antara News

Bank Indonesia (BI) has increased the transaction limit for the Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard (QRIS) from Rp10 million to Rp20 million per transaction.

“We have just decided to double the QRIS limit, from previously it was just increased to Rp.10 million, now it is Rp20 million per transaction,” BI Governor Perry Warjiyo informed during a BI Webinar with CNBC Indonesia here on Friday.

In 2022, transactions using QRIS are targeted to increase by 15 million from 12 million transactions in 2021, he said.

He also revealed that QRIS transactions can now be carried out between countries, such as Thailand, Malaysia, and several others.

According to Warjiyo, various expansions of QRIS are part of the 2025 National Payment System Blueprint Vision launched in May 2019.

To this end, it is hoped that all parties can support digitalization efforts by using QRIS in their daily activities, he said.

Aside from QRIS, another BI effort for digitizing payments has been the BI-FAST launched in December 2021, he added.

“BI-FAST replaces the National Clearing System of Bank Indonesia (SKNBI). Thus, it is really powerful because it runs 24 hours in seven days and never sleeps,” the BI Governor remarked.

Earlier, deputy governor of Bank Indonesia (BI), Doni P. Joewono, revealed that the number of partner merchants utilizing QRIS had reached 13.6 million as of late December 2021.

Meanwhile, in 2021, transactions performed using QRIS reached a value of Rp27.7 trillion, a growth of 237 percent year on year, he noted.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has encouraged the use of digital technology for various economic and financial transactions,” Joewono said at the ‘International Seminar on Digital Financial Inclusion,’ on February 2, 2022.

Source: Antara News

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has reiterated Indonesia’s commitment to conserving up to 32.5 million hectares of the national marine area by 2030.

“Our commitment is to achieve 32.5 million hectares of marine conservation area by 2030,” he said at the One Ocean Summit, which was broadcast via the Presidential Secretariat’s Youtube channel on Friday.

The President also thanked the French leadership for hosting the summit while affirming Indonesia’s determination, as the largest island country, to maintain marine life.

“I express my gratitude to President Emmanuel Macron for organizing this summit. As the largest island country, a healthy marine environment is key for sustainable development in Indonesia,” Widodo remarked.

He then boasted of Indonesia’s frontline position among the global community in promoting marine life protection.

“As of 2021, we have successfully achieved 28.1 million hectares of conserved marine area, which is equal to 86.5 percent of our target. We are confident that our commitment would be achieved by 2030,” the President said.

Global leaders must place marine environment management within the context of sustainable development to drive post-pandemic economic recovery, he added.

“Some of our breakthroughs are the implementation of measured fishing that is assisted by an integrated technology-based monitoring system and the development of fish cultivation villages that respect local customs to eradicate poverty and promote high-value commodity preservation,” Widodo informed.

The One Ocean Summit, organized in Brest, France on February 9–11, 2022, aimed to mobilize the international community for taking concrete actions to ensure sustainable marine life in the future.

The event was organized by France, which is currently holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, with the endorsement of the United Nations.

For the summit, President Macron gathered heads of states and governments, multilateral institution leaders, business leaders, and civil groups to broker a common commitment to protect and preserve marine life and the environment.

Initiatives agreed upon at the summit included the protection of the marine ecosystem and sustainable fishing, commitment to eradicating marine pollution and plastic waste, addressing climate change effects, and advocating improvements in global marine management.

Source: Antara News

Riau police on Thursday incinerated 82.9 kg of crystal methamphetamine seized in four recent anti-drug raids.

Before they were destroyed, the drugs were examined at the National Police’s forensic laboratory, Riau Police chief, Inspector General Mohammad Iqbal, informed.

The arrested suspects had hidden the drugs in Chinese tea bags, he said.

The police and their counterparts from related agencies in Riau will continue their fight against drug traffickers and bring them to trial to break the chain of drug trafficking, he added.

Indonesia remains under serious threat from domestic and transnational drug dealers, who consider it a potential market due to its huge population and millions of drug users.

Despite the ongoing spread of the novel coronavirus disease, which has prompted mobility restrictions and border closures by countries for curbing transmission, the trafficking of drugs has continued unabated.

On January 29, 2022, for instance, police officers in Mesuji district, Lampung province, arrested three suspected drug couriers with 15 kg of crystal meth on the Trans Sumatra toll road.

According to the National Narcotics Agency (BNN), at least 50 Indonesians die of drug use every day. However, the statistic has failed to deter drug users in the country.

Users of crystal methamphetamine, narcotics, marijuana, and other types of addictive drugs come from any community and distinct socio-economic and cultural backgrounds. The drug trade in the country is estimated to have reached nearly Rp66 trillion.

The Indonesian government has continued to apply harsh punitive action against kingpins found smuggling and trading drugs over the past few decades.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has also issued shoot-at-sight orders against drug kingpins.

However, this has failed to discourage drug traffickers, and they have continued to treat Indonesia as one of their main markets even as Indonesian law enforcers have kept the fight going against them.

Source: Antara News

Out of around 55 thousand companies in West Java, only about 0.1 percent or 50 have committed to employing people with disabilities, West Java Deputy Governor Uu Ruzhanul Ulum has said.

“There are 50 companies that have accepted people with disabilities; but in West Java, there are 55,000 companies. We, from the regional government to the sub-district (government), have to accept up to 2 percent of people with disabilities,” he informed here on Friday.

Ulum said the regional administration is trying to increase the number of companies employing people with disabilities, just like governments that have started to hire people with disabilities as employees.

According to him, the fourth section concerning work, entrepreneurship, and cooperatives of Law Number 8 of 2016 regarding People with Disabilities states that at least two percent of employees of government, regional governments, state-owned enterprises, and regional-owned enterprises must be people with disabilities.

Meanwhile, private companies are obliged to have at least 1 percent of employees who have disabilities, he said.

The deputy governor affirmed that the West Java provincial government appreciates companies that have consistently committed to implementing the mandate of the law.

The government presented awards to three companies in West Java that have employed workers with disabilities, namely PT Feng Tay Indonesia Enterprises (Bandung district), PT Chang Shin Reksa Jaya (Garut), and PT Chang Shin Indonesia (Karawang), during the 2022 National Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Month for West Java-level, which was held in Bandung district, he informed.

The West Java provincial government will continue to encourage companies and government agencies to employ people with disabilities, he said. It is hoped that the awards would serve as motivation for other companies and government agencies, he added.

Source: Antara News

Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) is designing a solar-based smart dryer for producing herbal medicine raw ingredients, or simplicia.

“Drying medicinal herbs is the main process for producing simplicia, which aims to reduce the herbs’ moisture content and extend the product’s shelf life,” an agroindustrial technology official at BRIN, Arief Ariyanto, said in a statement issued here on Friday.

Excessive drying can cause the active substances in simplicia to decrease or disappear, he noted.

Meanwhile, incomplete drying increases simplicia’s moisture content beyond 10 percent, which can trigger the growth of microbes and fungi that can damage the product, he explained.

In many regions of Indonesia, the drying of medicinal herbs is done directly in sunlight in open fields, he noted. Thus, the ingredients are prone to bacterial contamination and exposure to ultraviolet rays, he said.

“In addition, the heat may become excessive and reduce the amount of the product’s active substances,” Ariyanto informed.

Considering that the drying process is important for herbal medicine manufacturing, further research is still required for more precise application of heat, he said.

The smart drying technology has been developed since 2012 by the Health Ministry, he added. At the time, the ministry was successful in making the first prototype of the dryer, he continued.

In 2021, the second prototype of the dryer was developed with prominent features, which could maintain the stability of temperature and humidity according to the user’s setting, he informed. In addition, the prototype has an additional gas-fired heater, he added.

Currently, the technology has been applied at four Post-Harvest Processing Centers for Medicinal Plants (P4TOs) in Pekalongan city and Tegal city (Central Java province), Malang city (East Java province), and Tabanan district (Bali province), he said.

In the future, the technology will be updated with the addition of device library settings and the optimization of the blower so that the heat can be more evenly distributed, he added.

Source: Antara News

The US State Department approved the potential $14 billion sale to Indonesia of 36 F-15 fighter jets and other assorted military equipment.

The proposed sale will improve “the security of an important regional partner that is a force for political stability, and economic progress in the Asia-Pacific region,” said a statement, adding that it “will not alter the basic military balance in the region.”

Indonesia is moving to upgrade its ageing airforce fleet with multi-billion dollar orders for advanced fighters jets from France and the United States, amid increasing tension i the Asia Pacific.

The agreement for 42 French Rafale fighters was announced as Indonesian Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto met his French counterpart Florence Parly in Jakarta.

Subianto confirmed a deal had been struck for the purchase of the planes, with a contract signed on Thursday in relation to the first six.

France’s defence ministry said the contract for the 42 aircraft and their weapons was worth $8.1bn. Indonesia may also acquire two Scorpene diesel-electric attack submarines.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration also approved the $13.9bn sale of the F-15 advanced fighter jets, engines and related equipment, including munitions and communications systems to Indonesia.

The deal follows a mid-December trip to Jakarta by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who lauded close US-Indonesia ties despite human rights concerns that have delayed previous arms sales to the country.

“This proposed sale will support the foreign policy goals and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of an important regional partner that is a force for political stability, and economic progress in the Asia-Pacific region,” the State Department said in a statement.

“It is vital to US national interests to assist Indonesia in developing and maintaining a strong and effective self-defense capability,” it said.

The statement did not mention China, which has become increasingly assertive in the disputed South China Sea, and in the Pacific.

The US and other Western countries are buttressing alliances in the region as China’s influence grows, reviving informal groupings such as the Quad and deepening links with countries across the Asia Pacific, some of which are involved in maritime disputes with China.

The AUKUS security pact, under which Australia would acquire US nuclear-powered submarines, triggered anger in China, but also caused upset in France when it found its own submarine deal with Canberra suddenly cancelled.

France has since moved to strengthen its relationships with long-time partners including Japan and India, as well as turning to Southeast Asian nations such as Indonesia, which also raised concerns about the AUKUS deal.

The two countries deepened their strategic partnership agreement during a two-day visit by Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian to the archipelago last November, the same month in which AUKUS was announced.

French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed Indonesia’s decision to choose “French industrial excellence”, writing on Twitter that the Rafale deal would “strengthen our partnerships”.

Eric Trappier, CEO of manufacturer Dassault Aviation, said the contract “marks the start of a long-term partnership that will see Dassault Aviation rapidly step up its presence in the country.https://91ccee325aaec4c1ed26e3536ef4a8d5.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html

“It also demonstrates the strong bond between Indonesia and France and reinforces the position of the world’s largest archipelago as a key power on the international stage.”

Indonesia also has orders for military equipment with South Korea and India.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK