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Jakarta State plantation holding company PT Perkebunan Nusantara (PTPN III) had released its first export of tea products in 2022 to Seattle, the United States.

“Perkebunan Nusantara Holding has successfully improved its export performance, especially of tea commodities to the US,” PTPN III Marketing Director Dwi Sutoro remarked in a release here on Saturday.

According to the release, the company partnered with Starbucks Corporation, which has more than 32 thousand outlets in 79 countries, to continue tea purchases by 2022. The value of international trade totaled US$496 thousand.

The sales of tea commodities by PTPN III to Starbucks have become a trend in the previous years. Last year, PTPN III’s sales of tea to Starbucks totaled US$322 thousand.

Based on the data, Perkebunan Nusantara Holding was able to increase the value of tea sales contracts by 54 percent by 2022.

A test by Eurofins laboratory in Germany showed that tea produced by Perkebunan Nusantara was of quality standard.

“We have been shipping tea to the Starbucks center in Seattle, the US. The shipment can be carried out after we receive the eligibility results from Eurofins,” Sutoro noted.

This achievement not only improves business performance of the PTPN Group but also contributes to the global need for tea and generates foreign exchange for the country, he stated.

“According to government data in 2021, the market share of tea from Indonesia globally is two percent. Our success, which is getting a buyer from the US, will maintain the contribution of the plantation subsector to the total exports as well as sustain the trend of the trade balance surplus,” Sutoro explained.

PTPN III has an area of over 20 thousand hectares of tea plantation and produces more than 50 thousand tons of dry tea per year.

PTPN III is optimistic of tea commodity exports again showing a rapid increase, as the company has been able to meet the quality specifications requested by buyers abroad.

Source: Antara News

Ternate, North Maluku North Maluku’s Ternate Police and the Regional Leadership Communication Forum (Forkopimda) have mediated a meeting between two feuding parties in the traditional Ternate Sultanate royal court.

“We and Forkopimda have mediated (a dialogue between) the two feuding parties in the internal conflict within the Ternate Sultanate. The mediation is conducted to facilitate the meeting between both parties to defuse the conflict,” Ternate Municipal Police Head Adjunct Senior Commissioner Andik Purnomo Sigit stated here on Saturday.

The mediation, organized on Friday (Apr 1) evening at the municipal police office, aims to defuse the conflict between the feuding parties and restore peace in the city, especially when Muslim residents in the city will begin performing the fasting ritual during the Ramadan period on Sunday (Apr 3), he remarked.

During the mediation, the Forkopimda, represented by Ternate Mayor Tauhid Soleman and the 1501 District Military commander, urged feuding parties to exercise restraint and refrain from committing violence that could tarnish the serenity of Ramadan, the police head remarked.

Sigit noted that the feuding parties had communicated their issues and affirmed their commitment to maintaining a conducive situation in Ternate City.

The mediation was attended by Ternate Sultan, Hidayatullah Sjah, and Sahmardan Mudaffar Sjah — younger brother of Hidayatullah Sjah — who represented the Fala Raha royal advisor, he noted.

The feud within the Ternate Sultanate occurred after the coronation of Hidayatullah Sjah as the 49th Sultan was contested by some members of the royal court who believed that his accession did not conform with the rules of the Sultanate.

Following the opposition of several royal court members against Hidayatullah Sjah’s coronation, the North Maluku Mobile Corps personnel were deployed to assist Ternate Municipal Police officers in defusing the conflict.

In one instance, the feud turned into physical violence when followers of Hidayatullah Sjah hit a member of Fala Raha, Zulkifli Marsaoly Jogugu, in front of the Ternate Sultanate Palace. Jogugu suffered injuries to his head following the attack.

Source: Antara News

Jakarta Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Bintang Puspayoga expressed regret over the case of sexual violence against five male students committed by a male teacher in an Islamic boarding school (pesantren) in Tarakan, North Kalimantan.

“It is regrettable that there are still cases of sexual violence in educational institutions,” the minister noted in a press statement here on Friday.

According to Puspayoga, educational institutions should be places that are safe from all forms of violence.

The minister stated that the task of educators is not only to provide knowledge but also to edify and become examples of good behavior as well as provide protection from all forms of physical, psychological, sexual violence, neglect and discrimination against children in all educational institutions.

The minister lauded the bravery of the victims, aged 8-12 years, who had spoken up about the sexual violence they experienced, so that the perpetrators could be immediately arrested by the North Tarakan Police.

Puspayoga also lauded the prompt response of the police and expressed optimism that the perpetrators would be severely punished, so that it would serve as a deterrent effect for the perpetrators.

Puspayoga reminded parents to not be ashamed to report, as most of those perpetrators of sexual violence against children were victims before. Thus, victims must receive therapy, so that the case will not recur in future.

The minister also urged schools, pesantren, and other boarding and religious schools to conduct psychological assessments against prospective teachers during the recruitment as part of the preventive measures and to ensure protection for students from sexual violence.

In the case of sexual violence in a pesantren in Tarakan City, the perpetrator, RD, 22, confessed to having committed the crime since 2016. However, as he had committed the act several times, he admitted that he had forgotten the exact count of the victims.

The police suspected that the number of victims is more than five male students.

Source: Antara News

Jakarta The second Sustainable Finance Working Group (SFWG) meeting under the G20 Indonesia Presidency encouraged the development of a framework for financial transition and to increase the credibility of financial institution commitments.

“This includes transitional frameworks, case studies, and commitments of financial institutions, which focus on market practices,” Dian Lestari, Head of the Center for Climate Change Financing and Multilateral Policy at the Ministry of Finance’s Fiscal Policy Agency, stated here on Saturday.

Moreover, the SFWG also encourages the improvement of sustainable financial instruments to strengthen accessibility and affordability, including on access to sustainable financial markets globally.

The discussion on sustainable financial instruments also includes risk reduction mechanisms as well as efforts to address knowledge gaps, especially for relevant stakeholders in developing countries and in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) community.

“The SFWG also discussed the progress pertaining to the G20 Sustainable Finance Roadmap,” Lestari noted.

Lestari remarked that the various discussions were a continuation of the first SFWG meeting held in January and the First Meeting of the Ministers of Finance and Central Bank Governors in February 2022.

Lestari explained that development of the transitional financial framework was aimed at assisting the potential of financial markets in supporting a sustainable transition.

Meanwhile, increasing the credibility of the commitments of financial institutions is carried out by establishing best practices for net-zero implementation and related commitments.

Lestari stated that the SFWG priority agenda has two workstream focuses comprising Workstream 1 on deepening of key elements to develop voluntary principles.

Workstream 2 aims at improving sustainable financial instruments, with a focus on increasing accessibility and affordability.

Lestari stated that the Workstream 1 and 2 align with the goal of preparing voluntary recommendations and options on the efforts of companies across jurisdictions, especially in developing countries, while SMEs can access affordable green and sustainable financial markets.

Lestari noted that the SFWG, under the G20 forum, played an important role in promoting and advancing the G20 framework and roadmap for innovative and sustainable finance.

Source: Antara News

Jakarta Indonesia is striving to encourage G20 members to identify and explore the aspirations of the private sector players to increase their role in environmental funding schemes.

The statement was made by Director General of Pollution and Environmental Damage Control Sigit Reliantoro at the Ministry of Environment and Forestry.

The effort to invite G20 member countries to discuss private parties’ role in environmental financing schemes was made at the first meeting of the G20 Environment Deputies Meeting and Climate Sustainability Working Group (EDM-CSWG), Reliantoro told ANTARA here on Saturday.

“Through various EDM-CSWG meetings, Indonesia encouraged G20 countries to deliberately draw up a roadmap or inventory of financial products that can be developed by the banking sector or funding institutions that are attractive to the private sector, both domestically and internationally,” he remarked.

Reliantoro, who is one of the EDM-CSWG Co-Chairs, explained that during the first EDM-CSWG meeting held in Yogyakarta on March 21-24, 2022, the issue of research, development, and access to data on blue carbon was also brought up.

He noted that some sort of collaboration will be discussed at the subsequent EDM-CSWG meetings.

Source: Antara News

Banjarmasin Indonesia should leverage its position as the UNESCO Global Geopark (UGG) Youth Forum president and the G20 presidency to promote its geoparks, National Development Planning Agency’s (Bappenas’) National Geopark Strategic Development Coordinator Togu Pardede stated.

“Indonesia was elected as the first president of the UNESCO Global Geopark Youth Forum. It also happens that this year we are holding the G20 Presidency. This is an opportunity to expose our geoparks on a large scale,” Pardede noted in Banjar District, South Kalimantan, on Friday.

The UNESCO Global Geopark Youth Forum has 44 Geoparks Youth representatives from 44 countries, with a total of 169 UGGs worldwide.

According to Pardede, millennials play an important role in the development of geoparks and help provide an understanding of geoparks to the public.

Geopark is a concept of the future, which changes the mindset, from natural exploitation to sustainable development, he elaborated. “Conservation goes hand in hand with economic development,” he emphasized.

Regarding the potential of the Meratus Geopark, Pardede noted that Meratus held huge potential.

“In Meratus, there is tremendous potential for geodiversity, biodiversity, and cultural diversity. Everything is interrelated and has a story,” he stated.

Pardede stated that from the existing rocks, people can learn about flora, fauna, humans, and culture, all of which are interrelated.

Currently, Indonesia has 19 national geoparks, six of which have been recognized as UNESCO Global Geoparks (UGG).

He admitted that misunderstanding still existed that the geopark area is merely a conservation area, so people cannot conduct economic activities in the area.

Source: Antara News