Day: July 31, 2023

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Former Golkar Party chairperson Jusuf Kalla has expressed his disagreement with the discourse of an extraordinary national meeting to elect the party’s new chairperson.”I strongly disagree, as it would further reduce Golkar’s dignity,” he stressed after attending a seminar in Jakarta on Monday. He said that a split within the party could affect the number of votes in the 2024 General Elections. “Being united alone does not guarantee victory, let alone being divided,” said Kalla, who served twice as Indonesian Vice President. He then urged the Golkar Party to unite to win the 2024 elections, which will take place in less than a year. “Let’s unite in this crisis situation or in this short time. How can we win if we are divided? We must unite,” he said. The idea of replacing Airlangga Hartarto as the general chair of the Golkar Party and as the party’s presidential candidate cannot be used as an excuse to hold an extraordinary national meeting, he added. “Who can say for sure whether Airlangga (Hartarto) will be elected or not in the election?” he asked. The plan to hold an extraordinary meeting emerged after a member of the expert council of the party, Ridwan Hisjam, said that Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan and Bambang Soesatyo are fit to replace Hartarto as chairperson through such a meeting. The three social organizations that founded the Golkar Party, namely Kosgoro 1957, the Mutual Cooperation Forum (MKGR), and the Center for Indonesian Self-Employee Organizations (SOKSI), also asked Hartarto to step down as Golkar Party chairperson. Meanwhile, Hartarto emphasized that there are no plans to hold an extraordinary national meeting. He urged parties wishing to run for the leadership of the Golkar Party to wait for the 2024 National Conference. “If anyone is interested in becoming the general chairman of Golkar, please wait for the 2024 National Meeting,” Hartarto said on July 13, 2023.

Source: Antara News Agency

Jakarta (ANTARA) – President Joko Widodo has sought an evaluation of natural gas production costs in order to compete in the sector with other countries, including ASEAN nations, according to Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Minister Arifin Tasrif.”An inter-ministerial team will evaluate the production costs, so we can ensure that the amount of gas produced aligns with the costs incurred,” Tasrif informed after attending a meeting chaired by President Widodo at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Monday. The minister affirmed that such an evaluation is necessary to boost the competitiveness of Indonesia’s economic structure in the oil and gas sector, noting that the nation has been exporting natural gas and oil to other countries. “We aim for efficiency so we can have a more competitive gas sector, which, in turn, is expected to encourage the development of the industry at home,” he said. He further informed that during the meeting, the President and ministers discussed a grand strategy for natural gas exploration and exploitation. In principle, Indonesia will continue to prioritize the use of natural gas for fulfilling domestic needs, he added. However, the government will not ban natural gas exports since excess production can be optimized to increase the state’s revenue, he said. “Overall, 67 percent of our gas production is allocated to fulfill domestic needs, while the rest is exported in the form of LNG (liquid natural gas) and piped gas,” Tasrif elaborated. Indonesia is one of the world’s natural gas producers and has vast natural gas reserves. In 2021, the country was recorded to have stored around 41.62 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of proven natural gas reserves. Based on the 20222030 Indonesian Gas Balance, the domestic production of natural gas is sufficient to meet domestic needs. In the next decade, Indonesia is projected to experience a surplus in natural gas of up to 1.715 million TCF per day.

Source: Antara News Agency

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection (KemenPPPA) has appealed to citizens to become smart voters and choose someone with a gender perspective as their leader during the 2024 General Elections.”Be smart voters,” Deputy for Gender Equality at KemenPPPALenny N. Rosalinsaid on the sidelines of a national dialogue on “Gender and Climate Change Toward the Conference of the Parties (COP) 28,” which was held in Jakarta on Monday. The election is a momentum that has been awaited by all Indonesians who have the right to vote, she added. Rosalin expressed the hope that people will choose those who are truly able to solve national problems, especially issues related to women and children as well as gender issues, as national leaders and people’s representatives. “Let’s be smart together in electing. Whoever the president, DPR, DPRD, and DPD will be able to make policies, program activities that can really solve the nation’s problems, especially related to women’s and children’s issues, gender issues, both national and international,” she said. Indonesia has many global commitments that must continue to be fought for, such as the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, she added. “It’s all part of our struggle,” she said. Therefore, education related to women and children needs to be continuously carried out, not only for voters, but also for leader and legislator candidates. “Everyone needs to understand these issues (women, children, and gender issues),” she said. ccording to Rosalin, women and children account for two-thirds of Indonesia’s total population, so issues concerning them must not be ignored.

Source: Antara News Agency

Jakarta (ANTARA) – APEC member economies commence a group of meetings in Seattle, making a broad-based push to improve economic resilience and interconnectedness, enable an innovative environment for a sustainable future, and affirm an equitable future for all.Over the next three weeks, officials and ministers are meeting against the backdrop of a weak global economy outlook and fragmentation, persistently high inflation, as well as extreme heat caused by El Niao all of which hamper economic recovery as the region emerges from COVID-19, as noted in a release issued by the APEC Secretariat, and received here on Monday. “The main focus of APEC has always been trade and investment liberalization. However, we need to broaden our work and push for a greener and more inclusive future despite differing views on geopolitical matters,” APEC Secretariat Executive Director Rebecca Sta Maria remarked. Contrary to perceptions, Sta Maria noted that APEC member economies continue to deepen their engagement and are united on the issues of climate change and ensuring that trade and investment bring benefits to all. “APEC provides governments the platform for robust and candid discussions, share best practices and explore policy levers to implement effective structural reforms to ensure a more resilient and inclusive economic growth,” she stated. These goals will be reinforced as APEC ministers in charge of disaster management, food security, health, energy, women, and the economy, as well as small- and medium-sized enterprises meet in Seattle this month. US cabinet officials, including Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack; Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra; and Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, will host their counterparts while in Seattle, engage with local communities, and showcase the vibrant city as the center of international commerce. “This meeting cluster builds upon work in previous meetings held in Detroit and Palm Springs where we advanced our objectives to create green jobs; shape the digital economy; and build economic resilience and recovery, which will pave the way for further cooperation among APEC economies,” United States Senior Official Matt Murray remarked. Murray noted that Seattle is home to top US firms in key services and manufacturing sectors and is a major exporter of manufactured goods, agricultural products, as well as advanced technologies and services to the Asia-Pacific region that accounts for over 75 percent of the metro area’s trade. “It is thus a fitting venue to demonstrate the strong public-private partnership, which is the secret sauce of APEC’s success over the years. We will use this opportunity to highlight this relationship and strengthen our engagement with other stakeholders as well,” Murray added. s part of the APEC 2023’s Digital Pacific Agenda, this cluster of meetings will also include a series of events and activities focused on digital innovation, technology and entrepreneurship, called “APEC Digital Month: Building a Digital Pacific for All.” Seattle is no stranger to APEC. In 1993, the United States hosted the first APEC Leaders’ Meeting on Blake Island in Puget Sound, off the coast of Seattle. Seattle is considered as an appropriate setting for the final cluster of APEC technical meetings before the culmination of the US host year when APEC economic leaders meet in San Francisco in November.

Source: Antara News Agency

Jayapura (ANTARA) – The Papua provincial government has said that the human resource (HR) development program is important for improving the welfare of the local community.Daily acting regional secretary of the Papua provincial government, Derek Hegemur, said in Jayapura on Monday that with human resource development, all sectors can be linked, such as education, health, economy, and infrastructure in the region, which is called “Earth of Cendrawasih (birds-of-paradise).” “Development in the human resource sector has covered everything, so how is this what we continue to encourage so that the increase in human resources can be carried out properly,” he said. Education is key for developing human resources so that citizens become dynamic, productive, skilled, and for mastering science and technology, he explained. “Then supported by industrial cooperation and global talent,” he said. The need for innovative, creative steps, as well as a strong will for excellent Papuan human resources must be fulfilled, he affirmed. “For this reason, we hope that all local regional apparatus organizations (OPD) can further optimize their duties, functions, and performance so that the community is served and at the same time responds to what is desired,” he said. So far, he observed, the human resource development program has been going well, judging by local Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data, which pegged the percentage of poor in March 2023 at 26.03 percent, a decline of 0.77 percentage points compared to September 2022 and 0.58 percentage points compared to March 2022.

Source: Antara News Agency