2 ) President Jokowi Concludes Visit to Australia
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and the First Lady Iriana Joko Widodo arrived in Indonesia on Sunday evening, February 26, after a two-day visit to Australia.
Presidential secretariat spokesman Bey Machmudin said that the state visit and meetings have resulted in concrete results which include cooperation agreements in the fields of economy, politics, legal and security and improved people to people relations.
In the field of economy, President Jokowi and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull have agreed to conclude the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA) by late 2017.
Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita said that Indonesia has gained access to herbicide and pesticide market. Australia’s imports of the two commodities are worth US$1.3-1.5billion.
“[At present], Indonesia can only import US$50 million due to tariff barriers,” Enggartiasto said.
The Indonesian government will adopt the same import duty set by ASEAN on sugar from Australia. “Indonesia will only shift [the source of import]. We will still import [sugar] but now some may be imported from Thailand, some may also be imported from Australia,” Enggartiasto said.
On relaxed regulations on cattle, the government has set new a maximum weight of cattle of 440 kilograms from 350 kilograms. As such, cattle price will reduce by 1 US dollar per kilogram.
As for paper exports to Australia, Foreign Minister Retno believes that Indonesia will not face any difficulty since it is the first Asian country to obtain a license under the Forest Law Enforcement Governance license and Trade Voluntary Partnership Agreement (FLEGT VPA).
In the field of politics, law, and security, the two countries have stepped up cooperation, such is in tackling transnational crimes and terrorism.
In investment, the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Thomas Lembong said that Australian firms will invest Rp39 trillion in the next 3-5 years.
Australian investments in Indonesia will cover a wide range of sectors, such as mining, marine tourism, infrastructure, water facilities and digital economy.
To improve people to people relations, President Jokowi has launched 3 language centers in Perth, Melbourne, and Canberra. “The language centers are established to internationalize the Indonesian language,” Retno said.
Australia currently hosts 20,000 Indonesian students while Indonesia is a favorite destination for Australian students in a program called New Colombo Plan.
ANTARA
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3) Papua’s Bird of Paradise under threat, says WWF
12:06 pm today
Environmental group World Wildlife Fund is warning that the Bird of Paradise is at threat, particularly in Indonesia's Papua province.
The group says the bird is considered sacred by Papuan tribes but it is increasingly becoming the target of illegal trading, taxidermy and poaching.
It is advocating an eco-tourism approach, including bird watching, to help conserve the bird's population and provide value ot local communities.
WWF spokesperson in Papua, Andhiani Kumalasari, said efforts must be made to save the bird before it's too late.
"We must conserve the birds of paradise so the next generation - your children, your grandchildren, can still look directly [at] or find the birds of paradise in the forest - not in a book or on the internet or a picture - or just a story from their parents or grandparents or something like that."
Andhiani Kumalasari says the bird's habitat, native forests, must also be protected if it is to survive.
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4) Jokowi warns investment board to keep rivalry mindset, speed
Stefani Ribka The Jakarta Post
Nusa Dua, Bali | Sat, February 25, 2017 | 04:29 pm
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has warned investment agencies not to lose against other countries in luring global investments, amid tight competition in the globalization era.
The former businessman repeated the message five times in his speech in front of Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) and 531 regional investment agencies’ (DPM PTSP) representatives during BKPM national coordination meeting in Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center on Friday.
“We live in a very tight regional and global competition era, when investors have many choices. It’s true we’re one an ASEAN member nation, and we hold hands when we meet, but I also think they are our rivals. If we don’t have that kind of [rivalry] sense, we may lose out,” he said.
(Read also: BKPM to standardize investment procedures, forms)
Besides the need to maintain a rivalry mindset, the President also warned them to optimize technology to accelerate the investment process. Unifying vision, standards and good coordination with the central government are also essential, according to Jokowi.
“If we are not quick enough to adapt with the ever-changing technology, and if you don’t immediately adopt a unifying vision, standards and regulations with the central government, we could lose out,” he said. “Today, it’s not big countries beating the small ones or the strong beating the weak. It’s the fast beating the slow ones,” he remarked. (ags)
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