2) PNG's West Sepik governor wants to boost cross-border trade
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1) Indonesia Reaffirms Fiji Ties
by FONUA TALEI JAKARTA, INDONESIA
July 25 11:37 2018
The Indonesian Government has reaffirmed its stance to continue economic co-operation with Fiji.
Speaking to 10 foreign journalists in Jakarta on Monday, Indonesian Vice Foreign Minister Abdurrahman Mohammad Fachir said co-operation in the blue economy was vital for maritime nations because of the similarities they shared as archipelagic countries.
The “Blue Economy” is an emerging concept which encourages better stewardship of our ocean or “blue” resources.
It highlights, in particular, the close linkages between the ocean, climate change and the wellbeing of people.
Mr Fachir said infrastructure on land and between islands were pertinent and as a result the current Indonesian Government planned to build a total of 32 sea ports in the next five years.
“Every country has its own interests, but they have an effect on other countries. We continue to make ourselves central and united when we engage with others,” he said.
Ten journalists from Fiji, Bangladesh, India, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka and the Solomon Islands are part of the Journalist Visit Programme (JVP), which is organised by the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The programme aims to connect the Indonesian people with other countries through exchange of information.
“The more your people know about our potential and the more our people know your potential there will be exchange and there will be benefits,” Mr Fachir told journalists at his Jakarta office.
“You are very instrumental in sharing information and delivering messages and we need your assistance to promote the exchange and connection between our people and the world.”
During the course of 10 days the group of journalists will visit different cities in Indonesia, including Labuan Bajo, Bali and Yogyakarta.
On Monday the group visited the Jakarta Smart City office and were shown an application of a smart city concept designed to optimise the use of information and communication technology (ICT) to control various resources in the city of Jakarta more effectively and efficiently.
Members of the group were told that the concept would lead to maximum public service, provided solutions to problems and supported sustainable development.
After the visit to the smart city the delegation paid a courtesy call on the deputy governor for culture and tourism affairs and the vice minister for foreign affairs.
The day ended with a visit to the Peacekeeping Centre of the Indonesian National Defence Forces, where journalists were briefed by the Deputy Commandant Colonel Aldrin Mongan.
The centre was established in 2007 after a request from the United Nations for Indonesia to be part of UN peacekeeping missions.
Colonel Mongan said so far this year Indonesia recorded two deaths among more than 33,000 soldiers on deployment to more than 30 missions.
Edited by Epineri Vula
Feedback: fonua.talei@fijisun.com.fj
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2) PNG's West Sepik governor wants to boost cross-border trade
7:25 pm today
The governor of Papua New Guinea's West Sepik province is seeking to boost agricultural trade with neighbouring Indonesia.
West Sepik abuts PNG's international border and hosts the main land access to Indonesia's Papua province, at Wutung on New Guinea's north coast.
PNG people frequently cross the border at Wutung to visit markets just inside Indonesia to buy a range of goods.
In comparison there's not a lot of trade coming the other way, said the provincial governor Tony Wouwou.
"We are trying to establish some things like cacao and vanilla going there, so we can get some of the cash back," said Mr Wouwou.
"But in the meantime, there's a lot of people from here, Papua New Guinea buying a lot of things from them, like groceries and food items, that's what's going on here.
Tony Wouwou said he hopes to visit Indonesia soon to talk with its government about co-operative ventures.
He said included in this was a proposal for Indonesia to take electricity from the planned Fried River copper and gold mine in his province.
A Chinese-owned company PanAust has lodged a special mining lease application for the Frieda River project.
A hydro-electric dam to generate the power required for the project is being considered as a source for power across the border.
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