RI gives agricultural training to developing counties

Antare News, Thu, April 7 2011

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Agriculture officers of five developing countries are taking part in a two-week long training and apprenticeship program which opened in West Java`s resort area of Lembang on Thursday.

Retno LP Marsudi. (kemlu)

Director General of America and Europe at the Foreign Ministry Retno Marsudi opened the event held jointly with the Agriculture Ministry.

The event consists of international training on fruit and vegetable post-harvest technology for Asia Pacific countries and apprenticeship program for Comoros farmers.

The five countries are Bangladesh, Fiji, Laos, Sri Lanka and Timor Leste.

In her address Retno said the two activities were one of the manifestations of the Indonesian government`s commitment to help develop the agriculture sector of fellow developing countries.

"The agricultural sector is the important asset of Indonesia`s soft power diplomacy and for more than three decades Indonesia has played an active role in facilitating the exchange of experience in the agricultural sector through training, apprenticeship and dispatch of skilled workers to various counties in Asia and the Pacific and Africa," she said.

She expressed her belief that developing countries could contribute to improving the global food security which currently came under the spotlight from the international community.

Secretary General of the Agriculture Ministry Hari Priyono meanwhile said the government`s policies on national food security had yielded fruits with the attainment of self-reliance in rice in 2008.

"The agricultural sector is a strategic sector in the Indonesian economy and the Indonesian government will always try to meet the national consumption needs to ensure the public access to foodstuffs which constitutes one of human beings` basic rights." he said.

"Through the two activities the Secretary General of the Agriculture Ministry expects that the participants could improve their technical competence so that it could be applied to support the development of the agricultural sector in their respective country," he said.

Editor: Priyambodo RH

Timor Leste interested in buying Indonesia-made ships

The Jakarta Post, Associated Press, Antara | Wed, 03/23/2011

Leste is interested in buying fast patrol boats produced by Indonesian shipbuilder PT PAL and has asked Indonesia to provide an export credit for the purpose.

Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said at the presidential palace after accompanying President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in a meeting with visiting Timor Leste Primer Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao here on Tuesday that Timor Leste would buy two FPB boats each worth around US$20 million.

"They discussed it just now and the government is ready to provide an export credit through Indonesia`s export financing body. The price is about US$20 each and they (Timor Leste) have ordered two units," he said.

Besides fast patrol boats Timor Leste was also interested to increase military cooperation especially in the field of training by sending its officers to participate in Indonesia`s National Defense Institute (Lemhanas), Staff and Command College (Sesko) and Defense University (Unhan).

"(They) wish to increase military cooperation and military education. They wish to participate in Lemhanas, Sesko and Unhan. We have so far also received participants from other countries," he said.

Besides Timor Leste a number of countries in Southeast Asia have also been interested to buy Indonesia`s strategic industry products such as the Philippines, Brunei Darussalam and Malaysia.

Purnomo said the Philippines had expressed its interest in landing platform dock (LPD) ships which could accommodate helicopter and be used for transporting troops and in natural disaster handling operations.

Malaysia meanwhile has ordered ANOA tactical vehicle produced by arms industry PT Pindad while South Korea has ordered CN 235 aircraft produced by PT Dirgantara Indonesia, Purnomo said.

Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao would be in Indonesia until March 25. Besides meeting with President Yudhoyono he was also scheduled to give a lecture at state University of Indonesia and attend an international defense convention here.

Indonesia to Invest in Oil, Mining in East Timor

Jakarta Globe, March 22, 2011

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, right, drives East Timor Prime
Minister Xanana Gusmao in a golf cart during the latter's visit to the presidential
palace in Jakarta on Tuesday. Gusmao and Yudhoyono discussed bilateral issues
between the two countries. (AFP Photo)

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• Indonesia supports East Timor ASEAN membership bid
• A Return to East Timor
• East Timor Demands Justice in Decades-Old Massacre

The Indonesian government has expressed an interest in investing in oil and mining infrastructure, among other industries, in East Timor.

“Economic cooperation is vital to developing infrastructure, trade and tourism in East Timor,” said Teuku Faizasyah, the presidential staff for international relations, at a press conference after a meeting between President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and East Timor’s Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao at the Presidential Palace on Tuesday.

“Indonesia is willing to invest in the oil and gas sectors,” he said.

The Indonesian government was responding to a bid from the East Timor government to encourage Indonesian investment in the country.

“The Indonesian government positively welcomes the invitation,” Teuku said.

Indonesia on Tuesday also offered its neighbor export credit facilities to purchase military equipment. But Teuku could not confirm the value of the export credit, as it would be discussed in further bilateral meetings between the two heads of state.

Yudhoyono and Xanana on Tuesday witnessed the signing a number of memorandums of understanding (MoU) by ministers from the two countries — including MoU on education and training, tourism and trade, infrastructure development, technical cooperation to decentralize government sectors, marine and fisheries, and transportation.

Prime Minister Xanana is scheduled to remain in Indonesia until March 25.

After his meeting with the president on Tuesday, Xanana was scheduled to give a public lecture at the University of Indonesia.

Antara

Related Articles:

East Timor, Indonesia Agree to Solve Border Problems

Indonesia supports Timor Leste's ASEAN membership

WIKA secures $16.9 million power plant project in Timor Leste

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 02/08/2011

Publicly listed constructor PT Wijaya Karya (WIKA) said Monday it had secured a US$16.9 million power plant project in Timor Leste.

WIKA president director Bintang Perbowo said the power plant, with an anticipated capacity of between 50 and 100 megawatts, will be executed by WIKA subsidiary, PT WIKA Insan Pertiwi.

“This project is expected to be completed on Feb. 20, “ Bintang said Tuesday as quoted by kontan.co.id.

The firm, along with PT Mirlindo Padu Kencana, also plans to build a 50 MW diesel power plant in Pesanggaran, Bali, worth Rp 550 billion (US$ 61 million), he said.

Xanana wants RI-Timor Leste brotherly relations preserved

Antara News, Friday, December 10, 2010

RI-Timor Leste: Timor Leste Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao accompanied by East Java Vice Governor Saifullah Yusuf (right) visit Sekar Sari Cow Farm at Wonosari village, Pasuruan, East Java, on Friday. The Timor Leste Government will send their youth to study in Indonesia, especially in the agriculture and dairy cow farming sectors as it begins its first step toward long-term development next year. (JP/Wahyoe Boediwardhana)

Gianyar, Bali (ANTARA News) - Timor Leste President Xanana Gusmao has called for the preservation of the fraternal relations between his country and Indonesia so that their bilateral cooperation would always run well.

"The brotherhood between Indonesia and Timor Leste must be maintained," he said when receiving a Developing Relationship With Peace award from the Blahbatuh Grand Temple in the district of Gianyar, Bali, on Thursday evening.

Xanana said the brotherly relationship between the two countries must be preserved forever so that no conflict would happen between them.

Blahbatuh Grand Temple chief Anak Agung Ngurah Alit Kakarsana meanwhile said Xanana Gusmao had been invited specially to receive the peace award from the temple.

Besides Xanana, two Balinese artists also received the award, namely Ida Bagus Blansinga and Ida Bagus Oka. "On Friday, the award will also be presented to the wife of Tourism and Culture Minister Jero Wacik and the wife of Bali Governor I Made Mangku Pastika," he said.

The two women had contributed to the development of peace through their passion for batik art.

Related Article:

Timor Leste, E. Java mull cooperation in dairy farms

Timor Leste donates one million US dollar for disaster victims

Antara News, Thursday, November 18, 2010 14:59 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Democratic Republic of Timor Leste has provided donation worth one US million dollars for victims of the Wasior flash flood, Mentawai tsunami and Merapi eruption.

The Timor Leste government represented by Social Solidarity Minister Maria Dominggas Fernandes and Deputy Minister of Finance Rui Manuel Hamjam presented the assistance to Coordinating Minister for People`s Welfare Agung Laksono, Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih and Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Triyono wibowo at Minister Laksono`s office, here, Thursday.

Minister Maria Dominggas Fernandes on the occasion said the government and people of Timor Leste expressed deep sympathy for the natural disasters which have hit several parts of Indonesia lately.

The one-million-dollar assistance was to demonstrate Timor Leste`s solidarity toward the victims of the disasters.

"Our presence here is on a special mission assigned by Prime Minister Kayrala Xanana Gusmao and to show a determination of the Timor Leste`s people to help Indonesia," he said.

She said her country has been following the developments on the recent disasters in Indonesia from the media reports.

Minister Agung Laksono said the Indonesian government appreciated the assistance provided by the Timor Leste government.

The donation would be use for rehabilitation and reconstruction works in the disaster-hit regions.

The minister hoped that Timor Leste`s assistance could strengthen the bilateral relations between Indonesia and Timor Leste.

NTT-Timor Leste bus terminal to be built

The Jakarta Post, Kupang | Thu, 04/29/2010 10:31 AM

KUPANG: An international bus terminal will be built at the border area between East Nusa Tenggara and Timor Leste.

The terminal, which will be built on a 4-hectare plot, is estimated to cost Rp 24 billion and will be financed by the state budget.

“Land clearance was finalized and construction will start next year,” provincial transportation agency head Gulam Husei said Wednesday.

The planned terminal, which will be located near the Napan checkpoint in Timor Tengah Utara regency, is expected to facilitate land transport between the two countries.

The planned terminal will be the third after the terminals in Kupang and Motaain at the Belu checkpoint.

RI, Timor Leste to reconstruct border fence

Antara News, Saturday, December 5, 2009 16:21 WIB

Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara (ANTARA News) - The governments of Indonesia and Timor Leste will reconstruct a border fence in their border area.

"The Timor Leste consul has told the Kupang district administration about the need to rebuild a border fence of the two countries," Petseraen Amtiran, a spokesman of the Kupang administration, said here here on Saturday.

Timor Leste`s Consul in Kupang Caetano Guterres held a meeting with the Kupang District head last Friday (Dec. 4).

The reconstruction of border fence in Naktuka, East Amfoang Sub district, Kupang, was expected to be completed in 2010.

The border fence in the border area had collapsed because of unknown reasons.

East Timor to be Home for New Golf Resort

Cybergolf

The developer that built Malaysia's Sutera Harbour resort plan to build the first luxury resort in East Timor. Edward Ong, the principal of the Singapore-based Ock Group, will build the soon-to-be-named resort on a coastal setting outside East Timor's capital of Dili. The resort will consist of a 350-room hotel (the nation's first five-star hotel), a business park, and a 27-hole golf complex.

The resort will be modeled after the 348-acre Sutera Harbour resort in Sabah, Malaysia, which Ong opened in 2000. Sutera Harbour has two hotels (956 total rooms), a marina, a spa, and a 27-hole, Graham Marsh-designed golf complex.

East Timor, Asia's newest country, is in Indonesia, 400 miles northwest of Australia. It won its independence in 2002 after considerable violence and internal strife. The country is still struggling to build an economy - its unemployment rate is said to be 40 percent - and it lacks dependable electrical power and necessities such as a large airport and office space.

Initially, the resort will target business travelers. But Ong hopes East Timor will eventually generate enough tourism to warrant the construction of more hotel rooms and other attractions. "It's a virgin place that people have not explored yet," said Ong, who hopes to open the resort in 2012.

This story originally appeared in Asian Golf Business.

World’s Maritime Experts Gather in Manado

Thursday, 12 March, 2009 | 18:08 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:The results of the 2009 World Ocean Conference (WOC) in Manado will be brought to the United Nations’ Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen, Denmark, this December. “The conference in Manado will discuss the role of oceans in the global climate change,” said Indroyono Soesilo, National Committee secretary of the conference, which will take place in May 11 – 15, 2009.

At the 13th Climate Change Conference in Bali on December 2007, the discussion on oceans’ role was minimal. Indonesia then took the initiative to host the WOC. The maritime conference in Manado is the first to take place and is planned to be held annually. Meanwhile, the Climate Change Conference has been held 14 times, the last one being in Poznan, Poland, last December. The conference in Copenhagen is very important as it becomes the new basic reference when the Kyoto Protocol ends.

Until yesterday, 700 delegates from 146 countries confirmed their preparedness to come to Manado, North Sulawesi. Also to attend the event will be the presidents of member countries of the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI), including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, East Timor, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. CTI partners, the United States and Australia also plan to attend. However, the US delegation will not be led by President Barack Husein Obama.

One of the WOC’s events will be a symposium on science and international maritime technology. “There will be 32 parallel sessions to discuss 610 papers,” said Aryo Hanggono, Maritime Technology Research Center chief at the Maritime and Fishery Department. Around 300 speakers will come from overseas.

The scientists will discuss various maritime issues, including marine life beings as sharks and stingrays, aqua culture, bio-technology, energy, coelacanth, CO2 sink, health and bio-medic, the Darwin and Wallace theories and the impact of climate change. The conference will also feature exhibitions on science and technology, the maritime industry, maritime festival, and maritime education for the youths in three research ships. According to Aryo, when the conference in Manado is finished, his department will organize maritime campaigns for youths in the country.

UNTUNG WIDYANTO

RI receives $250 million in grants for World Ocean Conference

The Jakarta Post | Fri, 02/27/2009 8:12 PM  

Indonesia has received US$250 million in grants from various countries for the implementation of the World Ocean Conference which will be held in Manado, North Sulawesi, on May 11-15, 2009. 

"Of the total, US$40 million is from the United States," Indroyono Soesilo, chairman of the WOC organizing committee, said in Jakarta on Thursday as quoted by state news agency Antara. 

Six heads of state from member countries of the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) would participate in the CTI Summit to be organized on May 15, in parallel with WOC, he said. 

CTI has six member countries, namely the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste, and Solomon Island. Australia and the United States are observers of CTI. 

He also said that US President Barack Obama had appreciated Indonesia's Coral Triangle Initiative. 

North Sulawesi Governor Sandurajang said his province was ready to receive around 1,500 participants from 121 countries during the WOC 2009. 

The province had constructed new eight star-rated hotels to accommodate the WOC participants, he said. 

Marine experts would discuss efforts to save the marine ecology from the impacts of the global warming during the conference.

WOC Website


Related Article:

CTI initiated by Indonesia: president

RI, Timor Leste develop power program

Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya

SURABAYA, East Java: Indonesia's Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS) will assist Timor Leste National University (UNTL) in planning and developing power plants for the energy-strapped former Indonesian province.

The dean of UNTL's Engineering Department, Victor Soares, said Timor Leste needed new power plants and energy sources to meet the growing needs of its people.

"ITS has a long experience in energy and technical research. By engaging ITS in this cooperation we hope we will be able to construct new power plants in our country," said Soares on Tuesday.

The cooperation with the Surabaya-based ITS was suggested by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which has assisted UNTL in improving the quality of its teaching staff.

"JICA recommended ITS as a partner in developing the power plants program because it has the necessary technical skills," said Soares.

Iran has also expressed interest in cooperating with ITS in the field of education.

The director of Iranian student affairs for the South Pacific, Vahid Alli, said Iran wanted to establish teacher or student exchange programs with ITS.