Sakha jakarta

SINGAPORE: President Tony Tan Keng Yam will make a state visit to Indonesia from Tuesday till Saturday at the invitation of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. President Tan will visit Jakarta from Tuesday to Friday and then go to Yogyakarta. In Jakarta, President Tan will receive a ceremonial welcome and be hosted to a state banquet by President Yudhoyono. President Tan will also meet Vice-President Boediono. In addition, President Tan will meet the Singaporean community in Indonesia and also Indonesian alumni of Singapore institutes of higher learning and training and exchange programmes. President Tan will also lay a wreath at Kalibata Heroes' Cemetery and visit a Singapore International Foundation palliative care project. In Yogyakarta, President Tan will meet and be hosted to dinner by the Governor of Yogyakarta, Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X. President Tan will also visit Gadjah Mada University and a Mercy Relief humanitarian assistance project in … [Read more...] about President Tony Tan to visit Indonesia

ZURICH: Switzerland votes Sunday (Mar 7) on a free trade deal with Indonesia but the agreement, which opens up a vast potential market, could slip up over the issue of palm oil imports. Under the deal, tariffs would be gradually removed from almost all of Switzerland's biggest exports to the world's fourth most populous country, while the Swiss would abolish duties on Indonesian industrial products. Anyone importing Indonesian palm oil must prove that it meets certain environmental and social standards. But controversy around palm oil and its sustainability fuelled enough concern in Switzerland to trigger a public vote. Two separate polls in February put support for the deal at 52 per cent, with 41 to 42 per cent against. The agreement was signed in 2018 and approved by the Swiss parliament in 2019, but opponents were especially critical of Bern's move to reduce import duties on palm oil. The deal contains exceptions for agricultural products, notably to protect … [Read more...] about Palm oil row fuels Swiss vote on Indonesia trade deal

SINGAPORE: Speaker of Parliament Michael Palmer is in Indonesia from Monday for a three-day introductory visit. This is his first official visit as Speaker of Parliament. During his visit, Mr Palmer will call on the Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR) Marzuki Alie. He will meet the Speakers of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Taufiq Kiemas and the House of Regional Representatives (DPD) Irman Gusman. Mr Palmer will also meet Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa and the Singapore business community based in Jakarta. He is accompanied by Deputy Speaker Charles Chong and MPs Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, Intan Azura Mokhtar and Desmond Lee. … [Read more...] about Speaker of Parliament Michael Palmer on introductory visit to Indonesia

JAKARTA: A top aide of Indonesian President Joko Widodo was named chairman of an opposition party on Friday (Mar 5), in a move that could broaden the president's coalition and tighten his grip on parliament, though the legitimacy of the move was challenged by other party members. Moeldoko, the president's chief of staff, was named as chairman of the Democratic Party in an extraordinary congress in North Sumatra province, according to live reports by broadcasters. The coalition of Jokowi, as the president is popularly known, already controls 74 per cent of the 575 parliamentary seats in Southeast Asia's largest economy, and the support of the Democratic Party would give him nine percentage points more. But Moeldoko's appointment was challenged by Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, who at a news conference late on Friday said he remained the party's chairman. Agus, the son of Jokowi's predecessor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, is one of a crop of new leaders who could run for the presidency … [Read more...] about Indonesia president’s aide named head of opposition party, but turmoil ensues