Author: Dede Setiarini

China and member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are deepening their trade ties to make the most of rising demand for regional farm products like durian, a fruit whose popularity in China is soaring. Signs of such demand were in evidence at the four-day China-ASEAN Expo or CAEXPO that concluded in Nanning, capital of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, on Tuesday. Standing behind a refrigerator at the Malaysian pavilion, David Chen, a Malaysian exhibitor, busily wrapped a bagful of durian-flavored mooncakes for Xu Feng, a Chinese customer. Chen duly informed Xu of the storage method and the…

With support for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament plummeting and the Yes campaign bleeding money for no benefit, Anthony Albanese spent a week abroad. The Prime Minister attended the ASEAN, East Asia and G20 summits this week while backing for the Voice went into ‘freefall’ in the latest polling. A RedBridge poll taken in the first week of September found that just 39 per cent of people are planning to vote Yes in the upcoming referendum on October 14.  With support for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament plummeting and the Yes campaign bleeding money for no benefit, Anthony Albanese spent a week abroad. The Prime Minister attended the ASEAN, East Asia and G20 summits…

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The results of the ASEAN Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting (AFMGM) is expected to bolster collaboration between Bank Indonesia (BI) and the Ministry of Finance. The AFMGM, held on August 22-25, 2023, is the second meeting after the first one held in Bali in March and is expected to confirm the commitment to collaborate in maintaining economic stability in the region. “It is hoped that the 2nd AFMGM meeting will further strengthen collaboration between the two financial institutions, especially BI and the Indonesian Ministry of Finance,” Director of the International Department of BI Iss Savitri…

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo inaugurated the ASEAN Inter-Cultural and Inter-Religious Dialogue Conference (IIDC) in Jakarta on Monday, August 7, 2023. During his opening remarks, Jokowi hoped that ASEAN could be a model of tolerance and unity amidst the growing global conflicts and dwindling religious spirit of the world. “I’m certain ASEAN is able to not only be the epicenter of growth but the epicenter of harmony, anchoring the stability of the region and world peace,” he said. Nahdlatul Ulama, the religious organization in Indonesia, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, initiated the two-day conference this week as…

Artificial Intelligence has gone from a science-fiction dream to a critical part of our everyday lives.  Joel Garcia, Head of Technology, ASEAN, AMAZON Web Services (AWS), talks to Việt Nam News reporter Thu Vân about the potential of the adoption of AI across industries in Việt Nam in the near future. Artificial Intelligence has gone from a science-fiction dream to a critical part of our everyday lives. Joel Garcia, Head of Technology, ASEAN, AMAZON Web Services (AWS), talks to Việt Nam News reporter Thu Vân about the potential of the adoption of AI across industries in Việt Nam in the…

Asia’s longest serving leader makes his own rules, in golf and politics. Now he’s preparing his sons to take over. When I first met Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen, I didn’t have much hope for his future. A seemingly shy, simple man appeared before me in January 1980 at the foreign ministry in Phnom Penh. He was then foreign minister, soon to be deputy prime minister. A Khmer Rouge battalion commander, Hun Sen had lost an eye during the war. Defecting from the murderous Pol Pot regime (1975-1979) to the Vietnamese in June 1977, he received intensive tutoring from Hanoi’s…

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Indonesia’s Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry will add one more first-class surveillance ship from Japan to improve the monitoring of national marine resources in North Natuna Sea. The surveillance ship, Shirahagi Maru, which has been provided by Japan, measures 63 meters in length. It is scheduled to arrive in Indonesia in September 2023, and will be rechristened Orca 06. “What already arrived in Indonesia is surveillance ship Orca 05, whereas Orca 06 is still in Japan. It is scheduled to arrive in Indonesia by September,” Director General of Marine and Fish Resources Monitoring at the ministry Adin Nurawaluddin informed here on Friday. The ministry…

Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro said Wednesday that his country would send a note of diplomatic protest to Russia after three Colombians were injured in a missile strike that killed 12 in Ukraine. Petro said on Twitter that “Russia has attacked three defenseless Colombian civilians. In so doing, it violated the protocols of war.” He added that Columbia’s foreign ministry will deliver a note of diplomatic protest to Moscow. Three children were among the dead and at least 60 people were injured in Tuesday’s rocket strike on the Ria Pizza restaurant in the town of Kramatorsk. The three injured Colombians are decorated writer…

SINGAPORE/KUALA LUMPUR: The ongoing geopolitical tensions and economic warfare between major powers has seen a strong push by the anti-Western bloc to promote trade in local currencies and de-dollarisation, further complicating the efficacy of international trade. Citing practical challenges such as the possible oversupply of local currencies that could result from shifting away from the dollar, Samirul Ariff Othman, a former senior research officer with the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER) members of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) would be unwise to trade ease of doing business to score limited political points. “Trade between Malaysia and its…

It has been a very long time since Taiwan has been a matter of dispute between China and the United States. The United States, albeit, claims that it is adhering to the One-China policy. The US has frequently hinted that it will safeguard Taiwan in case China invades Taiwan. The Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a United States think tank, has, however, highlighted the probable effects through war game simulations. The report’s revelations are ready. Read on to know what the report says of the repercussions in case China invades Taiwan in the year 2026. Military destruction of…