Delegations from 20 countries discuss cultural cooperation

Antara News,Tue, July 12 2011

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LombokBarat, West Nusa Tenggara (ANTARA News) - Delegations from 20 countries in Asiaand Europe gathered in Senggigi tourist resort in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara,here on Tuesday discussing efforts to increase cultural cooperation.

Theactivity until Wednesday was part of the preparations for the Asia EuropeMeeting`s (ASEM) Culture Ministers Meeting (CMM) to be held in Yogyakarta in2012.

TheASEM-CMM is held every two years to improve understanding and culturalexchanges among Asian and European countries.

The first ASEM-CMMmeeting was held in Beijing in 2003, the second in Paris in 2005, the third inKuala Lumpur in 2008, the fourth in Poznan on September 9-10 and the fifthlater in Yogyakarta.

Thepreliminary meeting in Senggigi was attended by 14 delegations from Asia andsix from Europe.

The Asiancountries participating in the meeting are Indonesia, Cambodia, China, India,Japan, South Korea, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines andSingapore.

The sixEuropean countries include the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Russia, Polandand Denmark.

Delegationsfrom the European Union and Asia Europe Foundation (AEF) would also take partin the 2012 ASEM-CMM meeting.

Thedirector general of America & Europe cooperation of the ministry of foreignaffairs, Retno L.P. Marsudi, said on the sidelines of the meeting that theactivity was directed to a dialogue forum focusing on perspectives of variousinformation and cultural experiences.

"Thereare sharing of information and experiences and aspects of capacity buildingdirecting towards opportunities for cultural cooperation. Concretely they willbe discussed later in bilateral meetings," she said.

As anexample she referred to cooperation between Indonesia and the Netherlands inpreserving the Istana Dalam Loka (palace) cultural heritage on Sumbawa island.

Such acultural cooperation has also been carried out with Portugal in East NusaTenggara, she said.

Retno saidthe ASEM-CMM meeting in 2012 is expected to be able to produce concretecooperation for the preservation of historical cities in Asia and Europe thatwould give direct benefit to the people in the two continents.

Lombok hasbeen chosen to be the host of the Preparatory Senior Official Meeting becausethe island is one of the region that has a lot of cultural heritages.

In additionto that Indonesia also wishes to promote the region through "Visit LombokSumbawa (VLS) 2012".

She saidIndonesia`s membership in ASEM is very beneficial because through it Indonesiacould conduct cultural diplomacy with ASEM partners and fight for thegovernment`s interest in the field.

"ASEMcan also serve as a forum of information exchange that could facilitatecooperation between Indonesia and Asia and Europe and through the cooperationopportunities may be opened for development of technical cooperation in theform of bilateral or multilateral cooperation," she said.

An expertstaff on multi-cultural affairs of the ministry of culture and tourism, HariUntoro Drajat, meanwhile said efforts to increase cultural cooperation mustremain based on Law Number 11 of 2010 on Cultural Preserve.

Inimplementing the regulation the government would continue to support culturaldevelopment in regions.

"Inessence they are directed to improving cultural preservation so that the formsof cooperation would be discussed along with other Asias and Europeancountries," he said.

Editor: Priyambodo RH

Europe here we come again: Garuda

Primastuti Handayani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 06/02/2010 8:46 AM

After an almost six-year hiatus, national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia returns to Europe, marked by its inaugural flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam.

Garuda CEO and President Emirsyah Satar said during a ceremony to mark the restoration of the route at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Tuesday that the nation is proud that the airline can fly to Europe once again.

“We’re proud to return to Amsterdam. Garuda had earned an award as the most punctual airlines at Schipol [in 2001 and 2002]. We hope we can achieve it again,” he said.

The inaugural flight was made possible after the EU lifted its flight ban on Indonesian airlines last year, which had previously been imposed following a string of plane crashes that claimed hundreds of lives.

Garuda stopped its flights to Europe to cut costs late 2004. The EU banned Indonesian airlines in 2007, citing safety concerns after an audit by the International Civil Aviation Organization.

State-Owned Enterprises Minister Mustafa Abubakar said the reinstated flight was the result of hard work by all the related institutions.

“Garuda is not only the country’s flag carrier. It has performed well and earned profits after years of deficits. Garuda has managed to improve its brand image,” he said.

The carrier is expanding further in Europe, by opening other routes to Frankfurt, London, Paris and Rome, Mustafa added.

Currently, four Airbus A330-200 aircraft will serve the Jakarta-Amsterdam route, via Dubai. Garuda departs daily at 8:40 p.m. from Jakarta and 11 a.m. from Amsterdam, with an ambitious target of achieving at least 80 percent capacity on its Amsterdam flights.

For the upcoming routes to other European cities, the airline has ordered several Boeing 777s that are expected to arrive next year.

Supporting the return to Europe, the airlines worked with designer Josephine “Obin” Komara in creating new uniforms for cabin crew.

The uniforms carry the classic “parang” batik motif, and comprise a long skirt and kebaya-inspired blouse in turquoise, blue and orange for female flight attendants. Stewards wear business suits.

State-Owned Enterprises Minister Mustafa, Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik and Dutch Ambassador to Indonesia Nikolaos van Dam were among 108 VIPs onboard Garuda’s first flight to Amsterdam.

The reopening of the route is also expected to attract 200,000 tourists from the Netherlands this year, the tourism ministry has said.

EU does not support free Papua: Ex-diplomat

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura | Wed, 05/19/2010 10:49 AM

None of the EU member states supports the Papua separatist movement, but they support the implementation of special autonomy for the province aimed at improving the welfare of Papuans, says a former diplomat.

During a discussion on the issue with reporters on Tuesday, former Indonesian ambassador to Belgium and the EU Nadjib Kesoema also denied claims from the International Law for West Papua (ILWP) and the International Parliament of West Papua (IPWP) that EU countries supported the Free Papua Movement (OPM) struggle.

Nadjib said only two of the 736 EU parliament members attended the launch of the ILWP and IPWP in Brussels on Jan. 26 this year.

The event, Nadjib added, failed to draw media attention there, “because for Europe, the Papua issue has no direct influence on their lives, as the media is more interested in their own social issues”.

The Indonesian government is cooperating with the EU in economic, cultural and political fields, including human rights and democracy issues, as well as improving ties between both parties.

Meanwhile, former OPM official Nicholas Messet said the ILWP and IPWP were just entities lacking clear motives.

Messet said he was confident that none of the countries supported the OPM struggle, and urged Papua’s younger generation to work hard, study and earn money to improve their lives, rather than fight for something uncertain.

Messet called on the youth to learn the value of hard work from newcomers.

“I have been fighting since young, but it turned out that there’s no hope for freedom, so we have to change to progress,” he added.

Meanwhile, members from the joint National Police and Indonesian Military (TNI) security forces on Monday at 12:20 local time shot dead an OPM rebel identified as Werius Telengge in an ambush in Goburuk village, Yamo district, Puncak Jaya regency.

In the ambush, security personnel seized an AK-47 assault rifle and several rounds of ammunition.

Werius was wanted for a deadly ambush on PT Modern Technical construction workers in April. The ambush left three workers dead.

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