One week before the APEC Summit to be held from October 1-8, the
island of Bali, Indonesia, is ready to host one of the world’s most
prestigious conferences, to be attended by 21 heads of states, ministers
and delegations, members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.
Among the heads of state confirmed attending are President Obama of the
United States, President Putin of Russia, and China’s President Xi
Jinping.
On Monday, September 23, Indonesia’s President Yudhoyono will officially declare open Bali’s first, panoramic 12.7 km toll road between the island’s Ngurah Rai Airport and Nusa Dua and Benoa harbor, of which 10 km sweeps across the beautiful Benoa Bay passing over mangrove forests, confirmed Minister of State Enterprises, Dahlan Iskan. Also officially opened will be Bali’s expanded airport, where its new International Arrival Hall already started operations smoothly on Thursday, September 19, without glitches.
Also ready are the Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center and the Bali International Convention Center in Nusa Dua, as are 22 hotels at Nusa Dua, Tanjung Benoa, Sawangan, Legian, Kuta and Sanur, and other locations to accommodate heads of state and officials, CEOs and international media.
Some 5,000 to 7,000 delegates are expected to attend APEC, among whom, 1,000 CEO’s of the world’s corporations, while the Media Center is ready to serve 3,500 to 5,000 of world journalists.
In the meantime, even today Bali is already in full swing of operations for APEC, since APEC Finance Ministers have started convening here for their deliberations, as has the APEC High Level Meeting on Health and Economy. On October 1-2, is scheduled the High Level Dialogue on Travel Facilitation. Pinnacle of the Conference will be on October 1-8, when APEC Economic Leaders will have one whole week of discussions and related meetings. Meanwhile, from October 2-5, the 4th APEC Business Advisory Council will hold its own separate meeting.
BALI’S BEAUTIFUL NEW TOLL ROAD
“Everything is according to schedule” confirmed Minister Dahlan Iskan.
“Moreover, the completion of the road was even faster than anticipated. The paving and installation of road markers, toll booths and lighting is now completed.”
Safety testing and roadworthiness evaluations were undertaken since mid-July 2013.
Earlier, Minister Dahlan Iskan said that the Airport-Nusa Dua-Bali toll road has achieved 3 top records. These are: (1) The toll road, 12 km of which is built over the sea is the longest of its kind in Indonesia, longer than the existing bridge between Surabaya and the island of Madura in East Java, and was completed in only 14 months, including preparation time. (2) It is the most beautiful and most panoramic of them all. And (3) The toll road has a special, dedicated lane for motorbikes. “From the airport to Nusa Dua over the toll road will now take only 9 minutes” gushed the Minister. Since it is largely built over the sea, the new toll road is equipped with wind speed monitors and CCTV cameras.
Construction of the road was undertaken by a project consortium comprised of a number State-owned companies: PT Jasa Marga Bali, PT Pelindo III, PT Angkasa Pura I, PT Pengembangan Pariwisata Bali, PT Wijaya Karya, PT Adhi Karya and PT Hutama Karya.
The Bali toll road together with the completion of the Simpang Siur underpass, are expected to reduce heavy traffic congestion that has so far best this part of Bali.
www.indonesia.travel
On Monday, September 23, Indonesia’s President Yudhoyono will officially declare open Bali’s first, panoramic 12.7 km toll road between the island’s Ngurah Rai Airport and Nusa Dua and Benoa harbor, of which 10 km sweeps across the beautiful Benoa Bay passing over mangrove forests, confirmed Minister of State Enterprises, Dahlan Iskan. Also officially opened will be Bali’s expanded airport, where its new International Arrival Hall already started operations smoothly on Thursday, September 19, without glitches.
Also ready are the Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center and the Bali International Convention Center in Nusa Dua, as are 22 hotels at Nusa Dua, Tanjung Benoa, Sawangan, Legian, Kuta and Sanur, and other locations to accommodate heads of state and officials, CEOs and international media.
Some 5,000 to 7,000 delegates are expected to attend APEC, among whom, 1,000 CEO’s of the world’s corporations, while the Media Center is ready to serve 3,500 to 5,000 of world journalists.
In the meantime, even today Bali is already in full swing of operations for APEC, since APEC Finance Ministers have started convening here for their deliberations, as has the APEC High Level Meeting on Health and Economy. On October 1-2, is scheduled the High Level Dialogue on Travel Facilitation. Pinnacle of the Conference will be on October 1-8, when APEC Economic Leaders will have one whole week of discussions and related meetings. Meanwhile, from October 2-5, the 4th APEC Business Advisory Council will hold its own separate meeting.
BALI’S BEAUTIFUL NEW TOLL ROAD
“Everything is according to schedule” confirmed Minister Dahlan Iskan.
“Moreover, the completion of the road was even faster than anticipated. The paving and installation of road markers, toll booths and lighting is now completed.”
Safety testing and roadworthiness evaluations were undertaken since mid-July 2013.
Earlier, Minister Dahlan Iskan said that the Airport-Nusa Dua-Bali toll road has achieved 3 top records. These are: (1) The toll road, 12 km of which is built over the sea is the longest of its kind in Indonesia, longer than the existing bridge between Surabaya and the island of Madura in East Java, and was completed in only 14 months, including preparation time. (2) It is the most beautiful and most panoramic of them all. And (3) The toll road has a special, dedicated lane for motorbikes. “From the airport to Nusa Dua over the toll road will now take only 9 minutes” gushed the Minister. Since it is largely built over the sea, the new toll road is equipped with wind speed monitors and CCTV cameras.
Construction of the road was undertaken by a project consortium comprised of a number State-owned companies: PT Jasa Marga Bali, PT Pelindo III, PT Angkasa Pura I, PT Pengembangan Pariwisata Bali, PT Wijaya Karya, PT Adhi Karya and PT Hutama Karya.
The Bali toll road together with the completion of the Simpang Siur underpass, are expected to reduce heavy traffic congestion that has so far best this part of Bali.
www.indonesia.travel
Bali’s provincial administration plans to provide soft loans for all
its residents, particularly in the low-income bracket, who are eager to
work overseas but face funding problems.
Governor Made Mangku Pastika said that working overseas, on cruise liners in particular, was a good way to improve the livelihoods of poor families.
“I think, we have a big chance to overcome poverty through the program. We can give soft loans to poor people on the island to fund their courses and various expenses needed to work overseas,” Pastika said after the opening ceremony for a job fair involving 50 companies at Lila Bhuana, Ngurah Rai Sports Stadium, in Denpasar on Friday.
Currently, 3.95 percent of Bali’s 4.1 million residents are living below the poverty line, making Bali the province with the second lowest number of poor people in the nation, after Jakarta. The percentage of impoverished residents has fallen from around 6 percent in 2008. This year, the administration is targeting reducing poverty to 3.28 percent of the population. Pastika, who was re-elected in May, is eager to decrease poverty to 1 percent by the end of his leadership in 2018.
Through the Bali Mandara initiatives, the administration implements several poverty alleviation programs, comprising JKBM, a free healthcare service for all registered residents of the island; bedah rumah, house renovation assistance for poor households; simantri, cash and technical assistance for farmers’ groups willing to adopt organic farming and alternative energy sources; scholarships for underprivileged students; cash assistance for customary villages and traditional farming and irrigation societies; and gerbang sadhu, a generous Rp 1 billion (US$92,500) in aid for any village willing to establish community-based economic enterprises.
“We want to speed up poverty eradication. Working overseas may greatly improve livelihoods. I am sure that there are many people who are willing to work in foreign countries, but they mostly don’t have the money to study and depart for those destinations,” Pastika said.
An increasing number of young people on the island are now considering working overseas as the best way to improve their future. Positions in hotels, spas and on cruises ships abroad not only offer the chance to travel and learn about other cultures, but also a higher rate of pay than available from tourism establishments back home. Indonesian workers overseas can earn over $1,000 per month working on a cruise ship.
The provincial manpower agency recorded that in 2011 there were 14,944 Bali-based workers working overseas. The number decreased to 12,596 in 2012 but is expected to soar significantly this year. Most of the overseas workers are in the cruise industry. Others work in hotels, restaurants and spas in the US, Italy, Spain, New Zealand, India, the Maldives, Turkey, Cyprus, Russia and other countries.
Pastika said that it was estimated that a total of around Rp 20 million was needed for people to start work for a cruise line. This figure includes the cost of study, tickets, and many other administrative costs. “It will be hard for poor people, especially those in rural areas, to get Rp 20 million. That’s why, the soft loans are needed,” he stressed.
The administration plans to implement the soft loan program in cooperation with Bank Pembangunan Daerah (BPD) Bali, Bali Regional Bank, and the Bali Mandara regional loan guarantee company PT Jamkrida.
“We will approach BPD Bali to distribute the loans, and PT Jamkrida Bali Mandara is ready to be guarantor,” he said.
PT Jamkrida Bali Mandara is a loan guarantee institution established by the provincial administration in cooperation with the Denpasar mayoralty, Badung, Gianyar, Karangasem, Bangli and Tabanan regencies. The administrations collected total venture capital of Rp 52,675 billion, which enables PT Jamkrida Bali Mandara to distribute loans with a ceiling of up to Rp 2 trillion.
A survey in February 2013 revealed that 45,380 people, or 1.89 percent of the workforce in Bali, are unemployed. This is a decrease compared to 2012 when 47,330 people, or 2.04 percent of workforce, was unemployed.
Governor Made Mangku Pastika said that working overseas, on cruise liners in particular, was a good way to improve the livelihoods of poor families.
“I think, we have a big chance to overcome poverty through the program. We can give soft loans to poor people on the island to fund their courses and various expenses needed to work overseas,” Pastika said after the opening ceremony for a job fair involving 50 companies at Lila Bhuana, Ngurah Rai Sports Stadium, in Denpasar on Friday.
Currently, 3.95 percent of Bali’s 4.1 million residents are living below the poverty line, making Bali the province with the second lowest number of poor people in the nation, after Jakarta. The percentage of impoverished residents has fallen from around 6 percent in 2008. This year, the administration is targeting reducing poverty to 3.28 percent of the population. Pastika, who was re-elected in May, is eager to decrease poverty to 1 percent by the end of his leadership in 2018.
Through the Bali Mandara initiatives, the administration implements several poverty alleviation programs, comprising JKBM, a free healthcare service for all registered residents of the island; bedah rumah, house renovation assistance for poor households; simantri, cash and technical assistance for farmers’ groups willing to adopt organic farming and alternative energy sources; scholarships for underprivileged students; cash assistance for customary villages and traditional farming and irrigation societies; and gerbang sadhu, a generous Rp 1 billion (US$92,500) in aid for any village willing to establish community-based economic enterprises.
“We want to speed up poverty eradication. Working overseas may greatly improve livelihoods. I am sure that there are many people who are willing to work in foreign countries, but they mostly don’t have the money to study and depart for those destinations,” Pastika said.
An increasing number of young people on the island are now considering working overseas as the best way to improve their future. Positions in hotels, spas and on cruises ships abroad not only offer the chance to travel and learn about other cultures, but also a higher rate of pay than available from tourism establishments back home. Indonesian workers overseas can earn over $1,000 per month working on a cruise ship.
The provincial manpower agency recorded that in 2011 there were 14,944 Bali-based workers working overseas. The number decreased to 12,596 in 2012 but is expected to soar significantly this year. Most of the overseas workers are in the cruise industry. Others work in hotels, restaurants and spas in the US, Italy, Spain, New Zealand, India, the Maldives, Turkey, Cyprus, Russia and other countries.
Pastika said that it was estimated that a total of around Rp 20 million was needed for people to start work for a cruise line. This figure includes the cost of study, tickets, and many other administrative costs. “It will be hard for poor people, especially those in rural areas, to get Rp 20 million. That’s why, the soft loans are needed,” he stressed.
The administration plans to implement the soft loan program in cooperation with Bank Pembangunan Daerah (BPD) Bali, Bali Regional Bank, and the Bali Mandara regional loan guarantee company PT Jamkrida.
“We will approach BPD Bali to distribute the loans, and PT Jamkrida Bali Mandara is ready to be guarantor,” he said.
PT Jamkrida Bali Mandara is a loan guarantee institution established by the provincial administration in cooperation with the Denpasar mayoralty, Badung, Gianyar, Karangasem, Bangli and Tabanan regencies. The administrations collected total venture capital of Rp 52,675 billion, which enables PT Jamkrida Bali Mandara to distribute loans with a ceiling of up to Rp 2 trillion.
A survey in February 2013 revealed that 45,380 people, or 1.89 percent of the workforce in Bali, are unemployed. This is a decrease compared to 2012 when 47,330 people, or 2.04 percent of workforce, was unemployed.
What's changed in Indonesia over the four years that our correspondent has been there?
A man carries goods on his shoulder at a morning market in Bogor, Indonesia's West Java province August 1, 2013.
(Beawiharta/Reuters)
By Sara Schonhardt
posted August 26, 2013 at 12:26 pm EDT
via bali - Gwww.csmonitor. com/World/Global-News/2013/0826/A-view-from-Indonesia-beyond-Bali?cmpid%3Deditorpicks
(Beawiharta/Reuters)
posted August 26, 2013 at 12:26 pm EDT
Jakarta, Indonesia
• A local, slice-of-life story from a Monitor correspondent.
Every time I travel for work in Indonesia, I'm tempted to describe the journey. The road to (insert destination) was smooth or twisting or pockmarked and broken. I passed roadside stands selling fruit and fried snacks. The traffic was horrendous, more stop than go, or people passed us like maniacs, swerving at 75 miles an hour on snaking back roads.
Such details give a sense of place and remoteness. They also convey the vastness and contradiction that is Indonesia, the world's largest island country by population, and the dysfunctional state of its infrastructure.
They are not always essential to the story, which varies from the battle to cope with rising maternal mortality to deforestation to improvements in rural education – or lack thereof. But I like to think they paint a picture of a country that people tend to see from either the vantage of Jakarta's malls and high rises or its sweeping rice fields and volcanic vistas.
In reality, the scenery is neither one or the other. In the poorest villages a gaudy concrete structure (usually a government office or seldom-used health clinic), often stands as a tribute to economic and social development.
I have traveled far and wide to see the nature of this "progress," to talk to people and learn what they think, how they live and how their lives are changing as the country does.
While I don't often talk about how warm and friendly the Indonesian people are, I often think it. When Indonesians ask me why I like it here, I don't wax on about the culture (vibrant!), the climate (tropical) or how far I can stretch my American dollar. I simply say it's fascinating – and that's as true today as it was four years ago when I first arrived here.
I feel lucky Indonesia has let me stay this long and tell its stories. I have loved and hated it, but my feelings have never been lukewarm. I've been terrified, joyous, overwhelmed, frustrated, and scintillated. I have rarely been bored.
When I arrived in August 2009, Indonesians were still cheering the re-election of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as president. Now, as he prepares to leave office under 10-year term limits, pundits are calling him a lame duck who not only failed to meet a key campaign promise to curb corruption, but has let it infiltrate the Democrat Party he founded.
Civil society groups have also lashed out at him for standing by silently while sectarian violence ticked upward.
In 2009 counter-terrorism police were still hunting for the militants behind twin bombings that rocked the luxury JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels in Jakarta, killing nine and injuring dozens of others. Today, after fracturing the country's biggest terrorist group, Jemaah Islamiyah, police are fighting a war against militants targeting them rather than Western influences.
Four years ago the anti-corruption commission was boldly going after high-level politicians (it still is) and political analysts worried about attempts by parliamentarians to defang it (they haven't given up). Bali had trash on its beaches, but less of it. There were more orangutans, tigers, and elephants in rainforests that have since been clear cut. 7-Eleven had not entered the market, shaking up the country's convenience store craze, and Joko Widodo, the populist governor of Jakarta who has transformed Indonesian perceptions of good governance and is, observers speculate, preparing a run for the presidency, was still a country bumpkin mayor in a mid-sized city called Solo.
At small shops, vendors handed back candies when they were short on change. The exchange rate was averaging Rp10,000 to the dollar. Today, after years of more than six percent growth and an economy often called an emerging market "darling" by investors, the rupiah has weakened to its lowest level since 2008.
On Friday President Yudhoyono announced a fiscal stimulus package aimed at restoring confidence in the sputtering economy. During a late night coffee meeting, the country's leading financial officials talked about how its rising wages and low productivity were driving investors away.
Brash young finance minister Chatib Basri, sprinkling his speech with slang, called Indonesia a victim of its own successes, while Hatta Rajasa, the coordinating minister for the economy, hammered home the need to preserve local industries and stem imports to rebalance a trade deficit that is to blame for the sickening currency.
None of that seemed to matter much by Sunday, as I zipped down a palm oil plantation-lined road from Medan to Lake Toba, where I'm on a reporting trip for The Christian Science Monitor. At one point my driver swerved onto the shoulder to avoid a collision with a van passing in the oncoming lane (our mirrors still clipped.) When we stopped for lunch an hour later I chatted with two well-mannered kids. They asked me what I wanted to buy (mau beli apa?). I asked them where they lived. Just typical Indonesian probing.
Another common question, which Saritua, the taxi driver asked me shortly after we met:
"Are you married."
"Not yet," I said.
"You should find an Indonesian man," he replied.
And when I thought about what to say to that, I thought about how much time I'd spent these past years looking for a story, for sources, for a way to tell the world about a country that is neither failing nor soaring and I realized I had the appropriate answer to encompass it all: "I'm still searching."
• A local, slice-of-life story from a Monitor correspondent.
Every time I travel for work in Indonesia, I'm tempted to describe the journey. The road to (insert destination) was smooth or twisting or pockmarked and broken. I passed roadside stands selling fruit and fried snacks. The traffic was horrendous, more stop than go, or people passed us like maniacs, swerving at 75 miles an hour on snaking back roads.
Such details give a sense of place and remoteness. They also convey the vastness and contradiction that is Indonesia, the world's largest island country by population, and the dysfunctional state of its infrastructure.
They are not always essential to the story, which varies from the battle to cope with rising maternal mortality to deforestation to improvements in rural education – or lack thereof. But I like to think they paint a picture of a country that people tend to see from either the vantage of Jakarta's malls and high rises or its sweeping rice fields and volcanic vistas.
In reality, the scenery is neither one or the other. In the poorest villages a gaudy concrete structure (usually a government office or seldom-used health clinic), often stands as a tribute to economic and social development.
I have traveled far and wide to see the nature of this "progress," to talk to people and learn what they think, how they live and how their lives are changing as the country does.
While I don't often talk about how warm and friendly the Indonesian people are, I often think it. When Indonesians ask me why I like it here, I don't wax on about the culture (vibrant!), the climate (tropical) or how far I can stretch my American dollar. I simply say it's fascinating – and that's as true today as it was four years ago when I first arrived here.
I feel lucky Indonesia has let me stay this long and tell its stories. I have loved and hated it, but my feelings have never been lukewarm. I've been terrified, joyous, overwhelmed, frustrated, and scintillated. I have rarely been bored.
When I arrived in August 2009, Indonesians were still cheering the re-election of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as president. Now, as he prepares to leave office under 10-year term limits, pundits are calling him a lame duck who not only failed to meet a key campaign promise to curb corruption, but has let it infiltrate the Democrat Party he founded.
Civil society groups have also lashed out at him for standing by silently while sectarian violence ticked upward.
In 2009 counter-terrorism police were still hunting for the militants behind twin bombings that rocked the luxury JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels in Jakarta, killing nine and injuring dozens of others. Today, after fracturing the country's biggest terrorist group, Jemaah Islamiyah, police are fighting a war against militants targeting them rather than Western influences.
Four years ago the anti-corruption commission was boldly going after high-level politicians (it still is) and political analysts worried about attempts by parliamentarians to defang it (they haven't given up). Bali had trash on its beaches, but less of it. There were more orangutans, tigers, and elephants in rainforests that have since been clear cut. 7-Eleven had not entered the market, shaking up the country's convenience store craze, and Joko Widodo, the populist governor of Jakarta who has transformed Indonesian perceptions of good governance and is, observers speculate, preparing a run for the presidency, was still a country bumpkin mayor in a mid-sized city called Solo.
At small shops, vendors handed back candies when they were short on change. The exchange rate was averaging Rp10,000 to the dollar. Today, after years of more than six percent growth and an economy often called an emerging market "darling" by investors, the rupiah has weakened to its lowest level since 2008.
On Friday President Yudhoyono announced a fiscal stimulus package aimed at restoring confidence in the sputtering economy. During a late night coffee meeting, the country's leading financial officials talked about how its rising wages and low productivity were driving investors away.
Brash young finance minister Chatib Basri, sprinkling his speech with slang, called Indonesia a victim of its own successes, while Hatta Rajasa, the coordinating minister for the economy, hammered home the need to preserve local industries and stem imports to rebalance a trade deficit that is to blame for the sickening currency.
None of that seemed to matter much by Sunday, as I zipped down a palm oil plantation-lined road from Medan to Lake Toba, where I'm on a reporting trip for The Christian Science Monitor. At one point my driver swerved onto the shoulder to avoid a collision with a van passing in the oncoming lane (our mirrors still clipped.) When we stopped for lunch an hour later I chatted with two well-mannered kids. They asked me what I wanted to buy (mau beli apa?). I asked them where they lived. Just typical Indonesian probing.
Another common question, which Saritua, the taxi driver asked me shortly after we met:
"Are you married."
"Not yet," I said.
"You should find an Indonesian man," he replied.
And when I thought about what to say to that, I thought about how much time I'd spent these past years looking for a story, for sources, for a way to tell the world about a country that is neither failing nor soaring and I realized I had the appropriate answer to encompass it all: "I'm still searching."
via bali - Gwww.csmonitor. com/World/Global-News/2013/0826/A-view-from-Indonesia-beyond-Bali?cmpid%3Deditorpicks
Abbott promises compensation for victims of terrorism
Tony Abbott has promised compensation for victims of overseas terrorism after experiencing first hand the devastation days after an attack.Paul Anicich, whose life as a leading lawyer in the NSW city of Newcastle was ruined by the bombing, also told of Mr Abbott sitting at the end of his wife Penny's bed for hours, comforting her, as she believed she was dying.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott meets Bali bombing survivors Paul Anicich, left, and Peter Hughes, centre. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen
''You were acting as the man you are. You can imagine the gratitude I have.''
Mr Anicich was one of several Bali bombing victims attending a small ceremony in Newcastle where Mr Abbott pledged that in the first 100 days of a Coalition government, he would ensure all Australian victims of terrorism overseas, past and future, would be eligible for victims-of-crime compensation of up to $75,000 each.
The compensation would cover Australian victims of terrorist attacks in New York, Bali, Jakarta, London and Mumbai.
Mr Abbott said the pledge was part of ''a bit of a personal journey'', which began when he and his family took a holiday to Bali in early October 2005.
Four Australians were killed and 68 were injured when suicide bombers attacked at Jimbaran Bay and Kuta.
Mr Anicich and his wife were among a large group of Australians who believe they were specifically targeted at a restaurant at Jimbaran Bay.
Mr Abbott spent many hours trying to help victims at Bali's Sanglah General Hospital and in Mr Anicich's words ''pulled from the sky'' an emergency evacuation plane when he learnt his life was in the balance. Mr Anicich was flown to Singapore, and his wife remained in the Bali hospital.
When Mrs Anicich awoke, she found ''this man she didn't know, sitting on the end of her bed, comforting her, while she thought her life was going to end''.
Mr Abbott had stayed there virtually all day.
The Opposition Leader said he had been trying for years to ensure all Australian victims of overseas terrorism received the same modest compensation as those who were domestic victims of crime.
He conceded that he had failed in 2007 when the Howard government was in power.
''I suppose we were a little past our prime [in 2007],'' he said. ''We should have done it.''
The Labor government had supported his move, but it had stopped short of providing the compensation to those who had already become victims, legislating only for future victims.
An Abbott government would, at the cost of $30 million, provide compensation retrospectively for up to 300 people who had been injured or the families of those who had been killed.
It was, he said, a modest payment, but significant in that it acknowledged those who had suffered as targets ''simply because they were Australian, representative of a way of life and a particular set of values''.
Correction: Mr Anicich's name was misspelled in an earlier version of this story.
via bali - www.theage. com. au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/bali-bombing-victim-tony-abbott-saved-my-life-20130827-2smxg.html
US President Barrack Obama and Russian Premier Vladimir Putin have
confirmed their attendances at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation
(APEC) summit in Bali this October.
“In addition, other presidents, including China President Xi Jinping, have confirmed,” said 2013 APEC national committee member Ahmed Kurnia at a press conference in Nusa Dua on Saturday, as quoted by kompas.com.
Of the 21 heads of states 14 have confirmed they will attend join the APEC Summit. Seven others have not yet replied to the invitation.
APEC, established in 1989, is an economic cooperation forum in Asia-Pacific with 21 country members.
Its members are Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, the US and Vietnam.(apt/dic)
via bali - www.
“In addition, other presidents, including China President Xi Jinping, have confirmed,” said 2013 APEC national committee member Ahmed Kurnia at a press conference in Nusa Dua on Saturday, as quoted by kompas.com.
Of the 21 heads of states 14 have confirmed they will attend join the APEC Summit. Seven others have not yet replied to the invitation.
APEC, established in 1989, is an economic cooperation forum in Asia-Pacific with 21 country members.
Its members are Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, the US and Vietnam.(apt/dic)
via bali - www.
The hotel-verification process must be completed before the upcoming
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum, therefore, Bali Police
together with the Association of Indonesian Hotels and Restaurants
(PHRI) Bali must act faster, Governor Made Mangku Pastika said.
“Bali Police and the PHRI need to promptly verify whether the 40 hotels have met all required standards in terms of security, facilities and human resources,” the governor insisted.
The APEC Summit will take place in the Nusa Dua Resort complex from Oct. 1–Oct. 10. The resort’s selected 40 hotels and villas will host hundreds of high-profile delegates including state leaders, ministers, diplomats and high-ranking officials of global organizations and CEOs of international corporations.
“Within two months, all verified hotels are expected to have met with safety standards and provide world-class facilities,” Pastika added.
The governor said security and the safety of national leaders and participating delegates would be at stake and Bali as the host of such an important event must be responsible in applying top security measures.
Chairman of PHRI Bali Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardhana Sukawati told Bali Daily that 26 out of 40 selected hotels had already passed the verification process.
“The remaining 11 hotels must improve their security systems, management, facilities and human resources in order to pass the verification process,” Sukawati said.
He was confident that the 11 hotels could meet the required standards before the deadline.
The safety and security certification process for hotels and tourist accommodation in Bali started in 2004 following the terrorist bombs in October 2002, which claimed 220 lives.
At that time, Pastika was chief of the Bali Police after he successfully led a multi-national investigation team into the bombings.
In October 2005, after Bali again fell victim to another terrorist bombing. Hotel security and safety of foreign and domestic tourists became his first priority concern.
But, in the following years, verification of hotels and tourist accommodation was halted due to unspecified reasons.
While previous security systems merely focused on the presence of security personnel and equipment, today’s security standards also include intangible aspects, like disaster preparedness, plans for tsunamis and earthquakes, security measures for accounting and administration and sales and marketing, among others.
PHRI Bali and the Bali Police have conducted several training sessions for hotel management personnel to introduce the new security system standards.
“All hotels must undergo and pass the verification process before October,” Sukawati said.
Bali Police chief Insp. Gen. Arif Wachyunadi said that the verification process had been running well. “The verification process is working well and we still have adequate time to complete it,” he said.
Wachyunadi said that the verification certificate would identify the hotels that have the highest security standards eligible to host VVIP guests.
“It is an accurate indicator that the hotel facilities and security have met with international standards,” the general commented.
via bali - www.
“Bali Police and the PHRI need to promptly verify whether the 40 hotels have met all required standards in terms of security, facilities and human resources,” the governor insisted.
The APEC Summit will take place in the Nusa Dua Resort complex from Oct. 1–Oct. 10. The resort’s selected 40 hotels and villas will host hundreds of high-profile delegates including state leaders, ministers, diplomats and high-ranking officials of global organizations and CEOs of international corporations.
“Within two months, all verified hotels are expected to have met with safety standards and provide world-class facilities,” Pastika added.
The governor said security and the safety of national leaders and participating delegates would be at stake and Bali as the host of such an important event must be responsible in applying top security measures.
Chairman of PHRI Bali Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardhana Sukawati told Bali Daily that 26 out of 40 selected hotels had already passed the verification process.
“The remaining 11 hotels must improve their security systems, management, facilities and human resources in order to pass the verification process,” Sukawati said.
He was confident that the 11 hotels could meet the required standards before the deadline.
The safety and security certification process for hotels and tourist accommodation in Bali started in 2004 following the terrorist bombs in October 2002, which claimed 220 lives.
At that time, Pastika was chief of the Bali Police after he successfully led a multi-national investigation team into the bombings.
In October 2005, after Bali again fell victim to another terrorist bombing. Hotel security and safety of foreign and domestic tourists became his first priority concern.
But, in the following years, verification of hotels and tourist accommodation was halted due to unspecified reasons.
While previous security systems merely focused on the presence of security personnel and equipment, today’s security standards also include intangible aspects, like disaster preparedness, plans for tsunamis and earthquakes, security measures for accounting and administration and sales and marketing, among others.
PHRI Bali and the Bali Police have conducted several training sessions for hotel management personnel to introduce the new security system standards.
“All hotels must undergo and pass the verification process before October,” Sukawati said.
Bali Police chief Insp. Gen. Arif Wachyunadi said that the verification process had been running well. “The verification process is working well and we still have adequate time to complete it,” he said.
Wachyunadi said that the verification certificate would identify the hotels that have the highest security standards eligible to host VVIP guests.
“It is an accurate indicator that the hotel facilities and security have met with international standards,” the general commented.
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Ni Wayan Kusumawathi, head of the Bali Industry and Trade Agency, said that the bylaw was needed to ensure the protection, preservation and development of the local textile industry.
“The bylaw is not merely for trade, but also part of our efforts to preserve local cultures. Traditional Balinese textiles like endek woven cloth, songket and sekordi are unique pieces of art,” she said in a discussion on Balinese textiles recently.
Endek is a hand-woven cloth and songket is woven with a weft of gold-wrapped cotton or silk thread. Sekordi is usually used as a hip cloth in rites of passage ceremonies.
Kusumawathi said that the bylaw would include the preservation of areas that produce traditional textiles, as well as the process, designs, motifs and craftsmen.
The bylaw would be drafted next year.
Once the bylaw is in effect, it will be easier for the Industry and Trade Agency to assist producers of traditional textiles, she said.
“Our program to support traditional textile producers is integrated with the One Village One Product [OVOP] scheme. For traditional textiles, we are focusing on the centers of production, particularly villages in Klungkung, Karangasem, Gianyar and Buleleng.”
The agency also supports traditional textile producers in facing the free trade era by improving their competitiveness.
“As Balinese traditional textiles are in the global arena, we need to ensure that our effort to improve their competitiveness does not contradict the preservation efforts,” she said.
Traditional textile products from Bali have been marketed to Europe, the US, South Africa and Southeast Asian countries.
However, exports to Europe and the US decreased due to the global financial crisis, Kusumawathi said, adding that export would focus on South Africa and Southeast Asian countries as new potential markets.
Last year, the total export value of traditional textile products from 50 Balinese enterprises reached US$108.8 million, a decline of 21.32 percent from the previous year. This year, Bali is targeting an increase in export value of 2.5 percent.
Ida Ayu Ngurah Puniari, a researcher of Balinese textiles, said that protection for traditional cloth products in this free trade era was increasingly important.
She said it was important that Balinese traditional textile products obtained patents as part of the protection efforts.
“Up to now, none of our traditional textile products have obtained copyrights,” said the author of Makna dan Pemakaian Kain Bebali dalam Upacara Hindu di Bali (Meaning and Usage of Kain Bebali in Balinese Hindu Rituals).
Anak Agung Ngurah Mahendra from the Indonesian Textile Association called for more assistance from the government to help textile producers obtain copyrights for their products.
via bali - www.thejakartapost. com/bali-
Bali tourism will gain great benefits when the island hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Corporation (APEC) Summit next October, a minister has said.
Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Mari Elka Pangestu told journalists on Thursday that a successful summit would be a very effective promotion for Bali on the international stage.
"Bali will become known as one of the potential destinations for world-class summits and gatherings," the minister said.
"The APEC Summit and many sideline meetings and events held ahead of the summit will have direct and indirect impacts on Bali tourism. That's why we should optimize these international-scale events to promote our tourist destinations," Mari said in a keynote address to the meeting of the Bali Tourism Promotion Board (BPPD) in Denpasar.
During the APEC Summit next October, as many as 21 heads of state and government, 46 ministers, 5,250 economic leaders and around 3,000 journalists from across the world will come to Bali. Meanwhile, there will be around 182 preliminary APEC meetings held ahead of the summit, attended by around 100,000 delegates.
"The presence of state and economic leaders from across the world will make it an extraordinary moment. Thousands of journalists will cover the events with Bali as the venue," she added.
Mari said that around 30,000 hotel rooms and 3,000 modes of transportation would be used during the three-day summit.
Mari also said that many infrastructure projects had been undertaken in Bali ahead of the APEC Summit. Among the projects is the construction of the Dewa Ruci underpass that will cost around
Rp 148 billion (US$15 million), funded by the state budget.
It is part of an extensive infrastructure overhaul designed for completion ahead of the summit. The overhaul also includes the Rp 2.8 trillion expansion of Ngurah Rai International Airport and construction of the Benoa-Ngurah Rai-Nusa Dua toll road, which cost Rp 2.5 trillion.
Mari said the infrastructure project would be useful for Bali residents in the long term. Therefore, Mari hoped that all Bali residents could support the summit.
Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika concurred.
"You can imagine, there will be 3,000 journalists covering the summit. They will publish their news from Bali. I hope many people from across the world will be eager to come to Bali after this event," Pastika said.
via bali - www.thejakartapost. com/bali-daily/2013-08-24/bali-tourism-benefit-apec-summit.html
Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Mari Elka Pangestu told journalists on Thursday that a successful summit would be a very effective promotion for Bali on the international stage.
"Bali will become known as one of the potential destinations for world-class summits and gatherings," the minister said.
"The APEC Summit and many sideline meetings and events held ahead of the summit will have direct and indirect impacts on Bali tourism. That's why we should optimize these international-scale events to promote our tourist destinations," Mari said in a keynote address to the meeting of the Bali Tourism Promotion Board (BPPD) in Denpasar.
During the APEC Summit next October, as many as 21 heads of state and government, 46 ministers, 5,250 economic leaders and around 3,000 journalists from across the world will come to Bali. Meanwhile, there will be around 182 preliminary APEC meetings held ahead of the summit, attended by around 100,000 delegates.
"The presence of state and economic leaders from across the world will make it an extraordinary moment. Thousands of journalists will cover the events with Bali as the venue," she added.
Mari said that around 30,000 hotel rooms and 3,000 modes of transportation would be used during the three-day summit.
Mari also said that many infrastructure projects had been undertaken in Bali ahead of the APEC Summit. Among the projects is the construction of the Dewa Ruci underpass that will cost around
Rp 148 billion (US$15 million), funded by the state budget.
It is part of an extensive infrastructure overhaul designed for completion ahead of the summit. The overhaul also includes the Rp 2.8 trillion expansion of Ngurah Rai International Airport and construction of the Benoa-Ngurah Rai-Nusa Dua toll road, which cost Rp 2.5 trillion.
Mari said the infrastructure project would be useful for Bali residents in the long term. Therefore, Mari hoped that all Bali residents could support the summit.
Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika concurred.
"You can imagine, there will be 3,000 journalists covering the summit. They will publish their news from Bali. I hope many people from across the world will be eager to come to Bali after this event," Pastika said.
via bali - www.thejakartapost. com/bali-daily/2013-08-24/bali-tourism-benefit-apec-summit.html
SCHAPELLE Corby is set to have her jail term cut further as lawyers for the convicted drug smuggler continue to work on a possible parole bid.
The governor of Bali's Kerobokan jail, Gusti Ngurah Wiratna, has confirmed that Corby has been recommended for a six-month sentence cut set to be announced as part of Indonesian Independence Day celebrations on August 17.The Bali Nine's Renae Lawrence is also in line for a six-month reduction in her sentence.
The 35-year-old from Newcastle is serving 20 years for her role in a failed 2005 plot to smuggle more than 8kg of heroin from Bali to Australia. She has already been granted more than two years in remissions.
"Both women are receiving maximum remission because both are deserving," Wiratna told AAP.
Corby has been eligible to apply for parole since last August but is yet to lodge an application after the Indonesian government introduced a new set of strict conditions for prisoners convicted of serious crimes including drug trafficking.
"We're still waiting for green light from the immigration officials. When they've given signal that it's okay, then we'll go ahead," he said.
The regulations signed off on in April means there are a number of other hurdles that Corby may have to clear before gaining parole, including agreeing to become a so-called "justice collaborator", as well as admitting guilt and showing remorse.
Corby, who was caught in 2004 attempting to import 4.1 kilograms of marijuana into Bali in her bodyboard bag, was sentenced to 20 years in jail but had that term slashed by five years by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
If Corby fails to win parole, the latest sentence cut if confirmed would mean the earliest she could walk free from Kerobokan jail is mid-2015, so long as she continues to win the maximum eight months per year in remissions.
AAP
via bali - http://www.theaustralian. com. au/news/nation/schapelle-corby-due-for-further-cut-to-bali-jail-term/story-e6frg6nf-1226692787627
The demand for Bali holidays was merely set back, but not destroyed by the terrorism threat early last decade. The market is now maturing as more and more Australians consider buying property in Bali, in spite of daunting hurdles that restrict foreign ownership of land in Indonesia.
Apart from the record 790,000 Australians who holidayed there in 2012, the number of Australian permanent Australian of Bali is also now heading for 10,000.
Construction is booming in Bali, but there are fears the market is overheated and heading for a bust.
And property prices are said to have increased by around 20 per cent in 2012, fuelled by an increase in demand from foreigners.
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In fact, according to the local tourism newsletter, Bali Update,
the local real estate market is so overheated, the country’s biggest
financial institution, Bank Indonesia, fears it is heading for a bust.Nevertheless, the bank’s Bali regional manager, Dwi Pranoto, admits: “In fact, the price of land in Bali, in real terms, is not so high.”
So in spite of the complicated system where foreign buyers must designate local nominee to buy or lease Bali property, there remains no shortage of demand.
Some of the expat brokers who now specialise in guiding Australian buyers through the bureaucratic maze reckon there’s the full range on sale, from million-dollar beachfront villas in fashionable areas like Seminyak north of Kuta, to homes with a pool for $250,000-$300,000 provided you’re prepared to settle for less than prime beachfront and look inland.
This is in spite of Bali’s well-known problems: a Third-World water supply that infects Westerners with “Bali Belly”, beaches that are strewn with rubbish because they are not systematically cleaned and increased traffic congestion as a teeming mass of trucks, cars and motorbikes are imposed on the island's cobbled streets.
A consultant at the Hospitality Institute of Asia, said, Fabrice de Barsy, told London’s Telegraph in April: “Bali didn’t take care of its infrastructure and environment. Bali has now become dirty, the traffic terrible and the landscape is getting spoiled by ugly construction.”
Bali isn’t protected from the chaotic boom conditions in the rest of Indonesia. “The luxury market is not doing that well as hundreds of cheaper hotels and condo-hotels are being built,” de Barsy says of Bali. “However, the country is doing well and a growing middle class can now afford Bali. Prices will keep going up, but on the very high end, a lot is for sale with nobody to buy.”
Would you ever consider buying property in Bali? Would you want to live there? Post your comments below.
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“Most of them entered Bali through the Ngurah Rai International Airport and only 19,739 tourists arrived via port [the Gilimanuk port],” Bali BPS head Gede Suarsa said in Denpasar, Bali, on Friday as quoted by Antara news agency.
He added that Bali expects around 2.8 million foreign tourists this year, a target which is lesser than the number of foreign tourists who visited Bali last year, 2.94 million people.
To reach the target, he went on, the Bali administration conducted intensive promotion in a number of prospective countries.
According to Gede, Japan is the first on the list of countries sending more tourists to Bali, followed by China, Singapore, Malaysia, the United States, Taiwan, Australia and France. He added tourists from South Korea and England had shown a significant drop. (hrl)
“I am doing it solely for the future of this island,” he said during a gathering with local journalists on Friday.
Pastika pointed out that vocational schools and universities on the island had churned out thousands of fresh graduates on an annual basis. Without employment opportunities, however, these young graduates would only increase the unemployment rate, and, in the longer term, contribute to the island’s poverty level.
The reclamation project and the development of various tourism facilities on the reclaimed land would create at least 200,000 new job opportunities, Pastika estimated.
“I have ensured in the permit letter that the investor and managing company are obliged to employ local workers,”
Pastika pointed out that once all the facilities, which would include a giant theme park, hotels and convention centers, a sport stadium, an international hospital, and a planned F1 circuit, reach their operational stage, the local administration would enjoy daily revenue from taxes amounting to Rp 5 billion.
“In five years, not only will we be providing more jobs to the growing pool of fresh graduates but we will also significantly increase provincial revenue, which in turn, would enable the local administration to fund an increasing number of pro people programs,” Pastika detailed.
Pro-people programs, including free universal healthcare services, financial aid of Rp. 1 billion each for poor villages as well as home renovation packages for low-income families, are the cornerstones of Pastika’s administration. He funded the programs by pursuing a two-pronged strategy: Increasing provincial revenue and implementing cost-cutting measures at provincial agencies previously known for their sluggish and oversized bureaucratic structures.
While the pro-people programs, locally known as Bali Mandara, are widely praised and won Pastika his second term in last May’s gubernatorial election, his policy on reclamation has drawn a growing chorus of rejection from various corners of society.
Pastika issued a permit for PT Tirta Wahana Bali International to reclaim and manage an area of 883 hectares in Benoa Bay after receiving two supporting documents: a feasibility research document from Udayana University’s team of experts and a recommendation letter from Bali Legislative Council (DPRD).
The reclamation would take place on Pudut Isle, a tiny island partially submerged due to severe abrasion, and the area surrounding it.
Environmentalists and scholars feared that the reclamation would inflict massive, irreversible ecological damages that could affect not only Benoa Bay but also other regions in Bali. Tourism operators and associations, currently plagued by low occupancy rates and paralyzing tariff wars, accused that the reclamation would further aggravate the island’s oversupply of rooms, thus, rejected the project mainly on the basis of self-preservation. In recent days, the people of Benoa had begun voicing their rejections to the project.
Pastika attributed the growing opposition to widespread misperception triggered by the local media’s sensationalist approach toward the issue. He pointed out the “Bali Not For Sale” slogan, the common battle cry among activists opposing the reclamation, as an example of the misperception.
“Who put Bali on sale? The investor would not get any ownership rights over the reclaimed land. Those 883 hectares of reclaimed land will be the property of the provincial government, the property of the Balinese people. The investor will only get the right to manage it for a specified and limited period,”
“Bali will see its territory expanded. Instead of watching hectares of rice fields disappear, we will have an investor who builds tourism facilities on a reclaimed land,”
Pastika also pointed out that out of 883 hectares of reclaimed land, 400 hectares will be forested, 300 hectares will be allocated for public facilities and only 100 hectares will be used for tourism facilities.
Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Pascal Lamy, gave his farewell speech at the General Council meeting last week. Reportedly, the mood of the members before the summer break in August was positive and there was a feeling that the Bali Ministerial can deliver a substantive and balanced agenda for member countries.
While a positive outlook is a good sign for the Doha Round, which has been languishing for too long, a lot more progress has to be achieved in the interim months to the Bali Ministerial in December 2013, to arrive at a consensus on critical issues on the three pillars of the agenda for the meeting - trade facilitation, agriculture and development.
It is important to look at the three pillars and work rapidly to forge a consensus, as otherwise, the WTO, it seems, is slowly moving away from being a multilateral institution to a plurilateral (covering only a select few members) institution. Except a few areas of negotiations that are on the table, many texts that are in advanced stages of negotiation are for a plurilateral agreement. This includes negotiations for government procurement, information technology agreement-II and a services agreement. There have been indications in the past that trade facilitation could also move towards a plurilateral negotiation. This trend towards plurilateral agreements can hurt WTO since it is primarily supposed to encourage multilateral trade.
India's Chief negotiator, Rajeev Kher, while speaking at a conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry said that as of now a lot more work is needed to arrive a balanced outcome at Bali. India is looking to balance the outcome in the three pillars on the agenda. Besides it is also looking to balance the text on trade facilitation.
India is not averse to a trade facilitation agreement. However, what New Delhi has been wary of is accepting multilateral obligations, which will require heavy expenditure for creation of infrastructure and training officials without adequate commitments from others in terms of technical and financial support.
Industry in India supports a trade facilitation agreement at Bali. The industry is of the view that such an agreement could go a long way in bringing down transaction costs that is critical to tap markets in the current global economic environment. There are also several studies, which support the argument that a binding trade facilitation agreement can lead to a large increase in global trade.
But there is a word of caution emerging from the industry. It is clear that the burden of financing these obligations should not fall on the private sector. Any such additional cost burden on the private sector would then take away the benefit of an agreement, which is aimed at cutting costs of exports and imports.
Therefore, the industry is of the view that there is a need for negotiators to look at both the Bali and a post Bali process to ensure that an agreement on trade facilitation actually benefits business.
This point is relevant in the context of what Lamy said at a function celebrating 30 years of Consumer Unity & Trust Society at Geneva a few weeks back. He had said "trade is today less about whole products and services, and more about trade in tasks along value chains which often span not just across countries but also continents." The stakes are high too. As Lamy pointed out "in the 1980s, trade in goods measured in volume accounted for around $2 trillion. In 2012, it accounted for at least $18 trillion. Between 1982 and 2012 merchandise trade increased by an annual average of around 8 per cent."
A balanced trade facilitation agreement, the industry is certain, can lead to greater participation in global value chains. For now, Indian firms account for less than 5 per cent of the total global value chains. Industry in the country, therefore, hopes that an agreement at Bali will help the industry, especially the small and medium sector, in developing countries play a greater role in global value chains. Business in India, it seems, has huge expectations of Bali.
The writer is Principal Adviser at APJ-SLG Law Offices
While a positive outlook is a good sign for the Doha Round, which has been languishing for too long, a lot more progress has to be achieved in the interim months to the Bali Ministerial in December 2013, to arrive at a consensus on critical issues on the three pillars of the agenda for the meeting - trade facilitation, agriculture and development.
It is important to look at the three pillars and work rapidly to forge a consensus, as otherwise, the WTO, it seems, is slowly moving away from being a multilateral institution to a plurilateral (covering only a select few members) institution. Except a few areas of negotiations that are on the table, many texts that are in advanced stages of negotiation are for a plurilateral agreement. This includes negotiations for government procurement, information technology agreement-II and a services agreement. There have been indications in the past that trade facilitation could also move towards a plurilateral negotiation. This trend towards plurilateral agreements can hurt WTO since it is primarily supposed to encourage multilateral trade.
India's Chief negotiator, Rajeev Kher, while speaking at a conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry said that as of now a lot more work is needed to arrive a balanced outcome at Bali. India is looking to balance the outcome in the three pillars on the agenda. Besides it is also looking to balance the text on trade facilitation.
India is not averse to a trade facilitation agreement. However, what New Delhi has been wary of is accepting multilateral obligations, which will require heavy expenditure for creation of infrastructure and training officials without adequate commitments from others in terms of technical and financial support.
Industry in India supports a trade facilitation agreement at Bali. The industry is of the view that such an agreement could go a long way in bringing down transaction costs that is critical to tap markets in the current global economic environment. There are also several studies, which support the argument that a binding trade facilitation agreement can lead to a large increase in global trade.
But there is a word of caution emerging from the industry. It is clear that the burden of financing these obligations should not fall on the private sector. Any such additional cost burden on the private sector would then take away the benefit of an agreement, which is aimed at cutting costs of exports and imports.
Therefore, the industry is of the view that there is a need for negotiators to look at both the Bali and a post Bali process to ensure that an agreement on trade facilitation actually benefits business.
This point is relevant in the context of what Lamy said at a function celebrating 30 years of Consumer Unity & Trust Society at Geneva a few weeks back. He had said "trade is today less about whole products and services, and more about trade in tasks along value chains which often span not just across countries but also continents." The stakes are high too. As Lamy pointed out "in the 1980s, trade in goods measured in volume accounted for around $2 trillion. In 2012, it accounted for at least $18 trillion. Between 1982 and 2012 merchandise trade increased by an annual average of around 8 per cent."
A balanced trade facilitation agreement, the industry is certain, can lead to greater participation in global value chains. For now, Indian firms account for less than 5 per cent of the total global value chains. Industry in the country, therefore, hopes that an agreement at Bali will help the industry, especially the small and medium sector, in developing countries play a greater role in global value chains. Business in India, it seems, has huge expectations of Bali.
The writer is Principal Adviser at APJ-SLG Law Offices
Tourism organizations, in cooperation with the sports committee, are
planning various events under the Bali Sports Tourism program to promote
the island as a sports destination.
The Indonesian Tourism Businesses Association (GIPI) and the Bali Tourism Promotion Board (BPPD) will work together with the Bali branch of the National Sports Committee (KONI) to hold the events, aiming to attract more visitors to Bali and at the same time provide more opportunities for athletes to compete.
The first event to be held under this program is Bali Sports Week 2013, which is scheduled for Nov. 1 to 17, involving nine separate sporting events and one recreational event.
“We hope the events will make Bali better known as a sports destination,” GIPI chairman Ngurah Wijaya, also the chairman of Bali Sports Week, said recently.
The event will be held in Bali’s low season to help the tourist industry attract more tourists.
Bali Sports Week will feature nine competitive events — marathon, supercross, swimming, off-road racing, chess, volleyball, gateball, woodball and badminton. The event, in which more than 1,000 athletes are expected to participate, will also include one recreational event: cycling around Bali.
The swimming competition will be held in open water, with two distance categories: five and 10 kilometers.
The gateball matches, scheduled for Nov. 14 and 15, are expected to see 64 teams participate.
Plans are still underway for the badminton competition as this will have to be synchronized with the national team’s schedule.
The marathon is intended to be the closing event, held on Nov. 17. The organizers are seeking permission to hold the marathon on Bali’s new toll road with the start and finish line in Nusa Dua.
As an alternative, if they could not obtain permission, the marathon would take place on Jl. Bypass Ngurah Rai.
“We will promote this event so that it can attract more domestic and foreign tourists and amateur athletes that will take part in the competitions,” Ngurah said.
While the event would have a positive impact on the island’s tourism, it would also be good for KONI, since the achievements of Indonesian athletes would improve, he added.
According to Ngurah, Bali had the potential to be a sports destination, partly because of its nature, citing that various water sports could be done in the island’s waters.
“As for the other sports, Bali still needs to improve its facilities, like sports stadium and fields, and facilities for athletics. It would be good if Bali had a sport center,” he said.
He added that regular sports events organized by the private sector had been held in Bali every year, were well-managed and could be promoted more widely, including by involving KONI and the tourist industry.
The Indonesian Tourism Businesses Association (GIPI) and the Bali Tourism Promotion Board (BPPD) will work together with the Bali branch of the National Sports Committee (KONI) to hold the events, aiming to attract more visitors to Bali and at the same time provide more opportunities for athletes to compete.
The first event to be held under this program is Bali Sports Week 2013, which is scheduled for Nov. 1 to 17, involving nine separate sporting events and one recreational event.
“We hope the events will make Bali better known as a sports destination,” GIPI chairman Ngurah Wijaya, also the chairman of Bali Sports Week, said recently.
The event will be held in Bali’s low season to help the tourist industry attract more tourists.
Bali Sports Week will feature nine competitive events — marathon, supercross, swimming, off-road racing, chess, volleyball, gateball, woodball and badminton. The event, in which more than 1,000 athletes are expected to participate, will also include one recreational event: cycling around Bali.
The swimming competition will be held in open water, with two distance categories: five and 10 kilometers.
The gateball matches, scheduled for Nov. 14 and 15, are expected to see 64 teams participate.
Plans are still underway for the badminton competition as this will have to be synchronized with the national team’s schedule.
The marathon is intended to be the closing event, held on Nov. 17. The organizers are seeking permission to hold the marathon on Bali’s new toll road with the start and finish line in Nusa Dua.
As an alternative, if they could not obtain permission, the marathon would take place on Jl. Bypass Ngurah Rai.
“We will promote this event so that it can attract more domestic and foreign tourists and amateur athletes that will take part in the competitions,” Ngurah said.
While the event would have a positive impact on the island’s tourism, it would also be good for KONI, since the achievements of Indonesian athletes would improve, he added.
According to Ngurah, Bali had the potential to be a sports destination, partly because of its nature, citing that various water sports could be done in the island’s waters.
“As for the other sports, Bali still needs to improve its facilities, like sports stadium and fields, and facilities for athletics. It would be good if Bali had a sport center,” he said.
He added that regular sports events organized by the private sector had been held in Bali every year, were well-managed and could be promoted more widely, including by involving KONI and the tourist industry.
New drug: Vicky Adi Priono, the suspect in the smuggling of 102 "Love Drug" pills looks on as an officer shows off the confiscated blue pills to journalists. BD/Zul Trio AnggonoCustoms officers at Renon Post Office have circumvented the delivery of a new type of drug into Bali.
The drug, methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), which is similar to ecstasy, was sent via the Indonesian postal system (Pos Indonesia) in a package resembling a document.
Head of customs service and monitoring at Ngurah Rai International Airport, I Made Wijaya, said that it was the latest drug trafficking method found in Indonesia.
"This has never been done before," said Wijaya on Wednesday.
Customs officers and Bali Police personnel nabbed Vicky Adi Priono, 27, when he collected the package at the Jl. Kediri post office in Tuban on Monday morning.
The package, addressed to Nia Christian, contained 102 MDA pills. The blue pills are also known as the "Love Drug" and are claimed to improve sexual pleasure. Although resembling ecstasy, the effects of MDA are believed to last longer, for six to 10 hours, rather than three to six.
Vicky, who works for a private company, said he was told by his friend to pick up the package.
"I didn't know it was a drug. She told me it's just a letter," Vicky told the media.
Vicky said that he had been willing to collect the package because he was a good friend of the person named on the package. The drugs arrived at Renon Post Office from the Netherlands on July 23.
"There's a possibility that the name and address on the package are false. We need to follow up," said Wijaya.
It took six days to apprehend Vicky.
"We examined the package first at the customs laboratory in Surabaya," said Wijaya.
MDA is marketed at Rp 450,000 (US$43.70) per pill. Thus, the confiscated package is worth Rp 45.9 million.
According to article 113 (2) of Law No. 35/2009 on drugs, Vicky, who originates from Surabaya, may face the death penalty for his involvement.
Last month, custom officers at Ngurah Rai airport also caught two foreigners, Nicolas Lottefier, 38, from Belgium, and David Alexandre Guigues, 30, from France.
Both arrived in Bali on AirAsia. Lottefier allegedly brought 11.37 grams of hashish worth Rp 6.822 million in his backpack and was caught on June 19 after disembarking a flight from Bangkok.
Meanwhile, Guigues allegedly smuggled 0.79 grams of marijuana worth Rp 474,000 from Kuala Lumpur and was caught on June 13.
Both are currently being legally processed at Bali Police headquarters.
via bali - Google News www.thejakartapost. com/bali-daily/2013-08-01/new-type-drug-arrives-bali-post.html
The Bali Tobacco Control Initiative group from Udayana University’s
public health department has called on the government to reject the
World Tobacco Asia (WTA) conference, slated to be held in Nusa Dua next
year.
“The conference in Bali is against our commitment to encourage people to live healthily without cigarettes. We are urging the government to ban the conference from being held in Bali,” program coordinator of Bali Tobacco Control Initiative, Made Kerta Duana, said recently.
World Tobacco Asia is an annual international tobacco conference that offers the tobacco industry a forum to build relationships and demonstrate their products and services to the Indonesian, Asia-Pacific and Australian tobacco communities.
On its official website, it states World Tobacco Asia 2014 will take place at Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center from Sept. 24 to 25, 2014. The event will consist of an exhibition, conference and exhibitor business presentations, attracting visitors who are seriously involved in the tobacco industry. It will also have an extensive promotional campaign involving targeted mailings, as well as advertising, in Tobacco Journal International and other media sources.
“Exhibiting at World Tobacco Asia 2014 will be the perfect opportunity for you to give your company the business edge in this highly competitive market by: Discussing your products with your existing clients under the same roof at the same time, gaining new contacts and obtaining new business leads from visitors from your target markets, launching new products, raising awareness of your brand and product portfolio, meeting existing and potential working partners from amongst the other exhibitors,” it states on the website.
Duana said that Bali was now being work hard to enforce its smoke-free policy, as stipulated in Bylaw No. 10/2011 on smoke-free zones. “It would be strange for the Bali government to support the conference,” Duana said.
Enacted in 2011, the Bali smoke-free zone bylaw clears the way to banning smoking across broad swathes of the island. The bylaw states that hotels, restaurants, tourist attractions, places of worship, healthcare facilities, schools, playgrounds, traditional and modern markets, transportation terminals, airports, government offices and public transportation are to be smoke-free areas. Advertising and sales of tobacco products have also been banned in these places, except for those regulated by a specific governor regulation. Anyone who smokes or provides cigarettes in the area may face three months’ imprisonment or a fine of Rp 50,000 (US$4.86).
Violation of the bylaw on smoke-free zones, Duana added, was still rampant. Many hotels, hospitals, universities, and even government offices, were still violating the bylaw.
“We are struggling to enforce the law. Having World Tobacco Asia held in Bali would be a step back for Bali,” Duana said.
He admitted that the local government had no authority to ban the conference being held here, as the permit was issued by the central government. “But we hope that at least the local government can declare that they do not support the conference,” he added.
A local health survey conducted by Bali Health Agency showed that the prevalence of young smokers in Bali had reached 31 percent in 2010, while in 2007 it was 24.9 percent. Public polling on the smoke-free zone bylaw showed that 93.1 percent of respondents supported the bylaw and 92.7 percent supported the designation of places of worship as no-smoking zones.
Meanwhile, a survey conducted by the Udayana University’s public health department in 2011 involving 194 respondents found that 34 percent of smokers were aged between 13 and 22 years old. Around 60 percent of these were junior high school students. Around 68 teenagers said their habits derived from one of their family members.
“The conference in Bali is against our commitment to encourage people to live healthily without cigarettes. We are urging the government to ban the conference from being held in Bali,” program coordinator of Bali Tobacco Control Initiative, Made Kerta Duana, said recently.
World Tobacco Asia is an annual international tobacco conference that offers the tobacco industry a forum to build relationships and demonstrate their products and services to the Indonesian, Asia-Pacific and Australian tobacco communities.
On its official website, it states World Tobacco Asia 2014 will take place at Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center from Sept. 24 to 25, 2014. The event will consist of an exhibition, conference and exhibitor business presentations, attracting visitors who are seriously involved in the tobacco industry. It will also have an extensive promotional campaign involving targeted mailings, as well as advertising, in Tobacco Journal International and other media sources.
“Exhibiting at World Tobacco Asia 2014 will be the perfect opportunity for you to give your company the business edge in this highly competitive market by: Discussing your products with your existing clients under the same roof at the same time, gaining new contacts and obtaining new business leads from visitors from your target markets, launching new products, raising awareness of your brand and product portfolio, meeting existing and potential working partners from amongst the other exhibitors,” it states on the website.
Duana said that Bali was now being work hard to enforce its smoke-free policy, as stipulated in Bylaw No. 10/2011 on smoke-free zones. “It would be strange for the Bali government to support the conference,” Duana said.
Enacted in 2011, the Bali smoke-free zone bylaw clears the way to banning smoking across broad swathes of the island. The bylaw states that hotels, restaurants, tourist attractions, places of worship, healthcare facilities, schools, playgrounds, traditional and modern markets, transportation terminals, airports, government offices and public transportation are to be smoke-free areas. Advertising and sales of tobacco products have also been banned in these places, except for those regulated by a specific governor regulation. Anyone who smokes or provides cigarettes in the area may face three months’ imprisonment or a fine of Rp 50,000 (US$4.86).
Violation of the bylaw on smoke-free zones, Duana added, was still rampant. Many hotels, hospitals, universities, and even government offices, were still violating the bylaw.
“We are struggling to enforce the law. Having World Tobacco Asia held in Bali would be a step back for Bali,” Duana said.
He admitted that the local government had no authority to ban the conference being held here, as the permit was issued by the central government. “But we hope that at least the local government can declare that they do not support the conference,” he added.
A local health survey conducted by Bali Health Agency showed that the prevalence of young smokers in Bali had reached 31 percent in 2010, while in 2007 it was 24.9 percent. Public polling on the smoke-free zone bylaw showed that 93.1 percent of respondents supported the bylaw and 92.7 percent supported the designation of places of worship as no-smoking zones.
Meanwhile, a survey conducted by the Udayana University’s public health department in 2011 involving 194 respondents found that 34 percent of smokers were aged between 13 and 22 years old. Around 60 percent of these were junior high school students. Around 68 teenagers said their habits derived from one of their family members.
A professional WA henna artist has revealed the truth about
"temporary" tattoos in Bali as another Perth mum spoke up about her
son's toxic reaction.
Cara Norris said she had been cautious enough to test a small amount of the product used by the Kuta tattooist before letting her seven-year-old son Kirk get a design done on his arm. But the burning sensation and blistering didn't occur until two weeks after they were back in Perth.
"I'm a hairdresser, so I thought I'll do a skin patch test, as you do in a salon, and leave a dot on his skin for 24 hours to see if that reacts," Mrs Norris said. "If it doesn't, you assume it's OK."
She said the mixture took time to reveal its toxicity and so there was no way of first checking if the tattoo was safe.
"Just don't do it," she said. "It could take a couple of years to heal properly."
Mrs Norris and henna artist Charmaine Burnett came forward yesterday after reading the case of nine-year-old Blake Laufer, who is seeing a burns specialist after his Bali tattoo turned bad.
"Bali henna is not henna at all," Ms Burnett said. "It is combination of a powder, water and ink.
"The powder used is for colouring hair and contains a harmful chemical called PPD or paraphelylendiamine - found in most commercial hair colours.
"This powder is used in high concentration which is toxic and should not come into contact with the skin at any time."
She said the street and beach tattooists in Bali added writing ink. Natural henna, which was more obvious because of its reddish brown colour, rarely caused a reaction.
"It contains natural cooling, antifungal and antibacterial properties and a naturally occurring sunscreen," Ms Burnett said. "I have not seen a reaction in the time I have worked with it, keeping in mind I attend all the festivals, the Royal Show and I'm at the Fremantle markets."
Mrs Norris' son got his tattoo on June 9, near the Dynasty, a popular resort for Perth families in Kuta.
The inflammation was gone but the tattoo outline was still clear.
au.news.yahoo.
Cara Norris said she had been cautious enough to test a small amount of the product used by the Kuta tattooist before letting her seven-year-old son Kirk get a design done on his arm. But the burning sensation and blistering didn't occur until two weeks after they were back in Perth.
"I'm a hairdresser, so I thought I'll do a skin patch test, as you do in a salon, and leave a dot on his skin for 24 hours to see if that reacts," Mrs Norris said. "If it doesn't, you assume it's OK."
She said the mixture took time to reveal its toxicity and so there was no way of first checking if the tattoo was safe.
"Just don't do it," she said. "It could take a couple of years to heal properly."
Mrs Norris and henna artist Charmaine Burnett came forward yesterday after reading the case of nine-year-old Blake Laufer, who is seeing a burns specialist after his Bali tattoo turned bad.
"Bali henna is not henna at all," Ms Burnett said. "It is combination of a powder, water and ink.
"The powder used is for colouring hair and contains a harmful chemical called PPD or paraphelylendiamine - found in most commercial hair colours.
"This powder is used in high concentration which is toxic and should not come into contact with the skin at any time."
She said the street and beach tattooists in Bali added writing ink. Natural henna, which was more obvious because of its reddish brown colour, rarely caused a reaction.
"It contains natural cooling, antifungal and antibacterial properties and a naturally occurring sunscreen," Ms Burnett said. "I have not seen a reaction in the time I have worked with it, keeping in mind I attend all the festivals, the Royal Show and I'm at the Fremantle markets."
Mrs Norris' son got his tattoo on June 9, near the Dynasty, a popular resort for Perth families in Kuta.
The inflammation was gone but the tattoo outline was still clear.
au.news.yahoo.
THE warden of a notorious Indonesian prison has strongly denied claims by a British former inmate that she had been abused and that the jail was rife with drug use.
Rachel Dougall, 40, told Britain's Daily Mail newspaper this week that she was beaten, bullied and had to fend off sexual advances from a female inmate and male guards.Her allegations came after she finished a 12-month sentence related to drugs and was deported to Britain in May.
"Her allegations don't match the facts on the ground," prison warden I Gusti Ngurah Wiratna said on Tuesday at the Kerobokan jail on the resort island of Bali.
"We questioned 16 foreign inmates at her block and they said her statements were nonsense," he said, adding the allegations were "serious and damaging".
Dougall, who was imprisoned for not reporting her boyfriend's possession of cocaine, claimed inmates beat her up several times.
"I would cover up my face and take the beatings as they punched and kicked me," Dougall told the Daily Mail, adding inmates tried to force her to take drugs.
She described repeated sexual advances from a lesbian inmate who "ran" the women's block.
"Because I rebuffed her, she would force me to dress up in leather or other fancy clothes and dance like a stripper while the other women laughed and pushed me around. I was humiliated," Dougall said.
She said most of the women were on drugs "virtually every day".
"If you had money the guards would get you anything you wanted. Inmates in the men's prison next door even paid prostitutes for overnight visits," she said.
Wiratna said consulate representatives made visits to see British inmates around three times a month and Dougall had never raised any concerns.
"If she had been mistreated, why didn't she complain to them? They would certainly have relayed her complaints to us," he said.
British embassy officials declined to comment on Dougall, saying in a statement to AFP: "We take allegations of mistreatment very seriously and will raise them with the local authorities if the individual gives their permission."
Dougall was arrested in a police sting in 2012 after Briton Lindsay June Sandiford, 56, was found with almost five kilograms of cocaine in her suitcase at the island's international airport.
Dougall was one of four Britons and an Indian national suspected in a drug ring, but she was convicted only of failing to report her boyfriend, Julian Ponder, for drug possession.
Sandiford, who helped police net the others, was sentenced to death for smuggling.
Media reports have said Kerobokan, where several dozen foreigners are held, is notorious for drugs, corruption and abuse.
via bali - Google News www.news. com. au/breaking-news/world/briton-claims-she-was-abused-in-bali-jail/story-e6frfkui-1226688343714
Put Workers' Rights on Bali APEC Agenda, Unionists Urge President
By Tito Summa Siahaan on 8:18 am July 30, 2013.
Indonesia labor workers
Indonesia labor workers
Workers march during a rally at the business district in Jakarta February 6, 2013. (Reuters Photo/Beawiharta)
A delegation from the International Confederation of Trade Unions on Monday met with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to convey their request for the summit, which will bring together the leaders of 21 countries on either side of the Pacific Ocean.
"We ask the president to champion, to be a leader, in calling for APEC to endorse an APEC-wide decent work strategy which includes jobs, labor rights and social protection," said Sharan Burrow, the secretary general of ICTU.
"Indonesia has a very critical leadership role both in APEC and the G-20," the Australian added, referring to the Group of 20 leading economies.
APEC leaders should also address the growing presence of the informal sector, which accounts for 40 percent of the world economy, Burrow said. "Even in G-20, you have informal sector of between 20 percent and 85 percent in India."
Burrow said workers in the informal sector, are often in a state of "desperation" and are beyond the reach of regulations and state intervention. "People [that] find informal-sector work, they do anything to survive, but it is not [a] way to build a society or the economy," she added.
Labor issues should be on the APEC agenda because economic growth is in the interests of both workers and businesses, Burrow said.
The unionist added that workers have invested $25 trillion in pension funds in the world economy, and so focusing on job creation as a source of growth is important.
"When you look at jobs as the priority, ending the informal sector, and inequality being the global issues that leaders are concerned about, then labor is at the heart of all of those issues," she added.
After the meeting with Yudhoyono, Burrow said: "We were heartened to hear the president said that the low-wage era is over. It is our very firm view that we will not build a stable global economy without ending the area of exploitation that Asian workers in particular have experienced in the global supply chain."
Yudhoyono also committed to increasing engagement with labor movements, both from Indonesia and abroad, Burrow said. Said Iqbal, chairman of the Confederation of Indonesian Workers Unions, backed the call for APEC leaders to add labor to the agenda.
Labor rights have returned to the Indonesian domestic agenda in recent years, with a 44 percent minimum wage increase in Jakarta in January sparking similar actions elsewhere in the country, and outsourcing becoming a hot-button issue.
This year's APEC summit, which comes as much of the world struggles to regain economic momentum after several years of recessions and false starts, carries the theme "Towards Resilience and Growth: Reshaping Priorities for Global Economy."
While Indonesia's Foreign Affairs Ministry has previously celebrated the number of meetings it has hosted in association with the summit, it has yet to identify clear objectives the country wishes to achieve as host.
Formed in 1989, APEC focuses on trade and economics. Its members including Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea and the United States.
- 22rolesHow about you guys stand up and fight for enviroment destructions done by criminals and start demanding to get them out of the country.
- RolandHow to get them out of the country? The vast majority are Indonesian owned business entities…
-
via bali - Google News thejakartaglobe. com/news/put-workers-rights-on-bali-apec-agenda-unionists-urge-president/
NEW DELHI: India expressed hope that negotiations on a global trade deal under the WTO's Doha Round of talks will move forward at the forthcoming ministerial meet at Bali in December.
However, it said that if talks on the G-33 proposal of the developing countries like India, which deals with food security issues, did not move forward at the meeting, the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) may also not see any progress.
Under the TFA, a proposal of developed countries, WTO members are negotiating ways to facilitate trade, simplify and harmonise customs rules and reduce transactions cost.
"India is looking for a possible outcome in Bali meet. Last week's development in Geneva do give us a sense of positivity. We feel that things will move.
"But we are also circumspect that if G-33 proposal and some of the developmental elements do not move, then TFA also may not move," Additional Secretary in the Commerce Ministry Rajeev Kher said here at a WTO function. Kher is also India's chief negotiator at WTO.
Although India is willing to negotiate on TFA, it has raised few concerns over the proposed agreement as it would entail huge investments in creating infrastructure at ports and airports.
"TFA is a desirable agreement. But (the way) it is placed on the table, it does not have all the elements the developing countries would want...the proposal mooted by countries like India have to be given equal weightage and equal seriousness," he said.
He added that TFA would put tremendous burden on developing countries like India in terms of requirement of human resource, finances, infrastructure and "more in terms of changing laws and procedures and practices".
The 9th WTO Ministerial Conference will be held in Bali from December 3-6.
The Ministerial Conference is the highest decision-making body of the 158-member multi-lateral Organisation which meets at least once every two years.
The Doha talks, launched in 2001, have missed several deadlines for its conclusion due to divergent views on some of the issues between the developed countries like the US and the developing nations such as India.
The G-33 proposal, mooted by developing countries like India and China, is for food security and flexibility in their public stock holding operations for public distribution system.
Kher said during the last 8-10 months, "there is a huge amount of convergence on thinking that something must come out from Bali". However, he expressed concern that if nothing would come out from the meet, people may raise questions on the relevance of the multi-lateral body.
via bali - Google News economictimes.indiatimes. com/news/economy/policy/wto-india-hopes-for-a-possible-outcome-at-bali-meet/articleshow/21455564.cms
However, it said that if talks on the G-33 proposal of the developing countries like India, which deals with food security issues, did not move forward at the meeting, the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) may also not see any progress.
Under the TFA, a proposal of developed countries, WTO members are negotiating ways to facilitate trade, simplify and harmonise customs rules and reduce transactions cost.
"India is looking for a possible outcome in Bali meet. Last week's development in Geneva do give us a sense of positivity. We feel that things will move.
"But we are also circumspect that if G-33 proposal and some of the developmental elements do not move, then TFA also may not move," Additional Secretary in the Commerce Ministry Rajeev Kher said here at a WTO function. Kher is also India's chief negotiator at WTO.
Although India is willing to negotiate on TFA, it has raised few concerns over the proposed agreement as it would entail huge investments in creating infrastructure at ports and airports.
"TFA is a desirable agreement. But (the way) it is placed on the table, it does not have all the elements the developing countries would want...the proposal mooted by countries like India have to be given equal weightage and equal seriousness," he said.
He added that TFA would put tremendous burden on developing countries like India in terms of requirement of human resource, finances, infrastructure and "more in terms of changing laws and procedures and practices".
The 9th WTO Ministerial Conference will be held in Bali from December 3-6.
The Ministerial Conference is the highest decision-making body of the 158-member multi-lateral Organisation which meets at least once every two years.
The Doha talks, launched in 2001, have missed several deadlines for its conclusion due to divergent views on some of the issues between the developed countries like the US and the developing nations such as India.
The G-33 proposal, mooted by developing countries like India and China, is for food security and flexibility in their public stock holding operations for public distribution system.
Kher said during the last 8-10 months, "there is a huge amount of convergence on thinking that something must come out from Bali". However, he expressed concern that if nothing would come out from the meet, people may raise questions on the relevance of the multi-lateral body.
via bali - Google News economictimes.indiatimes. com/news/economy/policy/wto-india-hopes-for-a-possible-outcome-at-bali-meet/articleshow/21455564.cms
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