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.
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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
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