INDONESIA, VIETNAM VOW TO STRENGTHEN BILATERAL ECONOMIC TIES by Fardah

    Jakarta, June 28, 2013 (Antara)  - Indonesia and Vietnam have used the state visit of President Truong Tan Sang to Jakarta on June 27 and 28 as a momentum to reaffirm the two countries' commitment to strengthen the bilateral relations in trade and investment particularly.    
   The visit of President Truong Tan Sang, who was accompanied by First Lady Mai Tinh Hanh and a high-level delegation, was aimed at strengthening friendship and comprehensive cooperation with  Indonesia - an important partner within the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and in the Southeast Asian region in general.

INDONESIA LAUNCHES ALL-OUT FIGHT AGAINST FOREST FIRES by Fardah

    Jakarta, June 26, 2013 (Antara) -  As haze coming from forest, plantation and peatland fires has affected thousands of lives of people in Sumatra as well as in Malaysia and Singapore, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono recently instructed all-out measures to fight the blazes raging in Sumatra.

         The Indonesian head of state on June 20, 2013, ordered all ministries and relevant institutions to put out the fires within one month at the longest.

         A week after giving the order, Yudhoyono reiterated his instruction because the haze continued to blanket parts of Sumatra, Singapore and Malaysia,

WHEN HAZE ATTACKS THREE COUNTRIES, COOPERATION NEEDED by Fardah

Jakarta, June 20, 2013 (Antara) - Haze knows no border. In this current dry season with extreme hot weather, Sumatra is being hit by forest, peatland and plantation fires producing smog haze that has been affecting not only the island, but also Malaysia and Singapore.      Almost every year forest fires hit several Indonesian islands, particularly Sumatra and Kalimantan. Some of them were deliberately set to clear land for cultivation and some are triggered by natural  factors such as extreme drought that could induce hot spots in peatland.

SUMATRA STRUGGLING AGAINST FOREST, PEATLAND FIRES by Fardah

    Jakarta, June 19, 2013 (Antara) - Forest, bush and peatland fires hit Indonesia's major islands particularly Sumatra and Kalimantan almost every year, but it is not easy to deal with the fires which some are deliberately set to clear land for cultivation.

        During this year's dry season, with an exception of Java Island which is partly still experiencing rains almost every day, forest, bush and peatland fires have been reported across Sumatra Island.

        The fires have produced thick haze covering several Sumatran cities such as Pekanbaru and Dumai (Riau Province) and Batam (Riau Island Province). Indonesia's neighboring countries - Malaysia and Singapore - have also claimed that Sumatra's haze has blanketed some of their areas.

INDONESIA EXPECTED TO LEAD IN FOREST AND OCEAN PROTECTION by Fardah

     Jakarta, June 11, 2013 (Antara) - To the surprises of some people, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visited the Greenpeace ship, the Rainbow Warrior III, with his family members in Tanjung Priok Seaport in Jakarta on June 7, a day before World Oceans Day was observed.

         There had been "hate and love relations" between Indonesia and Greenpeace in the past, for instance, when the Indonesian navy escorted the Rainbow Warrior II out of its territorial waters in October 2010.

PRESIDENT CALLS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION FOR STUDENTS ON ENVIRONMENT DAY by Fardah

    Jakarta, June 10, 2013 (Antara) - It has been Indonesia's tradition that in celebrating the World Environment Day, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono every year bestows Kalpataru (Tree of Life) awards to environmental heroes and Adipura awards to municipalities and districts for cleanliness.

         This year, during the award presentation which was held at the State Palace, Jakarta, on June 10, President Yudhoyono in his remarks emphasized the importance of environmental issues to be integrated into school curriculum for nine-year basic education.

CLOSER COOPERATION BETWEEN RI, SWEDEN FOLLOWING YUDHOYONO'S VISIT by Fardah

    Jakarta, June 7, 2013 (Antara) - The recent visit of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and First Lady Ani Yudhoyono to Stockholm has resulted in closer bilateral relations between Indonesia and Sweden as the two nations have agreed on intensified cooperation in at least five areas.

        President Yudhoyono's two-day state visit (May 28-29) to Sweden, which is his first to the Scandinavian country, was at the  invitation of Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf Folke Hubertus, who visited Indonesia in January 2012.      

EVERY DAY SHOULD BE ENVIRONMENT DAY by Fardah

    Jakarta, June 4 , 2013 (Antara) - Joining the international community in observing the World Environment Day, which falls on June 5, Indonesia's Environmental Affairs Ministry organized a discussion on Clean Up Indonesia Movement (GIB) recently.

         The discussion revealed that Jakarta alone produces at least 56 cubic meters of waste in every two days. "So, every two days Jakarta builds garbage as big as the structure of Borobudur Temple," Sodiq Suhardianto, the head of the Indonesian Waste Study Center (PKPI),  told the audience.  The large of the famous Buddhist temple is 52 cubic meters.

PRESIDENT YUDHOYONO SEES ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION AS KEY FOR POVERTY ERADICATION by Fardah

   Jakarta, June 1 , 2013 (Antara) - After working for nine months and holding five meetings in four continents, the  The UN High-Level Panel (HLP) of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda finally completed the task to prepare a report containing recommendations to succeed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

        Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had the honor to submit the report to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York, the United States, on May 30, 2013.