It was raining on a particular morning in Berau, the regency remotely located in the northern part of East Kalimantan, Indonesia. But the dark clouds did not dampen Nur Octaviani's spirit to fulfil her duty as an internal auditor for Berau Cacao Geographical Indication Association (MPIG Kakao Berau). She knew her work was essential in ensuring that the production tasks were being handled properly, and was committed to seeing it through. With her raincoat on, Nur ventured out to the cocoa farms, determined to complete her audit despite the pouring rain and strong winds.
Protecting Berau Forest: MPIG Kakao Berau Leads the Charge Towards a Deforestation-Free Supply Chain
Deforestation has become a major global concern in recent years due to its profound and devastating impacts on the environment, wildlife, and communities. When forests are destroyed, they release large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, contributing significantly to climate change. Additionally, forest degradation can lead to soil erosion, loss of biodiversity, and changes in local weather patterns.
The Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA) of the European Commission and the EU Delegation to Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam visited Nizam Zachman Jakarta Fishing Harbour and the Fish Quarantine and Inspection Standard Examination Laboratory (FQISE/BUSKIPM) to collect information and feedback on ARISE+ Indonesia's contributions to the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MoMAF) in strengthening the quality assurance in the fisheries sector, including the laboratory's testing capacity, Monday (27/02).
Despite the high demand for Indonesian chilli in the global market, local farmers and producers still struggle to send chilli products overseas. Indonesian chilli is not yet visible on the radar of hot spices enthusiasts and is still overshadowed by products from Thailand, Vietnam, China, and India.
The pharmaceutical and healthcare industries are growing rapidly in Indonesia, which presents the corresponding demand for raw materials to produce these products. However, 95% of these raw materials are still imported. Although this situation hampers the development of pharmaceutical industries in Indonesia, at the same time, this also creates a promising opportunity to invest in the raw materials industries.
The Fish Quarantine and Inspection Agency (BKIPM) at the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MoMAF) has introduced two new guidelines to fully realise the Quality Assurance System and Safety of Fishery Products from upstream to downstream. The guidelines, titled "Standard Operating Procedure for Good Fish Handling and Processing Practices of Tuna and Crabs at Suppliers" and "Hygiene Guidelines for Fish Selling at the Traditional Market," were developed with technical assistance from ARISE+ Indonesia Technical Assistance II and disseminated online on 8-9 December 2022.
Yuliawati Cahyaningrum is paving the way for her career path at the Directorate of World Trade Organisation (WTO) Negotiation. And her recent participation in the capacity-building workshop on Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) facilitated by ARISE+ Indonesia may benefit her career goal.
The study on Export Finance conducted by the Ministry of National Development Planning in collaboration with ARISE+ Indonesia revealed that the proportion of export financing to total export in Indonesia was relatively stagnant below 10% for the past several years, prompting actions for future improvement. The initial findings and recommendations of the Export Finance Study were presented and discussed in a workshop hosted by Bappenas, with support from ARISE+ Indonesia, in Jakarta on Tuesday (24/01).
The development of the Indonesia Rapid Alert System (INRAPEX) website, which commenced in 2022, was completed and presented in front of officers from the Directorate General of Consumer Protection and Trade Compliance (DGCPTC), Ministry of Trade, on 17-18 January 2022 in Bogor. The workshop was organised by the Directorate of Surveillance of Goods and Services Distribution, Ministry of Trade, with support from ARISE+ Indonesia, aiming at testing the website functionality, discussing the implementation procedure and obtaining feedback from the stakeholders to finalise the INRAPEX website.
The 5th Project Steering Committee (PSC) meeting of the ARISE+ Indonesia Trade Support Facility took place in Jakarta on 13 December 2022. The meeting brought together the key stakeholders of the project, including the Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas, the Ministry of Trade and the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, as the coordinating institutions for the four Priority Areas/Components of the programme, other key beneficiaries such as the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, the Ministry of Investment, the Ministry of Industry and the National Standardization Agency, the European Union (EU) Delegation, and the ARISE+ Indonesia Technical Assistance Team. More than 80 persons participated in person in the meeting, the first one organised on a presential basis since the the COVID-19 pandemic.
