ALL OUT EFFORTS MUST BE MADE TO ACHIEVE TOURIST TARGET

 By Andi Abdussalam

    Jakarta, July 31 (Antara) - Indonesia is rich in tourism potentials as it has more than 17 thousand islands and 99 thousand kilometers of white sandy coastal lines which offer attractive sun bathing and marine tourism.

         Besides, the country which also offers a beautiful landscape is also rich in local cultures as it has more than one thousand tribes and 300 ethnic groups. With these potentials, the government is confident that it could boost its tourism development and attract a great number of foreign tourist arrivals.

         Thus, Joko Widodo (Jokowi) since the onset of his government has set a gradual increase of foreign tourist arrivals from 9.4 million in 2014 to 20 million in 2019.

         The government was able to meet its targets of 10 million in 2015 and 12 million in 2016. Yet, in 2017 the arrivals of foreign tourists in the country were recorded at only 14.04 million, lower than the targeted 15 million.

        This year, the government must work all out to reach its target of 17 million foreign tourist arrivals and its target of 20 million arrivals next year.

PALEMBANG READY TO HOST ASIAN GAMES

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, July 13 (Antara) - The South Sumatran provincial capital of Palembang, which will co-host the 18th Asian Games together with Jakarta next month, is now ready for the largest Asian sporting event.         In order to ascertain its readiness to host the sporting events, President Joko Widodo, who is commonly known as Jokowi, inspected the sports facilities and venues in the city on Friday.          South Sumatra Governor Alex Noerdin greeted Jokowi upon his arrival, after which the president proceeded to the Jakabaring Sport Arena. As part of his trip to Palembang, the president is also expected to inaugurate the rowing track for the Asian Games in Jakabaring.          According to Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Minister Basuki Hadimoeljono, all venues for the 2018 edition of the games in Jakabaring Sport City have been completed and are now ready to host the sporting events.         "We have conducted a final check today, and all venues are already completed," Hadimoeljono remarked on Friday. "President Joko Widodo is scheduled to inaugurate them on July 14."      Hadimoeljono, who is also the chairman for infrastructure of the 2018 Asian Games organizing committee, revealed that the government has readied 14 sports venues in Jakabaring Sport City.           The PUPR Ministry carried out the construction and renovation of three venues -- the shooting range and the rowing and skateboarding venues -- among the 14 venues within Jakabaring Sport City.        "The total cost to the state budget was around Rp600 to 700 billion," Hadimoeljono noted.           Basuki said President Jokowi is scheduled to inaugurate three venues -- those for rowing, skateboard, and bowling -- on Saturday, July 14. The special bowling facility is the corporate social responsibility project of Sinarmas and Pertamina companies.           The 14 venues include a shooting range, a rowing center, a skateboard field, a beach volleyball court, the Sriwijaya Sports Stadium, the Bumi Sriwijaya Sports Stadium, a tennis stadium, the Lake Side venue, the Jakabaring/Triathlon venues, the aquatic stadium, an athletics venue, a lake sports venue, a climbing sport venue, and a roller blade venue.          "Jokowi is also scheduled to open the 2018 Presidential Dragon Boat Championship to be hosted by the Executive Board of the Indonesian Rowing Sports Association on July 12 to 15," Hadimoeljono stated.          During his observation tour of the South Sumatran Province, the President also reviewed the light-weight train or light rail transit (LRT) project which was constructed to serve the transportation needs of Asian Games athletes and officials as well as locals during the sports events.          The LRT will initially be used as a means of transportation for participants of the Asian Games from August to September.      In addition to assessing the readiness of a number of facilities and sports arenas for the games, the President will also review the labor-intensive program in one of the districts in South Sumatra during his two-day working visit to Palembang.          Meanwhile, House Speaker Bambang Soesatyo has asked the Indonesia 2018 Asian Games Organizing Committee (INASGOC) to sell tickets at more affordable prices.              "We hope INASGOC will lobby the Asian Olympic Council (OCA) regarding the prices of tickets for the Asian Games," Soesatyo said in Jakarta on Friday.           The House Speaker made the remarks in response to INASGOC Chairman Erick Thohir's statement that the committee will sell tickets for the opening of the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta on August 18.           Ticket prices vary between Rp750 thousand and Rp5 million. Erick said prices for the Asian Games opening ceremony are based on standards set by the OCA.            Soesatyo, who is commonly known as Bamsoet, appealed to INASGOC not to sell tickets for the opening ceremony at very expensive prices.          "Affordable ticket prices will make support for other Asian countries more vibrant and will encourage the community to participate actively in supporting the successful implementation of the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia," he said.           Indonesia will host the Asian Games for the second time this year, after Jakarta was selected as the venue for the Asian sporting event for the first time in 1962. By virtue of its hosting of the 2018 games, the country aims to secure a place among the top ten largest sporting events.            The games will be attended by 45 countries, and will feature 462 events in 40 sports, of which 32 are Olympic sports and eight are non-Olympic events.            The Olympic sports are Aquatics, Athletics, Fencing, Weightlifting, Basketball, Handball, Badminton, Baseball/Softball, Cycling, Equestrian, Golf, Wrestling, Hockey, Judo, Karate, Canoeing and Kayaking, Sailing, Shooting, Modern Pentathlon, Archery, Sport Climbing, Rowing, Rugby, Gymnastics, Roller Skate, Football, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Tennis, Boxing, Triathlon, and Volleyball.             The non-Olympic sports are Bowling, Bridge, Cricket, Kabaddi, Martial Arts (including Jujitsu, Kurash, Pencak Silat, Sambo, and Wushu), Mechanical Sports (such as Paragliding and Jetskiing), Squash, and Sepak Takraw.***4***(A014/INE)EDITED BY INE/H-YH (T.A014/A/BESSR/A/Yosep) 13-07-2018 23:24:

JOKOWI, MUHAIMIN PAIRING FAVORED BY MUSLIM VOTERS

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, July 6 (Antara) - Many predict incumbent President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) will be reelected for a second term in 2019, despite the fact that he has not decided who his running mate will be.          Major political parties, including the Golkar Party and the National Awakening Party (PKB), which have formed a coalition to support Jokowi's bid for reelection, have expressed hope that their respective general chairmen will be chosen as the President's running mate.          The Golkar Party has encouraged President Jokowi and Golkar General Chairman Airlangga Hartarto (AH) to pair up for the 2019 presidential election.          "Jokowi-AH is an ideal pair that is mutually complementary," Golkar's Chairman for East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), Melki Laka Lena, said in a press statement received in Jakarta on Thursday.          The NTT chapter of Golkar wholeheartedly supports the proposal to select Jokowi and AH as the party's presidential and vice presidential candidates in the 2019 presidential race, Lena said.          "This is the official stance of the Golkar NTT," Lena revealed. "Golkar NTT declared its support for the Jokowi-AH pairing on Wednesday."     The same hope is also expressed by PKB, which is confident that President Jokowi will get reelected in 2019 as plenty of progress has been made under his administration, particularly in the field of infrastructure.

PEOPLE EXPECTED TO HELP OVERCOME STUNTING PROBLEM

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, July 5 (Antara) - One of the health problems faced by Indonesia is stunting in children, which could affect the future generation.          Stunting problem should, therefore, be overcome through efforts involving all parties in the society.          Head of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Laksana Tri Handoko, stated that stunting in Indonesia is a problem that concerns community behavior regarding nutritional intake.           Based on data at the National Development Planning Ministry, due to the imbalance in nutritional intake, the number of stunted children has now reached 9 million.           Handoko stated in Jakarta on Wednesday (July 4) that the problem of stunting occurs from adolescence, after marriage, pregnancy, and until the time of parenting.           "Nutritional fulfillment is a must in the first one thousand days of life of the fetus. That is why pregnant women's nutrition is so important, because brain development occurs when the fetus reaches three months," Handoko remarked.

INDONESIA ORGANIZES FUN RUN TO PROMOTE ASIAN GAMES

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, July 3 (Antara) - In order to promote the 18th Asian Games 2018, Indonesia on Sunday organized a fun run race in Jakarta and Palembang cities which will host the biggest Asian sporting events from August 18 to September 20, 2018.         Some eight thousand residents in the two cities took part in the fun run which was the 27th fun run event after 26 other Asian countries had also previously organized the same events to promote the Asian Games.          "Thank God, the promotion is being done well and made for a warming up to create a 'fever' for the Asian Games. We have been launching a popularization program among the Indonesian people as a message that we are going to host the biggest Asian sporting events next August,"  Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Puan Maharani said when flagging of the race at the Plaza Barat of the Bung Karno Sports Complex in Jakarta on Sunday..          Hence,  Minister Puan Maharani called on the people to continue to echo the Asian Games 2018 which will be held in the Indonesian capital city of Jakarta and South Sumatran provincial capital of Palembang.