Day: May 19, 2023

The central province of Thua Thien-Hue on May 19 held memorial and burial services for Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts who laid down their lives in Salavan and Sekong provinces of Laos.

The remains of the 16 martyrs were found by a research and repatriation tem of the Military Command of the Thua Thien-Hue during the 2022-2023 dry season. They will be reburied at Hue city martyr’s cementary.

Addressing the event, vice chairman of provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Binh said the sacrifice by Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts in Laos have become a shining symbol of the solidarity between the army and people of Vietnam and Laos, adding that they are a great motivation for the Party Committee, authorities and people of Thua Thien-Hue to continue to move forward for more outstanding achievements./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Indonesia pursued an initiative to improve counterterrorism strategies with partners and ASEAN countries through the 19th Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crime (SOMTC) Working Group on Counter Terrorism which took place on May 18 in Bali, Indonesia.

Deputy for international cooperation at the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) Andika Chrisnayudanto said the meeting served as a platform to improve collaboration among the ASEAN countries in combating terrorism, including in the prevention and law enforcement aspects.

"This is an annual meeting. Coincidentally, Indonesia is the chair for ASEAN on terrorism handling, so every year, Indonesia is tasked to lead this working group, which focuses on counterterrorism," he was quoted by Antara news agency in a statement released on May 18.

The meeting was vital since fighting against organised transnational crime requires collaboration between many stakeholders, including ones outside ASEAN, he noted.

Andika said that the meeting served as a chance for ASEAN countries to exchange knowledge, information, experiences, and good practices, as well as discuss future plans for tackling terror issues.

One counterterrorism initiative discussed at the forum was the Bali Work Plan 2019–2025, which was unveiled at the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok in 2019, he said, elaborating that the document outlines efforts to prevent and handle violent extremism and radicalism in the Southeast Asian region.

According to Andika, the outcomes of the meeting will be submitted to the ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crime scheduled on June 19 to 23 in Yogyakarta as well as ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime to be hosted by Indonesia in Lubuan Bajo in August this year./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The administration of the Thai province of Nakhon Phanom and the Vietnamese-Thai People Association in the province held a ceremony on May 19 to mark the 133rd birth anniversary of late President Ho Chi Minh.

Addressing the event, held at the Thailand - Vietnam Friendship Village in Nong Yat commune of Mueang district, Vietnamese Ambassador to Thailand Phan Chi Thanh described President Ho Chi Minh as a bright example of patriotism, revolutionary ethics, national solidarity, wisdom, and humanism, adding the late leader was an excellent international soldier and a brilliant activist of the world’s national liberation and revolutionary movements.

Thanh said the Thailand - Vietnam Friendship Village and the memorial site of President Ho Chi Minh in Nakhon Phanom, along with other relic sites dedicated to him in some Thai localities, are symbols of the two countries’ friendship and cooperation and will forever be valuable heritage of both nations.

For his part, Wanchai Janporn, Governor of Nakhon Phanom, said it was his province’s honour to be one of the Thai places where the late leader of Vietnam lived and worked in 1928 and 1929 on his path to seek ways for liberating the homeland.

President Ho Chi Minh laid the “first brick” for building the foundation of the two countries’ relations, he noted, adding that the leader’s 133rd birth anniversary is a good occasion for the two peoples to review the achievements during the 47-year diplomatic ties between Vietnam and Thailand.

Also on this occasion, Pham Binh Dam, Consul General of Vietnam in Hong Kong (China), shared his thought with Vietnam News Agency correspondents about President Ho Chi Minh’s revolutionary activities in Hong Kong over 90 years ago.

Dam said that to those working in the diplomatic sector, President Ho Chi Minh was a skillful diplomat and also the creator of the unique and comprehensive sect of Ho Chi Minh diplomacy with strategic vision and reformed ideology.

Today’s diplomats should always keep in mind and follow the leader’s teachings, including the need for each individual and the whole sector to exert efforts to study so that diplomacy can meet the country’s demand, because the President himself was an example of the fondness for learning, the Consul General said.

He perceived that practicing such concrete, simple but also profound teachings of President Ho Chi Minh is a pragmatic step to study and following the leader’s ideology, moral example, and style, thereby contributing to national development and safeguarding./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Jakarta The National Counter Terrorism Agency (BNPT) made the most of the momentum offered by Indonesia's ASEAN Chairmanship to work with the Australian Government in building community resilience against violent extremism."(As per) the role of the BNPT RI as 'voluntary lead shepherds' in countering terrorism in ASEAN, we are working with the Australian Government as one of ASEAN's talking partners," Deputy for International Cooperation Andhika Chrisnayudhanto noted in a statement received in Jakarta, Friday.

Chrisnayudhanto remarked that the BNPT and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia looked at ways to build community resilience in the face of violent extremism.

"Exchanging practices builds community resilience in overcoming radicalization and violent extremism," he stated.

Through this meeting, Chrisnayudhanto expects to offer an explanation on how the BNPT focuses on aspects of prevention that require community participation to build national preparedness.

"Of course, one of the roles of the BNPT RI is prevention, wherein prevention is one of the main focuses on national preparedness, and if translated into national preparedness, it is community empowerment," Chrisnayudhanto stated.

ccording to Chrisnayudhanto, community empowerment is one of the aspects of building community resilience.

Deputy Head of Mission for the Australia Mission to ASEAN Caroline Scott also echoed the same view that community resilience in prevention efforts is an important factor in counteracting radicalism and violence-based extremism.

"As we know, community resilience is very important to prevent and fight (radicalism and extremism). Strategic prevention of violent extremism through our resilience encompass programs promoting social cohesion, identifying and supporting youth resilience, offering alternative narratives, and adapting several elements in building community resilience in countering terrorism," Caroline remarked.

The meeting is held on an annual basis to discuss the development of the issue of violence-based terrorism and extremism.

Through this activity, each country can exchange views, experiences, and countermeasure programs that will be determined to increase joint efforts in facing these challenges in their respective regions.

In addition, dialogue on countering violence-based terrorism and implementation of steps to be taken in the future is an effort in the action plan to implement the ASEAN-Australia Strategic Partnership 2020-2024.

This activity is a form of commitment to cooperation between the ASEAN and Australia in the field of countering terrorism that existed since the ASEAN-Australia Joint Declaration on Cooperation in Countering International Terrorism 2004.

The activity was attended by delegates from Australia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, and Timor-Leste.

Related news: Women's role essential to counter extremism: Alissa Wahid

Source: Antara News Agency

One of our strategies to maintain the health of pilgrims this year is preparing specialist doctors as EMTs to be stationed in each (pilgrimage) sector.

Jakarta Indonesia's Health Ministry will deploy Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs) during the 1444 Hijri/2023 Hajj pilgrimage season in Saudi Arabia to promptly handle medical emergencies and reduce mortality among pilgrims."One of our strategies to maintain the health of pilgrims this year is preparing specialist doctors as EMTs to be stationed in each (pilgrimage) sector," the ministry's Hajj Health Center Head Liliek Marhaendro Susilonoted here on Friday.

The EMTs are tasked with conducting early detection and emergency response to any medical incident involving pilgrims.

The team would refer the pilgrims to the Indonesian Hajj Health Office (KKHI) or the local hospitals for further treatment.

The EMTs comprise 15 medical specialists in anesthesia, internal medicine, surgery, neurology, and cardiology. Moreover, 12 general practitioners and 43 nurses will offer health services in addition to an emergency room being prepared.

The emergency health workers will be deployed to provide health services in five sectors of the Medina working area and in 11 sectors of the Mecca working area close to the pilgrims' hotels.

The attempt is aimed at facilitating health service access for the pilgrims, especially in emergency situations that cannot be handled by Hajj health workers assigned in each pilgrim's flight group.

The EMTs are also stationed at several special posts, such as at the Nabawi Mosque, Syib Amir Terminal of the Great Mosque of Mecca, Arafah, and Mina.

The emergency teams will also accompany the pilgrims at the peak of the Hajj season while carrying out the pilgrimage rituals in the areas of Arafah, Muzdalifah, and Mina (Armuzna).

The EMTs will conduct their tasks in collaboration with the Crisis Handling and First Aid Team for Pilgrims (PKP3JH), the Pilgrim Protection Team (Linjam), as well as the elderly service officers deployed by the Religious Affairs Ministry.

The Religious Affairs Ministry noted that some 67 thousand out of the 210 thousand Indonesian pilgrims this year are elderly.

The first batch of the Hajj pilgrimage flight groups will depart for Saudi Arabia from May 24 to June 7, 2023. Meanwhile, the second batch of the flight groups would depart from June 8 to June 21.

Furthermore, the first batch of the flight groups would return to Indonesia from July 4 to July 18, and the second one would return from July 19 to August 2.

Source: Antara News Agency

Jakarta APEC reinforces its commitment to addressing greenhouse gas emissions in the maritime sector by launching a green maritime collaboration initiative that aims to help policymakers to incorporate new, cleaner maritime practices and technologies.Launched on the sidelines of the 11th APEC Transportation Ministerial Meeting in Detroit, the initiative aims to address the maritime sector's role in emissions accounting for approximately three percent of the global emissions, as noted in a release issued by the APEC Transportation Working Group and received here on Friday.

"As APEC economies, our prosperity has always been connected to water, and as we look at the challenges and the opportunities that our economies are facing today, including supply chain management and climate change, it is clear that our maritime work will only become more important in the years and the decades ahead," the United States Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg noted in his remarks during the launch event at the Port of Detroit.

Buttigieg further drew attention to tremendous upsides to decarbonizing the maritime sector.

"In addition to the climate benefits, it would create jobs, protect communities from pollution, and make the entire industry more reliable and more resilient," he stated.

"Every climate decision we make is also an economic decision, but simply for the maritime sector as well as so many others, sustainability is good for business," he affirmed.

The maritime sector is at a crossroads. Globally, there is a push for ports and maritime operators to adopt cleaner technologies, create green shipping corridors, and address the sector's emissions.

The green maritime initiative is designed to boost the capacity of policymakers by exploring practical applications of new maritime technologies for vessels, alternative fuels, electrification, and bunkering, among others, as well as identifying barriers, opportunities, and policies that support port operators' climate transition.

"Through this effort, we will be delivering a series of workshops on best practices and innovative technologies, with the goal of sharing what we have learned with small- and medium-sized ports around the world," Secretary Buttigieg remarked.

"(This is) so that member economies can apply that knowledge to their own initiatives and then we will be working one-on-one with a number of APEC partners to support them as they make this transition," he stated.

The first workshop is planned to be held this August and will provide an overview of port design and operations as well as explore ways to build collaboration between ports.

The second and third workshops will be held over the course of the next 12 months and will focus on highlighting low- and zero-emission technologies as well as the development of a framework for green maritime operators.

"We and APEC are a community of economies at the heart of which is the Pacific Ocean. There must be, as we would say, something in the water because this is a profoundly innovative region and always has been," Buttigieg stated.

"APEC has again and again found unique and innovative ways to advance civilization on land and in sea, and in that spirit, I hope that we can continue learning from each other and continue working together to address the shared challenges that we face and seize the shared opportunities that present themselves before us," he said.

Source: Antara News Agency