Jakarta. An Indonesian student has taken home the gold medal at the 42nd International Physics Olympiad that concluded Monday in Bangkok.

Erwin Wibowo, a student of BPK Penabur Gading Serpong Christian High School in Banten took the gold, while the remaining Indonesian Physics Olympiad Team contestants won silver and three bronze medals in the eight-day competition.

“All students sent [to the competition] succeeded in gaining medals,” the National Education Ministry said in a press statement sent to The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Kevin Ardian Fauzie from Santa Maria High School in Pekanbaru grabbed the silver medal, while Farhan Nuh Kholid and Luqman Fathurochim from Sragen Bilingual Boarding High School in the East Java town of Sragen, and Imam Agung Raharja from Pribadi High School in Depok, West Java, each came away with bronze.

The team arrived back at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport late Monday and was welcomed by the ministry director for middle school development Totok Suprayitno.

Totok said the government would grant up to a doctoral degree scholarship for the gold medal winner, up to a master’s degree scholarship for the silver medal winner, and undergraduate scholarships for the bronze medal winners.

A total of 393 students from 84 countries took part in contest.

This is not the first time Indonesian students have shone in an international physics Olympiad. Previously in May, Evan Laksono from IPEKA senior high school in Tomang, Jakarta, also clinched a gold medal at the Asian Physics Olympiad in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Indonesia also hosted the Indonesia International Mathematics Competitions (IIMC) 2011 in Bali, officiated on Tuesday by National Education Minister Muhammad Nuh.

A total of 627 students from 28 countries are taking part in the six day event. Indonesia is sending the largest number of participants: 40 elementary school students, who are divided into 10 teams, and 45 junior high school students, divided into 11 teams.

Source: The Jakarta Post – July 20 2011

Jakarta. The Central Board of Statistics (BPS) said Indonesia`s non-oil commodity exports in March increased 12.88 percent to US$13.32 billion compared with that a month earlier.

“If compared with that in the previous year, it also increase by 25.62 percent,” BPS Chairman Rusman Heriawan said when he announced the monthly official statistics data here on Monday.

He said that the biggest export increase in March 2011 occurred with the rubber commodity group, namely reaching US$201.4 million while the biggest decline happened with the fat and vegetable oil commodity group at US$559.7 million.

Most of the non-oil commodity exports in March 2011 were shipped to Japan (1.53 billion dollars), the United States (1.41 billion) and China (1.3 billion).

“The exports to the three countries contributed about 31.86 percent to the total non-oil commodity exports,” he said.

He said that Indonesia`s non oil commodity exports to European countries were worth 1.69 billion dollars and ASEAN countries 3.20 billion dollars with a market share of 13.40 percent and 23.31 percent respectively.

The BPS chairman also said that in the first three months of 2011, non oil exports also were recorded at a high level reaching 37.12 billion or an increase of 28.66 percent if compared with the corresponding period in 2010.

Source: ANTARA News – 2 May 2011

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in discussion with Price Andrew, Special Envoy of the United Kingdom in the field of investment and international trade. Amongst the agenda of the bilateral meeting is effort to raise bilateral investment and trade. Trade volume between Indonesia and the UK reaches US $2,6 billion.

Jakarta. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to receive a British delegation on trade and investment led by the Duke of York, Prince Andrew, at the State Palace in Jakarta on Thursday.

Presidential special staff for international relations Teuku Faizasyah said the meeting would discuss efforts to improve trade and investment between the two countries. On Wednesday, Andrew met with Coordinating
Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa.

Hatta said British companies were interested in developing the energy sector in Indonesia, particularly in oil and gas.

“Apart from that, they are also interested in being involved in the development of infrastructure, whether that be in the energy sector, transportation or manufacturing,” Hatta said.

Britain was also interested in improving the capacity of small and medium enterprises by opening the British Standard Institute here.

“They are really genuine in wanting to be engage in capacity building,” Hatta said.

Andrew, Hatta said, suggested a few regulatory reforms to improve the capacity of local entrepreneurs and to provide certainty to businesses in terms of legal procedures.

Source: The Jakarta Post -  6 April 2011
Photo: Presidential Palace

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