VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian Minister of Tourism Widiyanti Putri Wardhana (left) and UAE Minister of Economy Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri hold a meeting in Abu Dhabi. ANTARA/HO-Ministry of Tourism 

VOInews, United Arab Emirates : Indonesian Minister of Tourism Widiyanti Putri Wardhana has invited investors in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to increase investment in Indonesia's tourism sector.

During her meeting with UAE Minister of Economy Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri in Abu Dhabi, Wardhana said that she saw the great potential for UAE tourist visits to Indonesia.

"In 2023, UAE investments in Indonesia's tourism sector saw a substantial increase," she said in a statement on Sunday.

In that year, UAE investments in Indonesia's tourism sector increased sixfold compared to 2022. The top investment sectors were restaurants, travel agency activities, and star hotels.

So far this year, UAE investments have reached US$1.8 million. In the last three years, the figure has reached US$5.66 million.

"This provides further opportunities for UAE investors to expand their portfolios," Wardhana stated.

During her visit, she also promoted some tourist destinations in Indonesia. She invited UAE investors to invest more in Indonesia's tourism sector, which is becoming more promising.

"I am optimistic that this will further strengthen cooperation in the tourism sector between Indonesia and the UAE in the future," she said.

Wardhana said that tourism is a top sector of the Indonesian economy. It is also the main contributor to the 2023 national investment target.

She added that investors should not be hesitant to invest in Indonesia's five super-priority destinations and 10 tourism special economic zones (SEZs)//Antara-VOI

Voinews, Vatican : Pope Francis has met with World Meteorological Organization Secretary-General Celeste Saulo for an audience in which they discussed urgency of concerted efforts to address climate change and to take climate action. 

“It’s very moving to be in front of such a great spiritual leader,” said Celeste Saulo after the audience at the Vatican. “It is clear that Pope Francis shares our concerns about climate change and its impacts at the intersection of climate change and inequalities”.  

Celeste Saulo has just returned from the UN Climate Change Conference, COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan, where WMO announced that 2024 is on track to be the world’s hottest year on record and temporarily hit the 1.5°C above pre-industrial times.

According to a release received by Voice of Indonesia on Saturday November 23rd 2024 in Jakarta, Greenhouse gas levels, which drive climate change, are at record levels. Sea level rise is accelerating, threatening coastal populations. Glacier retreat is unprecedented damaging ecosystems and threatening long term water security for hundreds of millions of people.

Extreme weather events including devastating floods, persistent droughts, searing heatwaves and wildfires, have caused major loss of life and livelihoods around the world.  

“It’s about how we care together for those who are most vulnerable,” said Celeste Saulo after the audience.  

She told Vatican News that climate change “will have huge impacts on migration, children, women, indigenous peoples, the more vulnerable who are the ones suffering the most.”

The most affected regions, she explained, are Africa, Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, along with small island developing countries which are the frontline of rising sea levels. “We need to help them to avoid the consequences of climate change," she stressed.

WMO is one of the leaders of the UN Secretary-General’s Early Warnings For All initiative, which seeks to ensure that everyone on the planet is protected by life-saving early warnings by the end of 2027.

Although considerable progress is being made, much more needs to be done, Mr Guterres told government leaders at COP29.  

Celeste Saulo told the Vatican News that religions can give an important contribution to climate action and to building hope: “Action should be informed by science, but moved by faith”, she said.

She expressed her hope for a closer collaboration in the future with the Holy See: “We have a common agenda and can work together to protect people’s lives and livelihoods,”.

Pope Francis has repeatedly voiced his concern about climate change//VOI

Pascal Phoa performance at the A Midsummer Nights Dream - Boston, Massachusetts - Amerika Serikat, 3-8-2023. (Photo : Pascal) -  

VOInews, New York : A New York based Indonesian-born actor made his New York theater debut in RJ Theater Company’s Princess Hamlet at The Flea Theater.

Running from September 7, 2024 - November 2nd 2024, Pascal Phoa played The Ghost of Hamlet’s Father, a critical character from one of William Shakespeare’s most popular works, Hamlet, that tells the story of a prince conflicted about taking revenge for his recently-deceased father who was murdered in his sleep by his scheming uncle. 

Princess Hamlet is a gender-bent spin on Hamlet where the female characters are male characters, and vice versa. The Ghost is still played by a male actor, Pascal Phoa.

Pascal joined the cast of Princess Hamlet after auditioning for director and creator of Princess Hamlet Sophie Leighton Toomey, in August 2024 and went straight to rehearsals just days after.

“It was a very quick process but everyone was so encouraging of me coming onboard for The Ghost. I feel really blessed and I’m just a little sad that it’s all coming to an end,” he remarks after his closing performance on November 2nd 2024.

According to a release received by Voice of Indonesia on Saturday November 23rd 2024,  Pascal has performed as Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Commonwealth Shakespeare Company and is constantly involved in the New York City theater scene.

“I guess it is interesting when you think about how someone from Indonesia can relate to playing an Athenian boy like Lysander or an English king like Cymbeline. How do you play characters who are so culturally different from you? But I always think it’s important to realize that these characters are people with real emotions, wants, and struggles. That’s what’s so powerful about Shakespeare - his works have the ability to transcend language and culture,” he reflects on some of the roles he has played.

Pascal hopes to keep doing Shakespeare, classical, and contemporary plays around New York and the country.

“I’ve never acted in a Shakespeare Festival before. It sounds really fun so I’d love to be in one someday,” says Pascal.

“Also, doing an Anton Chekhov play would be such a thrilling experience too. The characters in Chekhov plays are deeply complex. They can be really introspective and feel a lot of things but they rarely say what they really feel. It’s a lot like how
people behave sometimes I guess,” he jokes.

Pascal can next be seen performing in Macbeth as Macduff at Circle in the Square Theatre’s Youth Theatre Series in December 2024//VOI

Deputy Minister of Creative Economy/Deputy Head of Creative Economy Agency (WamenEkraf/WakaBekraf), Irene Umar, at the opening of "Demoday BEKUP 2024", Movenpick Hotel, Jakarta, Monday (4/11/2024) (ANTARA/H.O. KemenEkraf)