"What (about assistance) from foreign countries? Firstly, we did not ask for assistance. But if anyone wants to help, we accept it," the Vice President said in a statement to the media at SIS Al-Jufrie Mutiara Airport on Friday.
The government decided to accept donations from the state and foreign aid agencies for recovery after the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Central Sulawesi. Until now, there are 18 countries that are willing to provide assistance.
The 18 countries are South Korea, Britain, Australia, the United States, Japan, India, Singapore, China, Malaysia, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, France, Czech, Norway, Hungary, Turkey and New Zealand.
Assistance from these countries includes cash, Hercules C-130 transport aircraft, smoking equipment, generators, filtering equipment for clean water and medical equipment.
Meanwhile, until Friday morning, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had given permission to 12 countries that will bring their assistance to Indonesia through the Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport in Jakarta.
Some countries that have obtained entry permits include Singapore, India, Australia, New Zealand, Qatar and Japan.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs granted permits for 23 foreign flights to Indonesia. Giving entry permits is done online to speed up the process.
"In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there is already a `clearance` based on `online`, so that the issuance of `clearance` permits for aircraft can be done `online`," explained Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi at the Jakarta Vice Presidential Palace on Thursday.
Reporting by Fransiska Ninditya
Editing by Eliswan Azly
Reporter: Fransiska Ninditya
Editor: Bustanuddin
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