Palestinian Ambassadors follow diplomatic training in Indonesia

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - An international diplomacy training which had been going on for almost a month now in Jakarta and in some other cities in Indonesia were followed by 23 foreign diplomats, including four Palestinians who are ambassadors to Bulgaria, Zimbabwe and Tanzania.

Deputy Foreign Minister Triyono Wibowo when opening the training in Jakarta Thursday said that the training for the Palestinian officials was one form of Indonesia`s high commitment to help the struggle of the Palestinian people.

The diplomatic training opened at the foreign ministry on Thursday was a Foreign Service Staff School held from March 30 to April 24, 2009.

The third Sesparlu was attended by 13 senior diplomats from Indonesia and nine diplomats from China, Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Malaysia and Laos as well as four Palestinian ambassadors.

Two New Bridges to Be Built in Kalimantan

Wednesday, 01 April, 2009 | 12:49 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Surabaya: After completing the Suramadu bridge that connect Surabaya city and Madura island, the government plans to build similar bridges in Kalimantan.

“The bridges are the Tayan bridge and the Musi bridge,” said Director General of Bina Marga Hermanto Dadak at the Suramadu launching last night (31/3).

Hermanto explained that the Tayan bridge would be a one-kilometer bridge that connects the south side of Kalimantan island.

It will support access to the road that connects Indonesia, Kucing in Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam.

“The construction will be started soon,” said Hermanto.

While the government is still looking for the right location for the Musi bridge.

ROHMAN TAUFIQ

Fishing for potential in Tomini Bay

Ruslan Sangadji, The Jakarta Post, Palu

The neighboring provinces of Central Sulawesi and Gorontalo have agreed to develop the fishery potential of Tomini Bay.

The agreement was signed by Central Sulawesi Governor Bandjela Paliudju and his Gorontalo counterpart Fadel Muhammad during the Sulawesi Summit, in Palu on Monday.

Also attending the summit, which has been held annually since 1998, under the Coordinating Board for Regional Sulawesi Development (BKPRS), were other governors, regents, mayors and chief councilors from Sulawesi island.

Bandjela said during the signing ceremony for the agreement that the 411,000 hectare bay, which has been declared a protected world heritage site by UNESCO, had the potential to produce 330,000 tons of fish annually, as well as other maritime products such as pearls and seaweed.

"Maritime resources, including fishery resources, have yet to be developed optimally because of a lack of capital, skilled human resources and modern technology, and if the great potential can be managed professionally, the two provinces will supply their maritime products to the local market in Java and export them to Singapore," he said.

Fadel said the two provinces would promote Tomini Bay to attract national and foreign fishery investors, and agribusinesses and plantations to generate jobs for locals.

During the day-long summit, participants agreed on the importance of building the so-called Equatorial Canal, which would be centered in western Sulawesi. Once connected, the canal would connect important trade regions on the island with Singapore, the Philippines and Brunei.

Fadel, also a businessman and an influential figure in the Golkar Party, said he has lobbied Singapore and Korea's Hyundai Holding Group to take part in the canal project.

"I am optimistic the cooperation program will go in a smooth manner and will benefit Sulawesi," he said.

Chairman of the BKPRS' board of patrons, Ali Mazi, said the body has enhanced cooperation with the local administrations in Jakarta and West Java in the agribusiness and trade sectors, and with the Indonesian Export Bank to help finance the development of export commodities in Sulawesi.

Ali, also governor of Southeast Sulawesi province, said the BKPRS also was cooperating with several local non-governmental organizations to help local administrations organize exhibitions to promote the fishery, agribusiness and tourism industries on Sulawesi.

The BKPRS was initially set up by local administrations in Sulawesi in 1998 to help end the sectarian conflict in Poso that claimed at least 2,000 lives between 1998 and 2000.

Elnusa set for overseas expansion

Ika Krismantari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

With its IPO right around the corner, PT Elnusa, a subsidiary of state oil and gas company PT Pertamina, is gearing up for further overseas expansion this year.

Elnusa president director Eteng A. Salam said over the weekend the company had recently procured three contracts for oil and gas projects in Brunei Darussalam worth a combined US$15.1 million.

The contracts, for seismic operation, each ran eight months, Eteng said.

The Brunei projects are a start, he said.

"We plan to expand our seismic services abroad, especially for oil and gas operators in the Asia Pacific region."

Hendri S Suardi, Elnusa finance director, told The Jakarta Post the company had also placed a bid for an oil and gas project in Vietnam.

At present, Elnusa has an on-going project in Libya, where Pertamina manages two oil blocks.

Elnusa would remain a big player at home, he said, having already secured deals with high profile clients such as U.S.-based ConocoPhillips, the country's largest oil company, Medco EP, and France-based energy firm Total.

Hendri said that up to now, the company had secured around 20 contracts, mostly from drilling activities, worth Rp 700 billion (US$75.2 million) from both local and overseas clients.

As one of Pertamina's most profitable units, Elnusa has 14 business units operating in the oil and gas sector, both upstream and downstream, and is also involved in the information technology field.

Elnusa plans to launch an IPO of 20 percent in new shares Jan. 25-29.

Last year, Elnusa's revenue rose 12 percent to Rp two trillion from Rp 1.87 trillion the previous year, while its net profit increased by 27 percent to Rp 110 billion from Rp 83.03 billion.

In 2008 the company expects to double its net profit to more than Rp 200 billion.

Elnusa wins $15.36 M contract for seismic activities in Brunei

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Oil and gas service company PT Elnusa, a subsidiary of Indonesia`s state-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina, has won a US$15.36 million contract to conduct seismic activities in neighboring Brunei Darussalam.

"We plan to develop geoscience/seismic businesses abroad," Elnusa`s president director Eteng A. Salam said on Friday.

The project is owned by a consortium of three companies, namely Loon Energy Ltd., Nation Petroleum Brunei Ltd. and QAF Brunei Sdn. Bhd.

Elnusa said recently it would list 1.460 billion shares or 20 percent of its capital at the Indonesia Stock Exchange (BEI) on February 8. The shares will be offered at a par value of Rp100 each.

The company will use the proceeds from the sale of the shares to buy capital goods, expand businesses, pay its debts and strengthen working capital.

Work on Southeast Asia-US cable link to start soon

The Jakarta Post

BUKIT MERTAJAM, Malaysia (The Star\ANN): Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) is finalizing details on the alignment of the RM1.8 billion submarine fiber optic cable system linking Southeast Asia directly with the United States.

Its group chief executive officer Abdul Wahid Omar said construction work on the 20,000 kilometer cable system, known as the Asia-America Gateway (AAG), was expected to begin soon. "Following our recent contract agreement signing with Alcatel Submarine Network and NEC Corp the two contractors that will build the cable system we expect the project to proceedimmediately," he told reporters at TM's adoption of SK Bukit Indera Muda and SK Seri Penanti under the Finance Ministry's Pintar program here yesterday.

On Friday, Telekom Malaysia announced that it was leading a consortium of 17 international telcos to set up the cable system that would provide a capacity of up to 1.92 terabits per second of data bandwidth.

The cable system, which will be completed by December next year, will connect Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Guam and Hawaii with the US West Coast.

Abdul Wahid said this was the first time a Malaysian company was spearheading a massive submarine cable-laying project."Traditionally, the routes have gone to North Asia, through Taiwan or Japan," he added.

Abdul Wahid said the system provided an alternative route for Internet connection to the US.