Bringing the Internet within reach of 100 million Indonesians from 20 kms above Earth

Google Blog, Thursday, October 29, 2015  

In Indonesia today, only about 1 out of every 3 people are connected to the Internet. And even though most of their connections are painfully slow, they’re doing some pretty incredible things. Startups like motorcycle delivery service Go-Jek are building impressive adaptations to Indonesia’s unique challenges, while small businesses like fashionable hijab shop HiJup are using the web to redefine marketplaces.

Still, a majority of Indonesians don’t have access to the educational, cultural, and economic opportunities of the Internet. That’s why we’re pleased to announce that Indonesia’s top three mobile network operators—Indosat, Telkomsel, and XL Axiata—have agreed to begin testing Project Loon balloon-powered Internet over Indonesia in 2016. These tests represent an important step toward bringing all of Indonesia online.

From left to right: Ririek Adriansyah, CEO of Telkomsel; Dian Siswarini, CEO of
XL Axiata; Alexander Rusli, CEO of Indosat; Mike Cassidy, VP of Project Loon;
Sergey Brin, President, Alphabet Inc

Loon balloons act like floating mobile phone towers; flying on the stratospheric winds at altitudes twice as high as commercial planes, each balloon beams an Internet connection down to the ground, and as one drifts out of range, another moves in to take its place. Loon can help telecommunications companies extend their networks; high in the sky, we can help overcome the difficulties of spreading equipment across an archipelago of 17,000 islands of jungles and mountains, providing connectivity to even the most remote islands.

Project Loon balloons travel approximately 20 km above the Earth’s surface in

 the stratosphere. Winds in the stratosphere are stratified, and each layer of wind 

varies in speed and direction. By moving with the wind, the balloons can be 

arranged to form one large communications network

  

Over the next few years, we’re hoping Loon can partner with local providers to put high-speed LTE Internet connections within reach of more than 100 million currently unconnected people—that’s enough speed to read websites, watch videos, or make purchases. From Sabang all the way to Merauke, many of these people live in areas without any existing Internet infrastructure, so we hope balloon-powered Internet could someday help give them access to the information and opportunity of the web.

But it’s not the only step Google is taking toward making the Internet both accessible and useful for people in Indonesia. Android One phones are helping to make high-quality smartphones more accessible in a country where most people first access the Internet on a mobile device. And along with that, we’re working to ease the use of data with features sure as Search Lite, which streamlines search so pages load more quickly, or by optimizing web pages so that they require less data to load. Indonesia is also one of the first countries where YouTube users can take videos offline to watch later during periods of low or no Internet connectivity.

We’re also doing what we can to ensure that language isn’t a barrier to the opportunities of the web. Google Translate was introduced for Bahasa in 2008, and more recently we’ve expanded it to Sundanese, a language that’s spoken by nearly 40 million people living on the island of Java.

Soon we hope many more millions of people in Indonesia will be able to use the full Internet to bring their culture and businesses online and explore the world even without leaving home. And for those of you who’ve never been to this country of rich culture and natural beauty, we invite you to head over to Google Street View to explore the famous temples at Borobudur and Prambanan.

Posted by Mike Cassidy, Vice President, Project Loon

Indonesia to Offer PPP Projects Worth $52b

Jakarta Globe, Eko Adityo Nugroho, Nov 06, 2014

Jakarta's government has set the capital's Decent Living Index at Rp 2.5 million
 ($206) for 2015, a strong signal to workers that minimum wages are unlikely
to increase substantially. (Reuters Photo/Beawiharta)

Jakarta. The Indonesian government plans to offer 43 infrastructure projects worth $52 billion to private investors next year, according to an official of the National Development Planning Ministry.

Bastari Panji Indra, a director at the ministry, said the projects will be offered under public-private partnership (PPP) schemes.

The projects offered include airports, monorail and, light rail transits, toll roads, coal transportation trains, ports, and water supply.

The government has published details regarding the projects in the Public Private Partnership Book 2015, which guides infrastructure development in the country.

Speaking on the sideline of Indonesia Infrastructure Week late on Wednesday, Bastari said of the 43 projects, eight are classified as “ready” to be offered, 11 are   “prospective” and 24 are marked as “potential.”

Bastari said the government will offer 10 major airport projects to private investors, including Juwata in North Kalimantan, Tjilik Riwut in Central Kalimantan and Fatmawati Soekarno in Bengkulu.

“Apart from airports, there are also a monorail project, coal transportation by train, water supply and six ports,” Bastari said.

Citing the Public Private Partnership Book 2015, he said the government plans to build an express train line connecting the Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in East Jakarta to the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, in order to ease passenger commuting.

The director also announced a light rail transit system in Bandung, West Java, new train networks for South Sumatra, three water supply projects in Semarang, Central Java; Pekanbaru in Riau, and Pondok Gede in Bekasi.

Bastari also flagged a project for waste disposal processing in Bogor and Depok.

Deputy Minister Dedy Supriadi Priatna, who is charged with infrastructure affairs, said the government plans to revise the PPP scheme to attract investors, including with the introduction of a performance-based annuity scheme.

Under such a scheme, private investors contribute to development, financing and the operation of a project with a given concession time.

Once the project is open for commercial use, investors will receive regular payments for providing the service to the public, with a performance standard agreed to by both parties.

The new government under President Joko Widodo has a lot of research to do into the infrastructure sector.

Poor road and toll road conditions, over-crowded airports, over-capacity ports, and a lack of train networks have been cited as the main stumbling blocks to strong and sustained economic growth.

The previous administration under Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono repeatedly offered infrastructure projects to tender, but only a few have been completed.

Poor preparation of projects, complex bureaucracy and low return in investment for the private sector remain major factors that deter investor interest.

China agrees to support Indonesia's economic master plan

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 06/23/2011

Indonesia and China have agreed on the establishment of a working committee reflecting China's support of Indonesia's 2011-2025 Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesian Economic Development (MP3EI).

“The agreement was made when Coordinating Minister for the Economy Hatta Rajasa, a special envoy to the Indonesian president, met with Prime Minister Wen Jiabao in Beijing,” the Indonesian Embassy in Beijing said in a press release on Thursday, referring to a meeting on Wednesday.

The statement said Hatta was accompanied by Indonesian Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu and Indonesian Ambassador to China and Mongolia Imron Cotan, among others.

It also said Hatta explained to Wen the MP3EI concept and its key position in Indonesia's economic development policy for the year 2011-2025.

Hatta expressed hope that China will take part in the implementation of the master plan, which has been apparently welcomed by Wen, Antara news agency reported.

Related Article:

Master plan may help unemployment after migrant moratorium: SBY

President asks Papua to finish its mega project concept soon

Antara News, Monday, November 22, 2010 01:49 WIB

Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has asked Papua and West Papua provinces to finish their mega project concepts soon for presentation to the central government early in January 2011.

The president made the call in his address at the opening of a budget accountability and financial management course for Papua and West Papua regional administrations here on Sunday evening.

The mega project plan in Papua covers an integrated agribusiness area in Merauke and the development of a green economic area in Embrano and Jayapura.

In the meantime, the mega project plan in West Papua covers a cattle industry area, a cement factory and electricity power plants in Manokwari, Fak Fak and Sorong.

"I hope the mega project concepts could be presented to me by the Papua and West Papua governors at the end of December or early in January 2011," the president said.

President Yudhoyono hoped that the mega projects would have been realized in a medium term and would have a big impact on national economic growth, of course the economic growth of the two provinces in the eastern Indonesia region.

In his address, the president praised the progress of development in Jayapura as he could witness changes after he visited the province in 2006.

The president called on the governors of Papua and West Papua to involve all relevant parties in carrying out development in the Indonesian eastern provinces.

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SBY asks for draft of Papua mega projects plans to be completed before next year

Bungo receives Rp3.21 billion grant from Japan

Antara News, Tuesday, September 28, 2010 21:16 WIB

Muarabungo, Jambi (ANTARA News) - The regional government of Bungo district, Jambi province, has received a grant worth Rp3.21 billion from Japan for agricultural development in the region, a regional official said.

Head of Bungo`s Food Crops and Horticulture Service Harmadji said on Tuesday that the funds provided by Japan would be used to develop the agricultural sector.

Apart from Bungo, there were several other districts in Indonesia which received the Japanese grant. They included Lombok Timor in West Nusa Tenggara, Purworejo and Tegal in Central Java.

"We are the only district in Sumatra which received the Japanese grant. This is something to be pride of by Bungo district," he said.

Massive Papua Food Estate to Serve As Nation’s Bread Basket Launched

Jakarta Globe, Arti Ekawati | August 11, 2010

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Indonesia. Indonesia on Wednesday launched a giant project to create a $5 billion agricultural estate spanning three districts in Papua.

The Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate program is the latest attempt by the government to gain self-sufficiency in food production, with a longer-term goal of someday becoming a food-exporting nation.

At a ceremony held in Merauke district on Wednesday, Agriculture Minister Suswono said he expected that the area would become the nation’s bread basket.

“Merauke needs support from all stake holders to become the center for food crop production and renewable energy in the eastern part of the country,” Suswono said.

A number of local investors are currently developing large-scale farms in Merauke, including the Medco Group, the Artha Graha Group and Sinar Mas Group.

According to documents from the Agriculture Ministry, there will be four areas developed between 2010 and 2014 in Merauke and the surrounding areas of Semangga, Sota and Tanah Miring.

Slated to cover about 480,000 hectares, the project is expected to yield a number of agricultural products, such as rice, corn, nuts, fish and cattle.

Speaking about the potential harvests the land could offer, Suswono said he expects the area to produce enormous annual output, including almost two million tons of rice, two million tons of corn and 167,000 tons of soybeans.

He added that the area would also provide grazing for 64,000 cattle.

He said the state could also yield 2.5 million tons of sugar and 937,000 tons of palm oil per year.

The government initially calculated the project would require as much as 1.28 million hectares of land, but after a review by the central government found that large amounts of the land surveyed belonged to indigenous people or was classified as peat land, the estimate was lowered to 480,000 hectares.

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House speaker agrees with idea to move Indonesia's capital

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 07/30/2010 4:11 PM

House of Representatives Speaker Marzuki Alie agreed on Friday with an idea to move Indonesia's capital from Jakarta to somewhere in Central Kalimantan.

“It is good if it (the capital) is moved. If it is located in the middle (of the country), it will surely be easily accessible from everywhere – the east, the west,” he said as quoted by tempointeraktif.com news portal after attending a plenary session at the House in Jakarta.

The main reason (to move the capital), Marzuki said, is for the sake of efficiency as Jakarta can no longer bear the burden of acute traffic jams. “Whatever is done, it will just move around there,” said Marzuki, deputy chairman of the patron board of the Democratic Party.

Moving the capital will be followed by all the country's administration offices, he said, so that Jakarta will purely become a commercial business city. “The current presidential palace can be used like Bank Indonesia museum for tourism purposes,” he said.

Marzuki further said that moving the capital will be the domain of the government. “The House of Representatives will be in charge of preparing its legislation and regulations,” he said, expressing confidence the process of moving the capital will be able to be completed within five years.

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Lombok Resort Still on Track: Emaar

Jakarta Globe, July 26, 2010

Jakarta. Dubai-based property developer Emaar Properties has again been forced to deny it has pulled out of a $600 million resort project on the island of Lombok, which has been idle for years.

The property developer said it had “responded on time and with total commitment to the proposals of [joint developer] the Bali Tourism Development Corporation for the project.”

The statement came in response to comments from the Indonesian government, published by the local media last week, which said that officials were to retender the project after Emaar pulled out.

Emaar said it had provided recommendations on how it intended to proceed with the development, adding: “Emaar has strong financial fundamentals and will undertake all strategic projects across its key markets.” Emaar did not disclose the current status of the project.

Last week, the head of the Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board, Gita Wirjawan, said potential investors from Abu Dhabi, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and India had expressed interest and could be ready to replace Emaar.

This is not the first time that Emaar has denied pulling out of the project.

In March, the Jakarta Globe reported that Emaar said it was still planning to proceed and was awaiting a response from an expression of interest it had submitted to the Bali tourism authority.

The comment in March was made after the Indonesian ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Mohammad Supriyadi, said that Emaar had abandoned the project.

Construction of Taman Ria Senayan Awaits Amdal

Tempo Interactive, Tuesday, 20 July, 2010 | 23:17 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:Another shopping center will soon be constructed in Senayan, Central Jakarta. The developer will reconstruct Taman Ria Senayan to become a shopping center.

“We are not sure yet what the developer will build. Certainly, we are waiting for the environmental impact analysis (Amdal),” said the Jakarta Building Management and Supervision Office head, Hari Sasongko, yesterday.

However, Hari would not mention the name of the developer. He said the developer has fulfilled the administration requirements, such as the land ownership certificate. However, the office has not granted the permission because it is still waiting for the Amdal. “The Amdal will determine whether to give the license or not. The policy, however, is not our concern,” he said.

HERU TRIYONO

Kupang Builds International Hotel

Tempo Interactive, Tuesday, 20 July, 2010 | 22:44 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Kupang:East Nusa Tenggara governor Frans Lebu Raya and the CEO of PT Dwi Pratama Sukses, Jusuf Sawurin, have signed an MoU on the construction of an international four-star hotel in Kupang.

The construction will be carried out by an international hotel network, Best Western, at Lasiana Beach in Kelapa Lima, Kupang City. The hotel will have 200 rooms, a ballroom, and an entertainment center.

Jusuf said the physical construction of the hotel will be done after his office has completed the architectural design. “The design will be finished within two months at the latest. Then we will immediately build the building,” he said.

Best Western selected Kupang because the capital city does not have a hotel with adequate facilities to hold regional events. “There are some three-star hotels here, but they are not internationally-rated,” he said.

Frans said the hotel can also hire local workers therefore it can reduce the number of unemployment in the area. “We will be promoted in 88 countries in Best Western’s network,” he said.

YOHANES SEO

ADB Extends $35 Million for Sanitation Improvement in 2 Indonesian Cities

Jakarta Globe, July 20, 2010

Indonesia.The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is extending a $35 million loan to help Indonesia rehabilitate and expand sanitation facilities in the cities of Medan and Yogyakarta.

Medan, the capital of North Sumatra province, and Yogyakarta, the capital of Yogyakarta province, have a combined population of around 4.5 million people.

The loan will be used to build around 280 communal sanitation facilities in poor areas in the two cities, as well as two wastewater treatment systems for low-cost housing development projects in Medan.

Sewerage systems will be rehabilitated and expanded with up to 28,000 additional household connections.

The Metropolitan Sanitation Management and Health Project will also provide support to mobilize community involvement in the planning, operation and maintenance of communal facilities, and will ensure women are strongly involved in the process.

“A gender action plan in the project design will ensure women fully participate in the decision-making process for the development of facilities, and that they benefit equally with men from improved communal services,” said Rudolf Frauendorfer in ADB’s Southeast Asia Department.

Sanitation services have steadily improved in Indonesia, but still lag behind many neighboring countries, with partial sewerage coverage only available in a small number of urban centers.

Since the Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998, new sanitation investments have been postponed and existing treatment systems have deteriorated due to lack of repair and maintenance.

As a result, many of the poor living in informal settlements suffer high rates of diarrhea, skin diseases and other illnesses caused by polluted water and untreated waste.

“This project will sharply reduce pollution of surface and shallow groundwater in the two cities, resulting in improved health and quality of life particularly for women, children and the elderly who suffer the most from unclean environments,” Mr. Frauendorfer said.

The loan is structured to ensure that operating and maintenance spending on revenue-generating services can be fully funded from user tariff income by the middle of 2014, while remaining affordable to low-income communities.

Insufficient revenue for service providers and low user charges, which deter private investment in new facilities, have been a major impediment to the expansion of sanitation services.

To complement the loan, ADB will provide a $500,000 grant from its Technical Assistance Special Fund to strengthen the capacity and management capabilities of local governments, utilities and communities involved in providing or overseeing sanitation services.

Further technical assistance of $1 million in the form of a grant from the Government of Australia, will be administered by ADB.

The loan has a 25-year term, with a five-year grace period and an interest rate determined in accordance with ADB’s LIBOR-based lending facility.

The government of Indonesia will provide additional funding of $14.2 million, with regional governments committing $13.5 million, and provincial governments almost $500,000, for a total project of about $63.2 million.

The Ministry of Public Works is the executing agency for the project which is expected to be completed around December 2014.

Rp219 billion for housing

Antara News, Sunday, June 13, 2010 23:40 WIB

Ternate, N Maluku (ANTARA News) - The office of the Ministry of People`s Housing has allocated Rp219 billion to finance a housing project designed for the people in Halmahera Utara district, North Maluku province, the Halut district head said.

Halmahera Utara District Head Hein Namotemo said here on Sunday that the project constituted the realization of a housing project proposal made by the Halut regional government to the ministry of people`s housing sometime ago.

He said that the local government had proposed a budget of Rp371 billion for the construction of the housing project but only Rp219 billion was approved.

The district is the only district in North Maluku which got a budget allocation for a housing project in 2010, he said.

Indonesia going green

Antara News, by Andi Abdussalam, Saturday, June 12, 2010 12:23 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - In an effort to create a clean and healthy environment and overcome climate change, the Indonesian government is implementing a green concept and called on various businesses to apply it as part of their attempt to achieve their emission reduction program by 26 percent by 2020.

"Development efforts in Indonesia must implement the Green Development or Green Economy concepts which are in essence friendliness to the environment," Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Hatta Radjasa said over the weekend.

He said Indonesia`s development efforts are facing three big challenges, namely food and energy sufficiency and provision of efficient energy supplies but to meet all these, development efforts must be carried out based on a green concept to balance economic growth with environmental conservation.

"Therefore, the Green Economy concept is suitable for application in Indonesia`s development projects," he said.

The minister made the remarks after attending the topping off of Grand Royal Panghegar Apartment which implemented the Green Economy concept in Bandung, West Java. On the occasion Hatta expressed his appreciation to the Grand Royal Pangegar owner for having implemented the concept.

"I will report it to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, about this," he said.

President Yudhoyono said on Thursday the government must prioritize green economic development strategy which is environment friendly in order to prevent ecosystem degradation that demands big rehabilitation cost. It must implement triple-track-plus-one economic strategy, namely pro growth, pro job, pro poor, plus pro environment.

Therefore, Indonesia will continue to develop a green economic concept in an effort to improve the welfare of its people and overcome the threat of climate change. "The green economy has become a kind of new economic ideology in the world in the 21st century," the President said.

Green economy is needed because the world today is facing a great challenge from climate change the impact of which is already being felt with the emergence of a number of crises in the world such as food, energy and water crises.

"Green economy is a life style in the world and in Indonesia, a system which does not exploit to the full extent the energy and natural resources," he said.

He said the environmental aspect must not be forgotten in the economic development, or otherwise the rehabilitation works to improve the damaged environment might reach 20 percent of the GDP.

"There is an interesting article, which writes that economic-driven national development which ignoring the environment, in the long term, will cost 20 percent of the GDP for rehabilitating damaged environment. We should be aware of that," he said.

Therefore, the green concept must be applied in carrying out various development programs, including the tourism, property development and the real sectors besides other sectors such as transportation.

Many business sectors have responded to the green concept. In the tourism sector, some hotels and aviation have implemented it.

The Indonesian National Air Carriers Association (INACA) has the "Green Energy" program to reduce gas emissions from airplanes. Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi said he supported the Green Energy campaign in the transportation sector, especially in air transportation, as it would help mitigate the impact of global warming.

"By applying the Green Energy concept, gas emission in Indonesia could be cut by up to 26 percent by 2020," Numberi said when talking on the sidelines of an INACA meeting. Every airline operator should contribute to the success of the program, he said.

INACA Chairman Emirsyah Satar, concurrently president director of Garuda Indonesia airways, said Garuda has officially become one of 15 airlines in the world that have joined the carbon offsetting effort. Aviation industry growth in Indonesia is now the third highest in the world after China and India, according to Satar.

Indonesia`s plan to reduce gas emissions by 26 percent until 2020 will cost around Rp400 trillion. "We hope not all of the funds will have to come from the government. The figure is dynamic or can still change," the secretary of the state minister for national development planning, Sjahrial Loetan, said meanwhile.

Some hotels have also followed suit. The Bali Hotels Association (BHA), a group of over 100 star-rated hotels in Bali held an environment workshop at Kuta`s Hard Rock Hotel, as a part of series to provide a new concept of green for everyone.

"The workshop contributes to BHA`s endeavors to furthermore educate and train its employees as part of its social responsibility to provide a better and cleaner future for all local communities", Gareth Warne, BHA Director of Environment, and GM of Nusa Lembongan Resort & Sail Sensations Catamaran, said in Denpasar, recently.

During eight lectures over 100 participants had been informed of practical hands on solutions on saving energy, water management, recycling, carbon offset, and green corporate social responsibility programs.

In the property sector, the office of the Ministry of People`s Housing is drawing a regulation on incentives for developers which support the green property development concept. "We are preparing it as part of our commitment to facing the global climate change challenge," Iskandar Saleh, secretary to the Minister for People?s Housing, said.

The government is also planning to provide certification for the buildings or housings built by developers who are able to apply the eco-green or green property concept.

In this case, the Jakarta Garden City (JGC) is determined to build 9,000 houses within 10-15 years ahead with the green property concept.

"We have strong determination to develop these houses with the green property concept in line with the appreciation we received from the international real estate federation (FIABCI) in Bali recently," said President Director of JGC Lim Seng Bin.

In the telecommunications sector, Telkomsel has also gone green. Telkomsel is a telecommunications operator which has the biggest number of go-green base transceiver stations (BTS), or 132 bts in Southeast Asia.

"Of the 132 units of BTS, some 20 BTS are already developed with the go-green concept, of which 14 BTS are using solar cells and six others using fuel cells," Regional General Manager Network Operation of Telkomsel for North Sumatra Moelqy Furqan said.

To Agents' Disappointment, Indonesia Keeps Ban on Foreigners Buying Property

The New York Times, by JON GORVETT, June 3, 2010

JAKARTA — Hopes for a change in Indonesia’s restrictive rules on foreign ownership of property were dashed when a major conference of real estate agents on Bali ended last week without an expected government announcement.

“We all thought they were ready to go for it,” said Bagus Adikusumo, director of Colliers International Indonesia. “But then it didn’t happen.”

Only Indonesian citizens are allowed to hold freehold titles in this archipelago republic. And its Constitution limits ownership of land as well.

Foreigners wishing to buy property have had to make purchases through Indonesian proxies, or one of two types of limited lease.

The first is a 30-year renewable lease available to entirely foreign-owned companies; the second is a 25-year renewable “right of use” lease available to individual foreigners.

“The problem is that the second of these leases is not bankable — no bank will lend on a title that is so limited and difficult to change,” said Alwi Bagir Mulachela, secretary general of the Indonesian real estate association. “It’s also not clear what happens if the foreign owner dies — inheritance is not clear in these circumstances.”

The Indonesian government has been eager to increase foreign investment and not be left behind by countries like Cambodia and Vietnam, which have recently eased their foreign ownership laws.

At the conference held last week by the International Real Estate Federation, known as the F.I.A.B.C., agents had expected the government to announce that foreigners would be allowed to buy property with a minimum value of $150,000; to introduce a simplified, 70-year lease that could qualify for bank financing; and to clarify the right of foreigners to inherit.

“I think they backed off first for nationalistic reasons,” Mr. Adikusumo said, “then secondly, because of fears that opening up the market to foreigners would favor luxury house construction at the expense of low-cost mass housing. They will also have to make major changes in the law, even perhaps the Constitution, which would take quite a while to push through Parliament.”

There are some indications that changes may still occur.

“Limiting foreign ownership is no longer the right approach,” the country’s public housing minister, Suharso Monoarfa, said in his speech at the conference.

Mr. Mulachela, of the real estate association, said: “I’m confident we’ll get something by the end of the year. The government says it’s working on it and the Land Office says it is too, so we’re still hoping.”

Indonesia to host int'l conference on urban and housing

Dina Indrasafitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 05/04/2010 10:41 PM

Indonesia will host an international conference on housing and urban development and sustainability next month.

"There will be a series of dialogues, working groups and exhibition. Subjects to be discussed include the community's role in government management, slum upgrading, millennium development goals on clean water and sanitation, funding for sustainable urban and housing development, and the role of the community in managing climate change," Minister of Public Housing Suharso Manoarfa said Tuesday..

The conference, named the third Asia Pacific Ministers' Conference on Housing and Urban Development, will take place from June 22 to June 24 in Surakarta, Central Java.

About 1,000 participants, including housing ministers and high ranking officials, from 68 nations across the Asia-Pacific region will turn up for the conference.

This year's theme is "Empowering Communities for Sustainable Urbanization."

Budi Yuwono of the Directorate General of Cipta Karya from the Public Works Ministry, said this year’s conference would invite representatives from developed nations such as Japan, Korea and Australia.

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President opens development planning Congress 2010

Antara News, Wednesday, April 28, 2010 14:03 WIB

Giving direction: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono gestures during his opening speech at a national development planning meeting in Jakarta on Wednesday. Antara/ Widodo S. Jusuf

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono here on Wednesday opened the National Development Planning Congress 2010 which will last until May 1.

Aimed at drafting the government`s Work Plan for 2011, the congress is being participated in by around 2,000 people consisting of, among others, governors, district heads, mayors from all over Indonesia.

The congress` theme is "Acceleration of Just Economic Growth Supported by Consolidation of Central-Regional Government Relations".

The theme is translated into 11 national development priorities in 2011, namely bureaucratic and administration reform, education, health, poverty eradication, food resilience, infrastructures, business and investment climate, energy, the environment, natural disasters, least developed regions, the most outer and inner islands, post-conflicts, culture, creativity and technology innovation.

The results of the earlier two working meetings led by the President and attended by governors from the country`s all provinces at Cipanas (West Java) and Tampaksiring (Bali Province), became inputs in drafting the government`s work plan 2011.

The congress is also expected to synchronize programs, main activities, venues and budgets prepared by the ministries and government institutions, which are considered urgent and need to be implemented immediately.

After delivering his opening remarks, President Yudhoyono is expected to present copies of two books titled "Guarding the Momentum for Change: Evaluation of the Five-Year Implementation of the National Middle-Term Development Plan 2004-2009" and "The Administration and Regional Development Implementation: Strengthening Synergy between the Central and Regional governments and Among Regions," to three representatives, namely Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo in his capacity as chairman of the All Indonesian Provincial Governments Association (APPSI), Pacitan District Head Sujono in his capacity as chairman of the All Indonesia District Government Association (APKASI), and Palembang Mayor Eddy Santana Putra in his capacity as chairman of the All Indonesia City Administration Association (APEKSI).

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RI developers to join FIABCI property competition

Antara News, Saturday, December 12, 2009 22:16 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Eight national developers have been selected to represent Indonesia in a world property competition to be held by the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI).

"We selected eight developers out of 34 nominees for 11 categories," Pingki Pangestu, organizing committee chairman of FIABCI Indonesia - BNI Prix d`Excellence Award, said here on Friday.

The eight developers would take part in the international contest to be organized coinciding with the 61st FAIBCI World Congress to be themed "Save the World: Green Shoots for Sustainable Real Estate", Pangestu said.

Chairman of the Indonesian Real Estate Association (REI) Teguh Satria who is concurrently president of FIABCI Indonesia, said it was about time for Indonesia to be active in international property contests.

Except for Bali, Indonesia was hardly known internationally, he said.

The 61st FIABCI World Congress and the world property contest will be organized at Nusa Dua, Bali Province, from 24 to 28 May 2010.

Indonesia would be hosting the international contest for the first time, while Malaysia had already done so 27 times.

The selected eight Indonesian developers are Bekasi Timur Regency, Jakarta Garden City, Grand Orchard, Apartment

Mediterania, The Pakubuwono Residence, 6. The Residence, Alam Sutera and Gedung Menara Karya.

FIABCI is represented by chapters in 48 countries. It communicates in five official languages, namely English French German Japanese and Spanish.

FIABCI is a non-political entity whose objective is to help its members add an international dimension to their businesses. FIABCI helps members acquire knowledge, develop networks and optimize business opportunities all over the world.

The organization has a business club of real estate professionals in 60 countries and groups or federations of 100 national real estate associations.

FIABCI is special consultant with NGO status to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations Organization (ECOSOC).

RI to expand research for sustainable development

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 11/26/2009 1:30 PM

Indonesia aims to increase its scientific research capacity through the establishment an international research center that fosters cooperation between local and foreign universities.

The Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI) launched Wednesday the International Center for Interdisciplinary and Advanced Research (ICIAR), as part of an initiative to promote preservation of the environment and to advance food security.

The center was established through cooperation between the institute and the the State Research and Technology Ministry, as well as the National Education Ministry.

The center is going to work with the United Nations Universities in Japan and New York, the Wageningen University in the Netherlands, the Kyoto University in Japan and the Swiss German University in Serpong, Banten.

Swiss German University is the first international university offering a double degree from both Indonesia and Europe for local students.

State Minister for Research and Technology Suharna Surapranata said in his speech that the center would propel scientific research in the country.

The center's chairman, Jan Sopaheluwakan, said he expected the center to become a melting pot of advanced studies from various scientific fields and to influence decision makers in the country through its research results.

Jan, who is also LIPI's deputy chairman for scientific studies, said the center would focus on developing research on biogeodynamics, sustainable environmental practices, climate change and disaster mitigation, coastal community resilience and conflict and crisis management, as well as food, health, biomedical and intercultural studies.

He said this would be made possible through networking with foreign partner universities.

"United Nations University, for example, has extensive networks in UN member countries," he said during the center's launching ceremony.

"This will help Indonesia catch up with other nations' achievements, which address environmental and human security problems."

Associate Director of the Institute for Environment and Human Security at the United Nations University, Fabrice Renaud, said the new center would extend the role of his institute in promoting solutions related to the environmental dimension of human security.

"We are putting the individual, social groups and their livelihoods at the center of debate, analysis and policy," he said.

"Our university has acted as a bridge between the UN and the academic world since 1973."

Senior Researcher at Wageningen University, A. Schrevel, said his university would work together with the center on low-land management projects in Sumatra and Kalimantan for two to three years.

"Significant peatland losses on the islands have increasingly contributed to the release of emissions," he said.

Jan said this center would change the old paradigm of local uni-versities.

"Most local universities have not yet prioritized research programs. Lecturers help their students research certain topics only to help them fulfill their academic requirements," he said.

He called such universities as "teaching universities", which had yet to improve their research functions due to limited facilities. (nia)

House approves Rp 300 b for W. Sumatera reconstruction fund

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sun, 11/22/2009 7:26 PM

The House of Representatives has approved the release of a Rp 300 billion (US$ 30 million) relief fund to assist reconstruction and rehabilitation in areas destroyed by a powerful earthquake in West Sumatra in September.

The funds are part of Rp 1. 2 trillion taken from this years budget agreed on by the House and the government.

Bakri Beck, Deputy for Rehabilitation and Reconstruction at the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), said on Sunday the House had agreed to allow the government to allocate the money.

“We can use the money as soon as we sign a memorandum of understanding with the related parties,” Bakri told Antara state news agency.

He added his office would hand over the fund to residents so as they might rebuild or repair houses damaged by the earthquake.

“To smoothen the transfer of the funds, we will ask for residents to form groups consisting of between 20 and 25 people,” he said.

He added his office would transfer the fund to bank accounts each group had opened.

Data from the provincial Natural Disaster Mitigation Board (Satkorlak) has revealed 37,587 houses were destroyed by the quake. (ewd)

Govt to support community forests through sharia financing

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 10/17/2009 1:10 PM

The forestry ministry is working with Bank Muamalat to provide sharia bank revolving funds to back development of community forests, a senior government official said.

Speaking in a seminar on Thursday, Deny Kustiawan, head of the ministry's center for forest development financing, said the sharia funding would be partly supported by government funds.

Deny said regular banks still considered investing in community forest development but since it involved a high risk then government intervention was needed.

The government has decided to develop a total of 1,550 million hectares of community forest during the next five years. But every hectare to be developed needs an investment of Rp 11.7 million.

The support for developing community forests emerges in response to the declining output of logs from natural forests operated under government concessions due to massive deforestation. The government said developing community forests would allow a period of rehabilitation for degraded natural forests.

Deny said the government had allocated Rp 1.4 trillion (US$148 million) this year to help finance development of community forests via three possible financing schemes: conventional financing, sharia funding and a special financing scheme with regional development banks (BPRs).

"We expect to get an additional Rp 625 billion next year," Deny said

He said the government would not make any specific allocation of on the proportion of funds for each of the financing schemes.

"Let the market decide. If the public prefer the conventional one let them do so. If they choose the sharia scheme then let them do it. We'll help them do the financing through whichever way they choose," he said.

The sharia scheme will be the last to roll out among the government's initiatives to support development of community forests.

Deny said the ministry was in the process of assessing two loan proposals from local cooperatives: Madina Cooperative in North Sumatra and the North Maluku Cooperative.

"We are still working on the formulas for financing that adhere to sharia principles," he said.

Analysts have expressed reservation on the effectiveness of financial support as the key problems in developing community forests still rest on the conflicts arising from uncertain or overlapping land ownership.