To boost ties, Sweden to open trade office in Jakarta

Veeramalla Anjaiah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sun, 02/06/2011

In line with the growing economic interaction between Sweden and Indonesia, Stockholm will open its first ever trade office in Jakarta on Monday, the Swedish ambassador to Indonesia says.

“Our trade minister Ewa Bjorling will formally inaugurate the new trade office on Monday,” Ambassador Ewa Polano told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Trade between the two countries currently hovers around US$1 billion, a huge jump from the $607.86 million in 2005. More than 40 Swedish companies currently operate in Indonesia.

Minister Bjorling and her 25-member business delegation were scheduled to arrive in Jakarta on Sunday.

Besides opening the trade office, Bjorling will address a seminar, “Green Growth for Indonesia”, on Tuesday. She will also hold discussions with Environment Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta, Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto and Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu.

Bjorling plans to meet with ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan on Tuesday.

Indonesia Orders New Trains From Bombardier

Tempo Interactive, Tuesday, 06 April, 2010 | 19:18 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The Transport Department has handed Swedish vehicle producer Bombardier Inc. a 32-million euro contract to build ten sets of electric trains for Indonesian railway company PT Kereta Api.

The departement said the trains will reinforce Jakarta's commuter railway network and Bombardier is expected to complete the trains in 2011.

Safety and Technical Director of the Transport Department's railway directorate Hermanto Dwiatmoko said on Tuesday, german KfW banking Group provided soft loan for the trains through a deal signed with the Finance Department in 2008.

International tender was part of the requirements by KfW Bank for the order, which then held in europe and won by Bombardier which teamed up with PT Kereta Api.

“Bombardier will produce motor traction and control system while PT Kereta Api will assemble an install the system,” Hermanto said.

The project also involve order for two 5,000-kilowatt railway substations, won by Siemens – PT LEN Industri.

The railway directorate said to inspect production of the traction motor and control system in Bombardier's facility in Sweden, next week, although production is scheduled to begin later this year.

DESY PAKPAHAN

Swedish businessmen to visit Indonesia

Antara News, Saturday, January 30, 2010 17:40 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President directors of 35 Swedish companies will visit Indonesia on January 30 - February 2, 2010 to identify investment and business opportunities in the country, Swedish Embassy said in a media release here on Friday.

This will be the biggest Swedish business delegation ever to visit Indonesia. The visit is jointly organized by the Swedish Embassies in Jakarta and Singapore, in cooperation with the Swedish Business Associations of Indonesia and Singapore.

During their stay in Indonesia, the delegation is expected to meet with high level officials from relevant ministries and authorities, economists, the European Union delegation, as well as with representatives of the Indonesian and Swedish related business community.

Ambassador of Sweden to Indonesia Ewa Polano, heading the delegation, says that the Swedish businessmen are very happy that so many Swedish communities have signed up.

"It has been our ambition to present the Swedish president directors a visiting program that gives a unique opportunity to improve their understanding of the impressive economic and political developments in Indonesia over the last years," she said.

Indonesia has made substantial progress in the field of democracy, economic reforms and security over the last decade. Its location and size make Indonesia strategically important: the fourth largest country in the world and the largest in ASEAN.

Having been worst hit by the Asian economic crisis in 1997-98, Indonesia has now outperformed other major economies in Southeast Asia in 2009 and in fact most other countries in the world.

Ericsson wins new contract from Telkomsel in Indonesia

Tradingmarkets.com, Wed. March 04, 2009; Posted: 07:57 AM   

Swedish telecomms solutions provider Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) has signed a new three-year contract with the Indonesian mobile operator Telekomunikasi Selular Indonesia (Telkomsel). 

Under this frame agreement Ericsson will supply, deploy and integrate GSM/EDGE and WCDMA/HSPA radio access networks (RANs) for Telkomsel across Indonesia. 

Telkomsel is planning to expand its network's existing coverage, boost capacity and improve performance. 

The new contract, which was announced today (4 March), extends an existing business partnership between Ericsson and Telkomsel. The Swedish company has provided equipment to Telkomsel since 1995 and was recently chosen to supply Telkomsel's combined 2G and 3G circuit core network using mobile softswitch technology.

Sweden to launch waste refinery project in RI

The Jakarta Post, Wed, 02/18/2009 2:55 PM   

INDONESIA: Sweden, one of the few countries which fulfilled Kyoto Protocol emissions reduction target, in collaboration with Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta, will launch the Waste Refinery Indonesia project in Yogyakarta, the Swedish Embassy said on Tuesday. 

From the Swedish side, the municipality of Boras and the University of Boras will work with UGM. 

Both Sweden and UGM are jointly organizing a two-day workshop in Yogyakarta that will be opened on Wednesday by Swedish Ambassador Ann Marie Bolin Pennegard and UGM rector Prof. Sudjarwadi, on waste refinery. Both Pennegard and Sudjarwadi will also launch the Waste Refinery Indonesia project. 

"The objective is to develop a network around Indonesia under the project name Waste Refinery Indonesia," the embassy said in a statement sent on Tuesday to The Jakarta Post. - JP

IFC gives $20m loan to coffee farmers

The Jakarta Post, Thu, 11/20/2008 10:32 AM  

JAKARTA: The International Financial Corporation (IFC), a part of the World Bank, has disbursed loans worth US$20 million to a local coffee company, Indo Cafco, for the setting up a number of farmer training centers in North Sumatra. 

The centers are aimed at helping the farmers acquire necessary information on how to produce sustainable coffee products, which will have more added-value and attract premium prices. 

The centers will target 4,500 farmer households working for Indo Cafco in the next four years and an additional 30,000 farmers working outside the company network. 

Indo Cafco, a local unit of Sweden's trading company ECOM Agroindustrial Corporation, is the supplier to Starbucks and Nespresso.

Indonesia is the fourth biggest coffee producer in the world and the second biggest in Asia after Vietnam. 

The program is part of a $55 million loan agreement between IFC and ECOM being implemented in six countries - Indonesia, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. -- JP

European Union Offer Assistance to Improve Indonesian Aviation

Wednesday, 19 November, 2008 | 17:01 WIB 

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The European Union (EU) is offering to cooperate in order to improve Indonesian aviation. 

Director General of Air Transportation Budhi Muliawan Suyitno said that the EU was now more open. 

“Before, the EU only imposed a flight ban but now its is offering assistance,” he said yesterday (18/11). 

He mentioned that five EU countries are serious about offering technical assistance. 

Germany, France, and the Netherlands will offer assistance for security and safety affairs while Sweden and the UK are offering training for human resources. 

This Friday, Directorate of Air Transportation will have a teleconference with the EU flight safety unit to talk about the progress over Indonesian aviation. 

“It is better to talk through a teleconference so there’ll be no miscommunication,” said Budhi. 

Budhi went on to say that the replacement of the EU ambassador to Indonesia, from Pierre Phillipe to Julian Wilson, will have a positive impact. 

Wilson is a cooperative person with good intentions of improving the relations between both parties. 

Since end of November 2007, the EU has banned Indonesian airlines from flying to Europe. 

The EU said it considered Indonesian airlines did not meet the proper safety standards. 

At an evaluation meeting on July 10 in Belgium, Indonesia offered three options. 

One of these was to encourage Indonesian flight regulators by working together with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to improve safety standards. 

Budhi explained the cooperation will be realized soon. 

Five aviation inspectors will be appointed on November 27 when ICAO President Robert Kobeh Gonzales comes to Indonesia. 

In addition, the Civil Aviation Transformation Team (CATT) will also be formed through cooperation between ICAO, the Federation Aviation Administration (FAA-America), and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA-Australia). 

A representative office for the CATT team will be located at Transportation Department and be responsible to the Director General of Air Transportation. 

VENNIE MELYANI