Government Signs Geothermal Loan From Germany

Tempo Interactive, Tuesday, 20 April, 2010 | 15:34 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Indonesia signed on Tuesday (20/4) a seven million euro soft loan package from Germany to fund geothermal projects in the country, which some of the loan have been disbursed since 2007.

Director General of America – Europe at the Foreign Department Retno Masudi said after the signings with German Ambassador Norbert Bass at the Foreign Department, that Germany has the technology for the projects while Indonesia has 40 percent of the world's geothermal potentials.

“The projects will be developed in a mixed policy and aimed at taking geothermal contribution (in domestic energy use) to five percent by 2025.”

Both sides also formalised several past cooperations which include post tsunami reconstruction for Aceh, Central Java and Yogyakarta reconstruction since 2006, totalling 111 million euro.

CORNILA DESYANA

Singapore Chamber of Commerce Visits South Sulawesi

Tempo Interactive, Tuesday, 20 April, 2010 | 16:07 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Singapore Chamber of Commerce is visiting Indonesian Province of South Sulawesi today (20/4) for a meeting with the regional chamber of commerce on raw material trade and between the country and the province and opportunities in manufacturing sector in the province.

The Singapore side proposed to open direct air and sea transport service that connect the province and the city state to facilitate export-import traffic.

A member of the Singapore delegates Jimmy Michael said the direct link will open a better access for Singopre to commodities in the region.

Head of South Sulawesi Chamber of Commerce Zulkarnaen Arif said “Singapore is expecting the direct import before 2015”. The meeting followed a visit by South Sulawesi Governor Syahrul Yasin Limpo to Singapore to promote the region's commodities like cocoa and corn.

ICHSAN AMIN

Pertamina-Medco Announce Well Discovery in Central Sulawesi Block

Tempo Interactive, Tuesday, 20 April, 2010 | 17:16 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: A venture of State Oil Company Pertamina and Medco Energy announced discovery of two oil and gas wells in Senoro block, Central Sulawesi found last year.

One of the wells according to General Manager Joint on Board Pertamina-Medco Hendra Jaya was drilled last year and a second one to be drilled this year, with potential reserves of both wells estimated at 5-10 million cubic feet per day.

“The gas could be used to generate electricity in Banggai regency,” Hendra Jaya told a seminar on acceleration of Donggi-Senoro project in Jakarta today (20/4). The amount he said was capable of generating electricity up to 25 megawatt per day for 20 years.

The venture said it is waiting for sales appoval from the Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Body (BP Migas) although it has open talks with the State Electricity Company and said it will remain open for offers from private electricity contractors.

Oil and gas exploitation from the block was disrupted last year after the consortium, which include Mitsubishi, failed to agree on several points of sales agreements with the government which put export plans from the block on halt.

Recently a member of the reginal House of representatives had urged the government to deliver its promise, made by Vice President Boediono last month to settle the trade dispute.

Nawawi Sang Kilat a regional lawmaker said the governmentaa has discriminate the region for allowing other region to export its gas, while preventing Donggi-Senoro block to trade with foreign buyers. Revenue from the block Nawai claimed could lift regional budget to Rp1.2 trillion from the current Rp1.1 trillion.

DESY PAKPAHAN

RI, Germany sign six cooperation agreements

Antara News, Tuesday, April 20, 2010 21:38 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesian and Germany signed on Tuesday six technical and financial cooperation agreements with a committed value of 111,130,000 euros.

Director General of America and Europe at the Foreign Ministry Ambassador Retno L.P. and German Ambassador to Indonesia Norbert Baas signed the agreements at the Foreign Ministry building here.

The six agreements are related to a number of post-tsunami reconstruction projects in Aceh, post-quake reconstruction projects in Central Java and Yogyakarta and the financing of technical cooperation projects.

With the signing of the six cooperation agreements, development cooperation between the two countries in the relevant sectors had now entered the implementation phase and the two nations were prepared to continue their talks on Thursday.

CN-235 to be displayed at expo Indonesia 2010 in Bangladesh

Antara News, Tuesday, April 20, 2010 19:54 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - CN-235, a product of Indonesia`s strategic airplane industry PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PT DI), will be displayed at Expo Indonesia 2010 in Bangladesh on May 11 to 13, 2010.

Indonesian ambassador in Dhaka Zet Mirzal Zainuddin said the exhibition will display various export products of strategic and non-strategic industries in Indonesia.

Some of the products of strategic industries included CN-235 of PT DI, military vehicles and equipment of PT PINDAD, and railway coaches of PT INKA.

The automotive products also to be displayed at the event will include multi purpose vehicles like Suzuki APV, Toyota Avanza, and GT products.

Expo Indonesia 2010 will have the theme "Integrated Expo 2010: Discover Indonesia, the Beauty Unlimited".

Joint Project Aims to Rescue Java’s Critical Forests

Jakarta Globe, April 18, 2010

Banyumas, Central Java. The president director of state forest management company PT Perhutani has said that up to 900,000 hectares of land on Java Island are in critical condition, including areas located within forests overseen by the company.

Speaking during a working visit to Perhutani’s Baturaden tourist forest in Banyumas district, Central Java, over the weekend, Upik Rosalina Wasrin said that in 2005 the company began rehabilitating 350,000 hectares of critical areas under its management through its Green Perhutani program.

She said the program, which is hoped to be completed by the end of this year, also called for 70,000 hectares of land to be planted with trees and areas outside its scope to be rejuvenated.

“Perhutani is currently working on land outside its forest areas that belong to the public. This is part of the rehabilitation program and the development of local enterprises,” Upik added.

Rehabilitation plans for critical lands in the Dieng Plateau region of Central Java, Upik said are still awaiting agreement from local residents because the land there is privately owned.

“If we can reach a deal to work together with the local people, we will first start with an effort to identify the [problems],” she said.

Reforesting and rehabilitating private land is a complex issue, Upik said, and Perhutani needs to consult with local land owners in Dieng before any work can begin.

“Whether they want their land rehabilitated or not, we first need to find out if they want their land to be managed as public forested areas, how the land will be shared and what type of trees should be planted,” she said, citing a few of the problems that need to be resolved.

Forest rehabilitation efforts in cases such as Dieng require cooperation in the form of public forested areas, also known as joint forestry management, Upik said, adding that just handing out assistance funds does not work. The best way, she added, is to get local residents to form a business that offers the land as part of the public forested area in return for a share of its products.

Similar cooperation efforts have already been entered into by Perhutani with Banten’s provincial government and the province’s Pandeglang district administration, covering some 7,500 hectares of forest.

Several other cooperation programs have also been entered into with other regions in Central Java, including with Banyumas and the district administration in Kendal.

In Dieng, forested lands, especially on the region’s mountainous terrain, have been converted for agriculture by local residents. The resulting land degradation has been blamed for landslides in the area during the rainy season.

Upik said Perhutani’s rehabilitation model involved providing loans to residents to be repaid under a production-sharing system. “The people are encouraged to make use of their land in a productive and economic way,” she said.

The land rehabilitation projects also involve working with local forestry offices — in the case of Dieng, both Banyumas and Wonosobo districts — to ascertain whether any rejuvenation programs have already been conducted in the areas concerned.

“If there has already been some program, we will not get involved in the area because each of us, the Ministry of Forestry and Perhutani, have our respective programs,” Upik said. “And so that there is no overlap, we have to make sure of this first so the handling of critical areas in Java can be done together.”

As for Perhutani’s long-term reforestation program, Upik said the company aimed to replant an additional 2,000 hectares of forest lands across Java by 2014.

Antara

BPPT to install tsunami early warning buoy in Aceh

Antara News, Sunday, April 18, 2010 18:54 WIB

Banda Aceh, Aceh (ANTARA News) - The Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) is to install a tsunami early warning buoy in the Simeulue waters, Aceh province, early next week.

"We plan to arrive in the waters off Simeulue`s northern coast early next week to install the tsunami early warning buoy," the chief of a team aboard research vessel Baruna Jaya III, Iyan Turyana, said on Saturday.

He made the remark when receiving Aceh Deputy Governor Muhammad Nazar aboard the research vessel which had just arrived in Aceh after installing a tsunami early warning buoy in the waters of Mentawi islands, West Sumatra province.

The research vessel with 22 researchers and 17 crew members aboard is expected to leave Malahayati pier in Aceh Besar district for the Simeulue waters on Sunday.

The tsunami early warning buoy called Ina buoy is assembled by BPPT. The equipment is capable of detecting signs of whether or not there is quake vibration in the sea.

The Ina buoy which was for the first time developed in Indonesia in 2006 consists of buoy unit and bottom unit.

The buoy unit to be installed in the Simeulue waters will float on the sea surface and the bottom unit will be placed 15 meters below the sea surface. The equipment will any time send signs of natural movement beneath the sea and later send the information to the monitoring station at the BPPT by satellite.

Most of Aceh`s coastal areas was devastated by a tsunami triggered by a magnitude 8.9 earthquake on December 26, 2004, killing around 200,000 people.

The province was again rocked by a powerful quake on April 7, 2010.

Related Article:

Fearful Aceh Islanders Tell of Massive Sea Change in the Wake of Earthquake

ADB hands over rescue equipment worth US$3 million to W. Sumatra

Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, The Jakarta Post, Padang, Thu, 04/15/2010 7:30 PM

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has given a US$3 million grant in the form of rescue equipment to the West Sumatra provincial administration.

The handover of the grant was done through the National Disaster Mitigation Agency at the West Sumatra governor office in Padang on Thursday.

The equipment is designed to help rescue efforts in 11 cities and regencies prone to natural disaster in West Sumatra.

The rescue device consists of a modern communication car, equipped with satellite communication for any emergency situation during the disaster when telephone lines are usually broken.

It also consists of another rescue car, three motorcycles, one communication unit, rubber boats, tents, and computer units.

MEC Eyes Expanded Kalimantan Coal-Rail Project

Jakarta Globe, Reuters & Irvan Tisnabudi, April 15, 2010

MEC Holdings said on Thursday it is interested in expanding its planned railway project in East Kalimantan and wants to find more domestic buyers for its coal.

Based in the United Arab Emirates, MEC plans to invest $5.2 billion in infrastructure, including a smelter, railway and power plant, to support its coal mine.

MEC executive vice chairman Madhu Koneru said there was potential to expand the planned 130 kilometer railway, perhaps to 1,000 km.

“We are focusing on the [current] railway project, and that is long-time construction,” Koneru said, speaking on the sidelines of an infrastructure conference in Jakarta. “Technically, yes, there is potential [to extend the railway]. Commercially, yes, there is potential. We have planned for expanding the railway if it makes logical sense going forward.”

MEC has a license for a 5,000-hectare coal mine in East Kalimantan and has already finished exploration, Koneru said. The mine has nearly 2 billion tons of reserves and about 30 percent of production will go to the domestic market. The rest will be exported to India and China. Koneru said production would start about six to eight months before the railway begins operating.

The main customer for the domestic coal supply will be the planned joint-venture power plant between MEC and Indian state aluminum maker NALCO, which will supply power to their joint-venture alumina smelter, both near the coal mine. The power plant will cost $1.2 billion, with a capacity of 1,400 megawatts.

MEC’s mine is in an undeveloped part of East Kalimantan, with no road or river connections to a port. It will transport its coal by rail.

The $1 billion railway will have a capacity of 70 million tons a year of coal and will connect MEC’s mine to the coastal port in Bengalon, for export of the coal and import of other raw materials, Koneru said. MEC expects the railway to be operational and ready to deliver coal in 2011.

MEC, along with NALCO, also plans to invest $2 billion in the aluminum smelter, producing 500,000 tons a year, according to Mashael Al Naimi, MEC’s head of corporate communications.

NALCO will own 76 percent stake in smelter and MEC will hold the remaining.

Noeleen Heyzer, executive secretary of the UN’s Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, said a public-private partnership (PPP) was the key to achieving MEC’s East Kalimantan project.

“PPP is key because the government can’t do it alone, and MEC certainly can’t do it either, so both parties need to cooperate for the good of the people,” she said.

Government Offer 42 Infrastructure Projects

Tempo Interactive, Thursday, 15 April, 2010 | 17:00 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Public Works Department said the government is offering 42 infrastructure projects to foreign investors. Thirty of the projects are toll road construction, 10 water projects, and two waste and sanitation projects.

Minister Djoko Kirmanto said today (15/4) on the sidelines of Infrastructure Asia in Jakarta that the government hoped that the fair would boost investments for the projects.

Total value of the projects he said was about Rp157 trillion but some of the project have no feasible financial plan, and Djoko said the government will guarantee the infeasible projects.

Thirty of the toll road projects are being categorized into “priority projects” and “potensial projects”.

Priority Projects include

1. Medan-Kuala Namu-Tebing Tebing (North Sumatra)/60 km/Rp4,755 trillion
2. Cileunyi-Sumedang-Dawuan (West Java)/58.5 km/Rp5,102 trillion
3. Palembang-Indralaya (South Sumatra/22 km/Rp1.052 trillion
4. Tegineneng-Babatan (Lampung Province)/50 km/Rp2.726 trillion
5. Sukabumi-Ciranjang (West Java)/28 km/Rp1.855 trillion
6. Pasirkoja-Soreang (West Java)/15 km/Rp1.021 triliun
7. Pandaan-Malang (East Java)/37.62 km/Rp2.572 trillion
8. Medan-Binjai/15.80 km/Rp1.293 trillion
9. Kemayoran-Kampung Melayu/9.65 km/Rp6.953 trillion
10. Sunter-Rawa Buaya-Batu Ceper/22.92 km/Rp9.760 trillion
11. Ulujami-Tanah Abang/8.27 km/Rp4.255 trillion
12. Pasar Minggu-Casablanca/9.56 km/Rp5.719 trillion
13. Sunter-Pulo Gebang-Tambelang/25.73 km/Rp7.377 trillion
14. Duri Pulo-Kampung Melayu/11.38 km/Rp5.960 trillion
15. Terusan Pasteur-Ujung Berung-Cileunyi-Gede Bage

Potential Projects include

1. Pekanbaru-Kandis-Dumai/135 km/Rp8.446 trillion
2. Manado-Bitung/46 km/Rp5.612 trillion
3. Kisaran-Tebing Tinggi/60 km/Rp5.280 trillion
4. Bukit Tinggi-Padang Panjang-Lubuk Alung-Padang/55 km/Rp10.230 trillion
5. Terbanggi Besar-Menggala-Pematang Panggang/100 km/Rp5.780 trillion
6. Bakauheni-Terbanggi Besar/100 km/Rp8.2 trillion
7. Cilegon-Bojonegara/15.69 km/Rp920 billion
8. Kamal-Teluk Naga-Batu Ceper/32 km/Rp3.590 trillion
9. Gede Bage-Majalaya/12.75 km/Rp900 billion
10. Semarang-Demak/23.99 km/Rp2.960 trillion
11. Yogyakarta-Bawen/104 km/Rp6.085 trillion
12. Yogyakarta-Solo (Central Java)/40.49 km/Rp2.330 trillion
13. Bandara Juanda-Tanjung Perak (East Java)/23 km/Rp5.03 trillion
14. Probolinggo-Banyuwangi (East Java)/170.36 km/Rp8 trillion
15. Batu Ampar-Muka Kuning-Bandara Hang Nadim (Batam- Riau Islands)/25 km/Rp2.2 trillion

KARTIKA CHANDRA

Taiwanese Groups Commit to Big Indonesian Projects

Jakarta Globe, Arti Ekawati, April 15, 2010

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, UN official Noeleen Heyzer, center, and Coordinating Minister for the Economy Hatta Rajasa at an infrastructure conference in Jakarta on Thursday. (Antara Photo/Pandu Dewantara)

Two Taiwanese companies plan to invest billions of dollars in Indonesia’s petrochemical and biofuel industries, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Hatta Rajasa said on Thursday.

He said that Taiwan-based oil and gas firm CPC Corporation planned to build a $2.8 billion petrochemical center in Kalimantan, adding that the company had yet to decide exactly where to establish the project.

“They’re looking for the perfect location for the petrochemical center,” Hatta told reporters on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Public Private Partnerships for Infrastructure Development 2010.

He said CPC chose Kalimantan because of the availability of raw materials for the petrochemical project and the rapid development in the region.

He added that CPC planned to team up with a local partner, whether a private company or state-owned enterprise such as oil and gas company PT Pertamina, to develop the project. Teaming up with Pertamina would help ensure the supply of the necessary raw materials.

Hatta said that another Taiwanese company is seeking to develop a jatropha plantation to produce biofuel. He said the company has already obtained the necessary license from the local administration to develop a 100,000 hectare jatropha plantation in East Kalimantan. He did not disclose the name of the company nor the size of the planned investment.

Hatta said the Taiwanese investor asked the government to make the plantation area a special economic zone (SEZ), which among other benefits would allow the investor to be exempted from paying duties and taxes when importing equipment and raw materials.

He added that several investors from Japan, South Korea and China had also asked for similar treatment before investing in various business sectors in Indonesia.

“Many investors have expressed an interest in developing businesses here under the SEZ system,” he said.

He said the requests were in line with the government’s plan to develop several SEZs. For instance, the SEZ in East Kalimantan would be focussed on energy-related industries such as biofuels and petrochemicals.

Meanwhile, the SEZ in Sumatra will focus on oleo-chemicals as the region has vast palm oil plantations.

Related Article:

Summit on Infrastructure Investment Offers Opportunities and Frustrations

OPIC signs new investment agreement with Indonesia

Antara News, Thursday, April 15, 2010 17:04 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The ability of American companies to invest in Indonesia - the world`s fourth most-populous country - through the support of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) was improved in Wednesday by the conclusion of an agreement between the two countries.

A US Embassy media release made available to Antara on Thursday said OPIC Acting President Lawrence Spinelli and Gita Wirjawan, Chairman of Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board, signed on April 13 the investment support agreement at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. attended by Indonesian Vice President Boediono.

The new agreement updates a 1967 pact between the United States and Indonesia by adding OPIC products such as direct loans, coinsurance and reinsurance to the means of OPIC support which U.S. companies may use to invest in Indonesia.

Noting the importance of developing a "mutually-advantageous economic relationship" between the two countries, the agreement affirms "a common desire to encourage economic activities in the Republic of Indonesia that promote the development of the economic resources" of Indonesia.

"Indonesia offers a large and dynamic market for U.S. investment, which in turn will support Indonesia`s economic growth, a prospect that is only improved by the conclusion of today`s agreement," said r. Spinelli.

"We look forward to working closely with both U.S. and Indonesian companies to facilitate new levels of investment in Indonesia," he added.

Spinelli noted that over its 39-year history OPIC had committed more than $2.1 billion in financing and political risk insurance to 110 projects in Indonesia.

Currently, OPIC is providing more than $94 million in support to six projects in Indonesia, in the energy, manufacturing and services sectors.

OPIC was established as an agency of the U.S. government in 1971.

It helps U.S. businesses invest overseas, fosters economic development in new and emerging markets, complements the private sector in managing risks associated with foreign direct investment, and supports U.S. foreign policy.

Because OPIC charges market-based fees for its products, it operates on a self-sustaining basis at no net cost to taxpayers.

OPIC`s political risk insurance and financing help U.S. businesses of all sizes invest in more than 150 emerging markets and developing nations worldwide.

Over the agency`s 38-year history, OPIC has supported $188 billion worth of investments that have helped developing countries to generate over 830,000 host-country jobs. OPIC projects have also generated $72 billion in U.S. exports and supported more than 273,000 American jobs.

Demand for offices up 40% as businesses begin to expand

Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 04/15/2010 10:42 AM

The demand for office space in Jakarta continues to expand, as companies begin to carry out expansion programs and resume delayed projects, property consulting company Jones Lang LaSalle says.

The Chicago-based property consulting firm on Wednesday said the demand for rented office space in the capital had jumped 40 percent in the first quarter of this year to 30,000 sq meters, from the level in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Jones Lang LaSalle Indonesia chief researcher Anton Sitorus estimated demand to double to 200,000 sq meters this year from about 100,000 sq meters in 2009.

“We expect growth will be even higher in next quarters,” he said in a press briefing.

The property consultancy also revealed that during the January-March period in 2010, demand for offices in prime areas was higher as most tenants preferred to lease offices in grade-A areas such as the central business district (CBD) area of Sudirman-Thamrin rather than non-CBD locations.

“Most tenants preferred to lease grade A office buildings during the first quarter,” he said. According to the company’s data, the average rent on office space in the CBD was Rp 133,030 per sq meter per month, slightly higher than the Rp 100,647 for spaces in non-CBD areas.

Although the growth in demand would continue until the end of this year, Anton expected most landlords would maintain their leasing rates to attract more tenants.

“There are around 3.9 million sq meters of vacant office space in the CBD, while in non-CBD areas there is about 1.36 million sq meters. This means tenants still have many options to choose from”, Jones Lang LaSalle strategic consulting chief Vivian Harsanto said.

However, she said if electricity rates and fuel prices were increased 15 percent this year, the increase would also affect the rental rates.

Besides rental offices, the sale of condominiums also recorded a significant increase in the January-March period, the company said. “About 780 condominiums were sold in the first quarter of this year, or a 50 percent increase from 500 units in the forth quarter of last year,” Anton said.

“We estimate about 4,500 condominiums will be sold this year, rising from 2,500 units in a year earlier,” Anton said.

He contributed the sharp growth in the condominium sales to the low borrowing rates.

The prices are also expected to remain stable because many of the existing condominiums are still unoccupied, he added.

100 public-private partnership projects worth $47 billion to be offered

Aditya Suharmoko, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 04/15/2010 1:13 PM

Indonesia offers 100 public-private partnership (PPP) projects worth US$47.3 billion in the 2010-2014 period, according to the latest PPP book published by the National Development Planning Agency.

The PPP book is launched in line with the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on PPP for Infrastructure Development 2010 held in Kemayoran, Jakarta, from April 14-17.

Projects that are ready to offer worth $36 million are from the marine transportation sector, while priority projects worth $8.33 billion cover toll roads, water supply and solid waste and sanitation.

Potential projects worth $38.93 billion include air transportation, land transportation, marine transportation, railways, toll roads, water supply, solid waste and sanitation, and power.

Forum kicks off, $5b worth of projects on offer

Aditya Suharmoko, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 04/15/2010 9:37 AM

Asia’s premier infrastructure forum, Infrastructure Asia 2010, kicked off in Jakarta on Wednesday with the host country, Indonesia, showcasing projects worth US$5 billion under its public-private partnership (PPP) scheme.

Among the high-profile projects offered is the 10,000 kilometer beneath-the-sea fiber optic cable that will connect Papua with the rest of the country’s broadband telecommunications network.

Indonesia is also offering another project that will directly link the country’s broadband network to Australia.

The projects are estimated to cost Rp 5.5 trillion (US$610.5 million) and up to Rp 2 trillion respectively.

Communications and Information m Technology Minister Tifatul Sembiring said the broadband connection to Papua would be the final phase of an ambitious project to connect all the telecommunication hubs in the country through a 50,000-kilometer-long fiber-optic cable.

“We just managed to build up to Sulawesi,” he said, adding that Papua is the only major island that has yet to have a fiber-optic cable broadband connection.

Now state telecommunications firm PT Telkom is building 1,500 kilometers of fiber-optic cables connecting Mataram and Kupang worth Rp 800 billion, he said.

Tifatul said the broadband connection to Australia would stretch from Kupang in East Nusa Tenggara to Darwin in Australia’s Northern Territory. The connection will serve as an alternative route to connect to the global telecommunications network.

“Now the only one we have is Jakarta-Singapore-Taiwan-US. If it breaks down we lose all connections,” he said.

The planned Kupang-Darwin connection, he said, “may cost Rp 1 trillion to Rp 2 trillion,” adding that Australian firms will likely be interested in the project.

Tifatul expects that when the broadband projects are completed in 2012 Internet connections will be faster and more reliable answering complaints addressed by users that internet connections in Indonesia are often slow.

He also said the ministry aims to raise the number of mobile phone users to 100 percent of Indonesia’s 230 million population. “Now we have 130 million users,” he said.

In the exhibition, other infrastructure projects offered for this year include those in transportations, roads, ports, airports, energy and housing.

Projects include 2x1,000-megawatt coal-fired power plants in Pemalang, Central Java, which would require between $2.6 and $3.0 billion in investment; coal-transporters and a railway in Central Kalimantan connecting Purukcahu and Bangkuang, requiring between $1 and $1.2 billion; a waste-management power plant in Bandung, West Java, costing $120 to $150 million; and a water supply project in Umbulan, East Java, requiring between $300 and $400 million, to provide water to cities including Sidoarjo, Pasuruan, Surabaya and Gresik.

The Infrastructure Asia exhibition, held at the Jakarta International Expo in Kemayoran, Jakarta, is supported by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) in association with the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

The exhibition is held in conjunction with the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on PPPs for infrastructure development, where President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to deliver a speech today.

The conference is expected to result in a joint declaration on infrastructure development by all the attending ministers.

US Embassy Makes Indonesians Go Online for Visa Applications

Jakarta Globe, Putri Prameshwari, April 14, 2010

The United States Embassy in Jakarta will adopt a greener approach to visa applications by going paperless next month, an official said Wednesday.

Jeffrey Tunis, consul general of the embassy in Jakarta, said that starting May 1, all visa applications must be submitted online instead of printed out and brought to the embassy.

“We have entered the Internet age,” he said, adding that the application process will be easier if done online.

The new form, DS 160, will be available to download on the embassy’s Web site, he said. After filing online, applicants must wait for approval from the consular office for an interview.

Robert Hawkins, the embassy’s vice consul, warned people to be aware of illegal agents offering quick visas. He said they often tricked applicants into using forged documents, which in the end were not approved.

“Around 5 percent of applicants are still caught using false documents,” he said, adding that the embassy approves an average of 60,000 applications per year.

Of that number, 40,000 are for business and tourism purposes, 8,000 are for seamen, and 2,000 for students.

He also said that approximately 80 percent of those applying for business and tourism visas here are granted entrance to the United States.

Tunis said that the number had been decreasing since Sept. 11, 2001, with a further downturn during the global financial crisis beginning in 2008.

“We used to get around 80,000 before that,” he said, “nowadays, people don’t travel as much.”

He said that the process of getting a visa is more complicated since the attack on the World Trade Center in New York. However, he encouraged more Indonesians to apply.

“If an applicant has all the required documents, the application should not take longer than two days,” he said.

Tunis also said that people with certain Muslim names should not worry about being denied a visa, as many fear.

“All names will be scanned with our database,” he said.

However, he said, people with certain names will go through additional scanning.

Related Article:

Visa application declined? Too bad

Panasonic to move audio digital factory from China to Indonesia

Antara News, Wednesday, April 14, 2010 14:26 WIB, Economic & Business

Jakarta (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Japan's electronic giant Panasonic Corp. (TSE: 6752) plans to move its audio digital factory from China to Indonesia this year.

Labor costs in China are no longer competitive, says Rinaldi Sjarif, the vice president of Panasonic's Indonesian unit, PT Panasonic Gobel Indonesia.

The principal has decided to move its production operation from China to Indonesia as production costs are cheaper in the country, Rinaldi said.

Source:
Business in Asia Today - Apr. 14, 2010
published by Asia Pulse

News Focus: Maluku to show economic potentials through `investment Day`

Antara News, by Bustanuddin, Tuesday, April 13, 2010 06:10 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - In its first-ever effort to attract investment to develop its marine-resource-rich territory, Maluku`s provincial administration is to stage a "Maluku Investment Day."

The event will take place in Jakarta on April 15-16 and is expected to be attended by around 150 entrepreneurs.

Maluku Investment Day will be held as part of Maluku`s efforts to speed up economic development in the province that has nine districts and two city administrations, Maluku Governor Karel Albert Ralahalu said.

The governor made the statement at a meeting with Antara`s editorial board members here on Monday.

Ralahalu, who was on the occasion accompanied by head of the Maluku provincial Investment Coordinating Board, Rahman Soumena, said the event was intended to introduce Maluku`s marine tourism potentials to the international community, and to convince them that the province was really safe for tourists and investors.

The Maluku provincial administration in cooperation with state-owned PT Bank Mandiri had made the necessary preparations for the Investment Day prior to the international marine event "Sail Banda" which will take place in Ambon city, Maluku`s provincial capital.

The Sail Banda, which will be participated in by some 200 foreign participants, will take place from July to August 2010, Governor Ralahalu said.

In addition, head of the Maluku Investment Coordinating Board (BKPMD), A Rachman Soumena said Maluku wished to raise its economic growth from the current 6.3 percent to 8.35 percent in 2013 if the province can earn about Rp1.8 trillion of income per year.

Speaking in Ambon last Feb 17, Soemena said entrepreneurs would be invited to attend an expose of Maluku`s economic potentials, especially its marine biodiversity, oil/gas and mineral resources.

The province`s potentials would be enumerated and elaborated on by the heads of Maluku`s 11 districts/cities , Soumena said, adding that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Vice President Boediono, several ministers, 30 Bank Mandiri customers, the chiefs of state-owned national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia and Merpati and all ranking administration officials of Maluku and North Maluku were expected to attend the investment expose.

In addition, the ministers of finance, maritime resources and fisheries , culture and tourism , coordinating minister for economic affairs, the ministers of state enterprises (BUMN), national development planning would also be invited, Soumena said.

Academics from Pattimura University (Unpatti), Ambon, and Sultan Hairun University (Unhair), Ternate, North Maluku, officials of state oil and gas company PT Pertamina, representatives of state electricity company PT PLN, state telecommunications company PT Telkom, and airport operators (Angkasa Pura) in Maluku would also be invited.

"If any of the investors on the occasion wishes to invest in one of the districts in Maluku or North Maluku, they can immediately sign a deal with the district chief concerned," Soumena said.

The Investment Day would also be part of the central government`s policy to carry out Sail Banda, Maluku Vice Governor Said Assegaf disclosed, adding that the meeting and an exhibition was aimed to improve the relations between the provincial government, district and city administrations to promote the regional investment potentials.

In the meantime, head of Bank Mandiri`s regional office, Edhi Chrystanto, said his office had also organized Papua Investment Day in Jakarta some time ago, to expand its market segment in eastern Indonesia.

He expressed hope that the Maluku Investment Day can attract investors in the exploration and exploitation of natural resources particularly marine biodiversity as well as oil and minerals.

Maluku as one of the oldest provinces in Indonesia, is known to have socio-cultural diversity and abundant natural resources.

The province, located in eastern Indonesia, has 1,027 islands, thus it is popularly called the `Thousand Islands` province with its capital, Ambon.

The larger islands include Seram (1,862,500 Ha), Halmahera (1,800,000 Ha), Buru (900,00 Ha), Yamdena (805,800 Ha), Obi (370,000 Ha), Wetar (362,400 Ha) and Morotai (180,000 Ha).

Apart from the natural tourist attractions, visitors can also come to Fort Amsterdam, located on a beach.

In addition to the panoramic beauty of the beach, the fort was witness of the foreign occupation of Maluku.

Spokesman for the Ambon branch of Bank Indonesia (Central Bank)Totok Hermianto said in Ambon that Bank Indonesia and a number of other banks such as Bank BRI, Bank Central Asia (BCA), and Bank BNI will also provide services for financial transactions in Banda to support the event."

Totok said that he had discussed the event with the leaders of the banks operating in Ambon, and they agreed to open banking service counters in Banda.

"Foreign tourists visiting Banda, as well as the participants of Sail Banda 2010 will find it easy to make financial transactions following the opening of the banking service counters in Banda during the international event," Totok said.

Totok expressed hope that the promotion of Sail Banda would be intensified in order to have a good impact on Maluku`s economic development.

Meanwhile, Transportation Director General of the Ministry Air Transportation Herry Bakti said his office was ready to support the Sail Banda.

The most important thing is to prepare reliable telephone and Internet infrastructure, as this will facilitate communications and telecommunications so that people will not all have to gather in Ambon if they want to promote Banda," he said.

Meanwhile, General Manager of state-owned airport managing company, PT Angkasa Pura I of Pattimura airport branch office, Gerits Mailesun said that several airline companies such as Lion Air, Batavia Air, Sriwijaya and Wings have expressed readiness to provide excellent services to the participants of the international maritime events.

In an effort to attract more investors to invest in the province, Soumena said the provincial government would set up a so-called "One-Stop Service" for would-be investors.

China to build electric bicycle factory in East Kalimantan

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 04/13/2010 7:08 PM

Chinese electric bicycle producer Zhejiang LVJIA Vehicle Industry Co. Ltd has planned to build a factory in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.

East Kalimantan Governor Awang Faroek Ishak said Tuesday after signing a memorandum of understanding together with Zhejiang manager Taizhou Zhejiang that his province had allocated 50 hectares of land for the factory construction.

"The electric bicycle is without fuel, it fits East Kalimantan Green program," he said as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

The electric bicycle would be sold at US$600 a unit

Indonesia takes U.S. to WTO over clove cigarette ban

Reuters, Jonathan Lynn, GENEVA, Mon Apr 12, 2010 12:15pm EDT

(Reuters) - Indonesia is launching a formal dispute at the World Trade Organization (WTO) against the United States over a U.S. ban on clove-flavored cigarettes, an official at Indonesia's WTO mission said on Monday.

Like many trade disputes, this one involves health standards and whether they are being abused for protectionist purposes. It centers on the clove and tobacco blends known as kretek that dominate the tobacco market in Indonesia but are little smoked outside the southeast Asian country.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned cigarettes with fruit, confectionery or clove flavors in September last year, arguing that such cigarettes were particularly attractive to children.

But the U.S. ban does not include menthol-flavored cigarettes that are widely produced in the United States and smoked by about 19 million Americans.

Indonesia argues this discriminates against foreign producers of flavored tobacco to help domestic manufacturers.

"They have to prove that menthol doesn't have a bad impact," said the official, who asked not to be identified.

MENTHOL YES, CLOVES NO

U.S. tobacco companies told the Food and Drug Administration on March 31 that adding menthol did not make cigarettes more harmful or addictive.

Under WTO rules, the two countries now have 60 days to resolve their differences through consultations, otherwise Indonesia can ask the WTO to create a panel of experts to rule on the issue.

The case is only the fifth brought by Indonesia, the world's 21st biggest exporter, at the WTO.

Kretek cigarettes account for the bulk of tobacco consumption in Indonesia, the world's fifth biggest tobacco market, although unflavored or "white" sticks are gaining in popularity.

Indonesian exports of cigarettes and cigars totaled $357.8 million in 2008, the last year for which data is available.

Only a relatively small number of kretek cigarettes is exported, and anecdotally they are coveted by young people in the United States who see them as an alternative to more conventional brands.

Foreign tobacco producers, keen to gain a bigger share of expanding markets for cigarettes in emerging economies, have been buying up Indonesian manufacturers to acquire kretek brands and expertise and build on the potential for white stick sales.

In June last year the world's number two cigarette maker British American Tobacco bought an 85 percent stake in Indonesia's fourth largest cigarette maker by volume, PT Bentoel Internasional Investama.

Philip Morris International acquired the majority of Hanjaya Mandala Sampoerna in 2005.

Other Indonesian manufacturers include Gudang Garam and unlisted conglomerate Djarum.

Supervising the consultations with Indonesia will be one of the first tasks of the new U.S. ambassador to the WTO, Michael Punke, whose Senate confirmation was held up for six months by a Republican senator from the tobacco-growing state of Kentucky.

Senator Jim Bunning wanted President Barack Obama's administration to challenge Canadian anti-smoking legislation -- including a ban on flavored tobaccos -- that he said hurt his state. Obama finally put Punke into office at the end of March with a recess appointment.

(Editing by Michael Roddy)

Bengkulu closed to new plantations

Antara News, Sunday, April 11, 2010 20:02 WIB

Bengkulu (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) said Bengkulu province was now closed to new big-scale plantations because there was no longer land space available.

"Bengkulu province, with 1.9 million hectares of land, 900 thousand hectares of forest and a population number of 1.7 million, is now running short of land spaces," Walhi`s campaign affairs coordinator for Bengkulu, Firmansyah said here over the weekend.

Firmansyah said that with a population of 1.7 million, Bengkulu could not share one hectare for each of its people. This condition makes Bengkulu unable to open more land for new big plantations if it does not want to remove its own locals.

However, the local government of Kaur district is planning to provide 14,400 hectares to a new oil palm plantation company, PT Desaria Plantation Mining.

"This is threatening the existence of the locals in eight subdistricts of Kaur district," Firmansyah said.

Indonesia sending arts troupe to Turkey

Antara News, Sunday, April 11, 2010 15:33 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia is sending an arts troupe to Turkey to take part in an arts event in that country, an official of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (Kemenbudpar) said.

"We are facilitating the dispatch to Turkey of an arts troupe which is composed of students from the Al-Ikhlas junior high school. They will take part in the 3rd International Children Festival in Fethiye," Noviendi Makalam, secretary of the marketing director general of the Kemenbudpar said here over the weekend.

The Indonesian arts troupe which is composed of 24 students from the Al Ikhlas school, will perform in the art events in Fethiye city, South Turkey on April 21 - 28, 2010.

They will among others perform five traditional dances, the pendet dance of Bali, piring dance of West Sumatra, satrio watang dance of Central Java and the pukat and kipah dances of Aceh.

PT PI II and PP to spend Rp 1.2t on new port

Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 04/09/2010 7:02 PM

State seaport operator PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (PI) II, in cooperation with state housing developer PT Pembangunan Perumahan (PP), will begin the construction of a new port in Kalibaru, North, Jakarta, in the third quarter.

The port and all necessary supporting infrastructure will require Rp 1.2 trillion (US$133,000,000) in investment, and its construction is expected to conclude next year.

“We are still discussing stake ownership, however PT PI will own the majority of the stake, probably more than 50 percent,” PT PI II president director R.J Lino said in Jakarta on Friday.

PT PP president director Musyanif said that it would only take 20 percent of the total stake ownership in the joint venture, saying it still had many investment plans in other infrastructure sectors such as toll roads and power plants.

Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) Step Up Their Fight Against Corruption with Joint Sanction Accord

Asian Development Bank, 9 April 2010

LUXEMBOURG - Taking a major step in the global fight against fraud and corruption, leading Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) today signed an agreement to cross debar firms and individuals found to have engaged in wrongdoing in MDB-financed development projects.

The new accord, which applies to debarments that exceed one year, includes: the African Development Bank Group, the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Inter-American Development Bank Group, and the World Bank Group. Sanctions by MDBs typically include reprimand, conditions on future contracting, or debarment -declaring a company or individual ineligible to participate in any future activities it finances, either for a period of time or permanently. Public debarment, which carries with it both financial and reputational risks, is considered a major deterrent to wrongdoing. Under the new agreement, entities debarred by one MDB may be sanctioned for the same misconduct by other participating development banks.

Read the full news release.

Plantation firms to produce biodiesel for Pertamina

Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Fri, 04/09/2010 10:53 AM

Renewable energy: State-owned oil-and-gas company PT Pertamina president director Karen Agustiawan (right) talks to state-owned electricity company PT PLN president director Dahlan Iskan (left) while State-Owned Enterprises Minister Mustafa Abubakar listens at the ministry, on Thursday. The companies signed two separate MoUs with state-owned plantation companies PTPN and PT Rajawali Nusantara Indonesia and state-owned forestry firm PT Perhutani on renewable energy. JP/P.J. Leo

Three state plantation firms – PT Perkebunan Nusantara (PTPN) III, IV and V — will begin the construction of three biodiesel plants in Dumai, Riau province, before the second half of the year starts.

The three plants are expected to absorb Rp 400 billion in total investment.

“The plants will be finished in the next 18 months. In 2012 the plants will start producing biodiesel,” PTPN IV president director Dahlan Harahap said on the sidelines of the signing of an MoU between the three firms with state oil and gas producer PT Pertamina on Thursday.

Pertamina has agreed to purchase the biodiesel from the plants and to prepare a storage facility for the biodiesel at the port in Dumai.

Dahlan said each of the plants has a capacity to process 100,000 tons of oil palm fruit bunches (TBS) annually. The capacity is expected to be doubled by 2014.

“If the demand keeps increasing, the capacity may jump to 1 million tons of TBS every year,” he said.

Dahlan said about 30 percent of the investment needed to construct the plants would come from the companies’ internal cash flow and the rest from bank loans.

Biofuel is currently being sold to retail customers. In 2008, Pertamina had 279 petrol stations selling biofuel while PLN has also used biofuel to help power nine of its power stations. These nine stations have a total capacity of 96 megawatts (MW).

Currently Indonesia has produced two types of biofuel: bioethanol — made from cassava, sugarcane and sweet sorghum, and biodiesel — made from castor, crude palm oil and jatropha.

By 2015, Indonesia plans to have 10 million hectares of palm oil plantations, up from 7.9 million today.

According to studies by state plantation companies, there are 44 million hectares of land in the country ideal for palm oil plantation. Using conservative yield estimates, this area of oil palm plantation could produce 145 billion liters per year of biodiesel, or 10 percent of current fossil diesel demand.

Besides planning to produce biodiesel, the state plantation firms also plan to produce electricity from biomass-generated power plants and sell it to state electricity company PT PLN.

To produce electricity power in the CPO factories, one factory will require between Rp 30 billion and Rp 40 billion in investment. Dahlan said PTPN IV currently operates 50 factories, with each one potentially able to generate 3 MW of power from biomass, mostly from the Empty Fruit Bunches (EFB) and any other available biomass waste.

PLN will be obtaining electric power from CPO plantations from power generated from biomass (EFBs) while Pertamina will obtain biofuel processed from the CPO itself.

“At the present, only two factories are ready to produce 6 MW in total of electricity power,” he said.

CPO is playing an increasingly important role in Indonesia today with the demand for the product increasing which not only for food consumption and other uses but also as an energy supply crop.

The Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association (GAPKI), consists of about 370 CPO producer firms making use of about 2.4 million hectares of oil palm plantations. They, along with many smaller farmers, are aiming to produce at least 25 million tons of CPO this year, up by 25 percent from last year’s production target of 20 million tons.

Related Article:

KPK to Investigate Indonesian State Energy Bribe Case