Nissan to Double Car Production in Indonesia by 2013

Bloomberg, By Aloysius Unditu and Yoga Rusmana, June 29, 2010, 3:37 AM EDT

June 29 (Bloomberg) -- Nissan Motor Co., Japan’s third largest automaker, plans to invest $20 million at a plant in Indonesia to double production in the country as economic growth spurs demand for cars.

The investment will allow Nissan to double capacity in Indonesia to 100,000 vehicles a year by 2013, the company said in a statement today. Sales that year may more than quadruple to 90,000 vehicles from 21,440 in 2009, it said.

“We are going to invest a lot in Indonesia,” Nissan’s Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn said at a press conference in Jakarta today. “I am personally very optimistic about the prospects of the economy and the car industry in Indonesia.”

Nissan is also considering Indonesia as an export base, Ghosn said. The company will establish a research and development center in the country next year for market research, vehicle assessment and quality control, the statement said.

Widening labor unrest has forced auto parts makers to raise wages in China, increasing production costs for Nissan, Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. A shrinking supply of low-cost labor in the world’s largest auto market is increasing workers’ bargaining power.

Nissan fell 1.9 percent to close at 629 yen today in Tokyo trading, compared with a 1.3 percent drop in the benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average. The stock declined for a sixth straight day, the longest streak since November.

--Editors: Terje Langeland, Ian Rowley

To contact the reporter on this story: Aloysius Unditu in Jakarta at aunditu@bloomberg.net; Yoga Rusmana in Jakarta at yrusmana@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Greg Ahlstrand at gahlstrand@bloomberg.net

RI, Turkey agree to increase bilateral trade

Antara News, Tuesday, June 29, 2010 21:58 WIB

Ankara (ANTARA News) - Indonesia and Turkey agreed to step up their bilateral trade from its current value at US$2.1 billion to US$5 billion over the next few years.

Turkish president Abdullah Gul and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono made the statement in a press conference after meeting at the Turkish presidential palace here on Tuesday.

"Indonesia is not only a country with majority Moslem population but also a country which is rich in natural resources and economic potentials. I even believe the US$5 billion target could grow to US$10 billion," President Gul said.

He said that would be possible because of the Turkish characteristics which are similar to those of Indonesians and because the psychological relationship between the two nations was of very long standing.

President Gul said now a Turkish airline had also opened a flight service between Jakarta and Istanbul enabling Asian people to go to Europe and vice versa.

President Gull said visa cooperation between the two countries cooperation would be stepped up to become a free visa cooperation to promote visits between the two countries.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono meanwhile said he believed the US$5 billion trade target would be achieved in view of the current economic relations between the two countries.

"We are also inviting investors from Turkey to invest in various sectors such as geothermal energy, trade, economy and others," he said.

President Yudhoyono said the eight agreements that had been signed would open a new chapter in the relations between the two countries.

"Let us open a new chapter in the relations that keep increasing," he said.

President Gul said "President Yudhoyono`s visit to Turkey would not be merely symbolic but was very important."

After the meeting the two leaders witnessed the signing of cooperation documents in the fields of politics, defense industry, small and medium businesses, joint programs to increase investment and in news exchange bewteen state television station TVRI and Tukish television.

RI, Canada expand ties beyond G20

Lilian Budianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 06/29/2010 10:25 AM

The rise of a resilient Asia in the face of the global economic downturn has brought many major countries knocking on Indonesia’s door in recent years, including the US, China and Canada.

Ties between Indonesia and Canada are largely underpinned by economic contacts, but Canadian Ambassador to Indonesia Mackenzie Clugston said recently in an interview that both countries had expanded relations beyond the economy along with the rise of Indonesia as a democracy.

“Our principle interest in Indonesia is that it is a major G20 country, geographically speaking it is one of the largest countries in the world, it occupies a strategic area in Southeast Asia, it is a democratic, multicultural and multi-religious society, it plays an increasingly [important] role,” he said.

Canada will celebrate Canada Day on July 1.

Clugston said Canada had poured a significant amount of development grants into Indonesia

through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). Ottawa has disbursed US$79.39 million in grants from 2008-2009 for sustainable economic growth programs.

Relations between the two G20 members has received more attention as Toronto hosted the G20 summit last weekend.

Clugston said Jakarta and Ottawa were studying the possibility of forging a comprehensive partnership.

“There idea is there but I think we want to be sure that we can deliver on all commitments before we enter into the partnership. We want to make sure that it is not just a piece of paper.”

On the bilateral front, Clugston said future cooperation would have to include expansion of economic ties, security areas, a higher level of dialog or cooperation on development and education.

Indonesia has increasingly made its presence felt to the West after the 1998 reforms that ended 32 years of dictatorship under Soeharto. Indonesia is home to the largest Muslim population in the world and is the third-largest democracy.

Indonesia has also spearheaded democracy enhancement in Southeast Asia as major countries in the region face challenges in improving their democratic institutions.

Clugston said Canada’s foreign policy toward Asia largely focused on China and India but Indonesia was also a major point of attention because it was at the center of ASEAN. Also, Indonesia will chair ASEAN next year and is expected to focus attention on democracy, human rights and other economic and security issues as well.

“Indonesia can play a leadership role in promoting human rights in the region,” he said.

Although ASEAN has seen its status rise along with the rest of Asia, the ASEAN’s role in the G20 was questioned when Ottawa did not immediately extended an invitation to the grouping.

ASEAN’s secretary-general and chair were invited to previous G20 summits. Clugston said Canada did not mean to exclude ASEAN representatives to the biannual meeting.

“Prime Minister [Stephen Harper] was determined that the G20 would be a small group of people. His concern in Pittsburgh was that there were around 45 or 50 people around the table and it was too large a group to develop a consensus. We are not excluding ASEAN, the African Union or other groups, but we want to look at a model of small decision making, what size is optimum,” he said.

Obama Offers Cooperation On Education, Environment

Jakarta Globe, June 28, 2010

Toronto. US President Barack Obama has offered to cooperate with Indonesia on education and climate change as part of a strategic partnership between the two countries.

Obama made the offer during a meeting on Sunday morning with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Toronto.

“Together we will discuss developing a study on climate change issues in Indonesia and ways to make it beneficial not only to Indonesia but also to the global region,” Obama said.

Obama also offered Indonesia an education partnership valued at $160 million.

“The meeting this morning is possible because the friendship between Indonesia and United States is strong and we want to make it even stronger,” Obama said, expressing his gratitude to Yudhoyono for the high level of cooperation.

Yudhoyono said Indonesia and the United States wanted to develop a comprehensive cooperation “to face the challenges of the 21st century.”

“The challenges include global economic development and the climate change issue,” he said, adding that dynamic relations between Indonesia and the United States had already made an important contribution to the region and world at large.

Obama opened the meeting by saying “ selamat pagi, ” or “good morning,” to Yudhoyono. He went on to say that the Indonesian leader was an important and influential figure in efforts to overcome the challenges of climate change.

The US president acknowledged that he had twice postponed visits to Indonesia, but promised he would make it to the country where he spent part of his childhood. However, he did not offer a specific date.

On Saturday, Yudhoyono met with Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral ties between the countries.

Yudhoyono’s next port of call is Ankara, Turkey, for a state visit, the first in 25 years.

In Ankara, Yudhoyono will hold meetings with Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He will also deliver a speech before the Turkish Parliament and attend an Indonesia-Turkey business forum.

He will round out his international tour with a minor pilgrimage to Mecca.

Chinese Eye $50b Stake in Indonesia

Agencies & Jakarta Globe, June 28, 2010

China is claiming it wants to boost investment in and trade with Indonesia to $50 billion by 2014.

China is pledging to increase its direct investment in Indonesia, specifically in infrastructure, and to boost trade between the countries so that together the value reaches $50 billion by 2014, the top economics minister has said.

That figure would dwarf current levels of investment: the Trade Ministry in April estimated investment from China at only $265.5 million over the past four years, mainly in infrastructure, and two-way trade at $25.5 billion in 2009.

Hatta Rajasa, coordinating minister for the economy, reported that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and a number of his economics ministers met Chinese President Hu Jintao on the sidelines of the Group of 20 meeting in Toronto over the weekend, and discussed a plan to improve strategic economic and trade partnerships, alongside deepening defense cooperation and international affairs under the framework of the United Nations and the G-20 economies.

Yudhoyono said: “As we know, cooperation and relations between Indonesia and China have been very good and continue to develop. We hope the strategic partnership as well as cooperation and friendship will grow further.”

The two countries have a good relationship, the president said, expressing hope the meeting would help reinforce that. “China is an important partner and a good friend of Indonesia. We hope the cooperation will continue,” he said. “I want to hear anything we can do [to build it] in the future.”

Indonesia’s $514 billion economy needs over $200 billion in investment each year, much of it going toward overhauling its ailing infrastructure. The government hopes 70 percent of infrastructure development in the next five years will be financed and carried out by the private sector. Thus, the government plans to continue to encourage cooperation with private parties, Yudhoyono said.

Xinhua news agency reported Hu said China attached much importance to boosting its strategic partnership with Indonesia. He specifically supported Chinese companies taking part in major infrastructure development projects in Indonesia.

However, China’s investments seldom come without conditions. Deputy Public Works Minister Hermanto Dardak said recently in Jakarta that four infrastructure projects funded with loans from China would likely be carried out fully by Chinese contractors.

“That is what the Chinese ambassador has said,” Hermanto said. “The packages will be 100 percent carried out by Chinese contractors. We are trying to ask for the involvement of local contractors in the projects.” He said his office would continue to negotiate so that local contractors could be involved in the projects.

Hu also said the two sides should maintain exchanges, welcoming Yudhoyono to visit China for the Shanghai World Expo and the expo between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Xinhua said.

Shell eyes another gas treatment project

Alfian, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 06/24/2010 10:42 AM

Shell Global Solutions (Shell GS), an oil and gas upstream technology provider and a subsidy of Royal Dutch Shell Plc., is seeking to double its presence in Indonesia by launching another gas treatment project within the next two years.

Currently, the company has secured a deal to provide gas treatment technology for state oil and gas firm PT Pertamina’s project at the Matindok gas field in Central Sulawesi.

“We expect to double our presence in the next two years. Thus we hope we can secure at least one more project in that period of time,” Shell GS’s business development director Johan Hazejager told The Jakarta Post in an interview Wednesday.

Derek Ritchie, Shell GS’s Asia Pacific upstream technology commercialization and licensing manager, said the company had been in talks with several Indonesian gas project developers.

“There are 10 opportunities we are pursuing now. These [deals] are in different stages,” Ritchie said without giving details of the projects’ owners or locations.

Ritchie said Shell GS provided technology for gas treatment and gas processing. Gas treatment involves the separation of gas from contaminants such as CO2 and sulphur.

Processing involves the various steps in preparing the gas for supply to customers.

“The 10 opportunities are for gas treatment, but we are also looking for opportunities for gas processing in the future,” Ritchie said.

Shell GS sells a sulphur recovery technology called Thiopaq to Pertamina for use in its Matindok project.

The company said seven Thiopaq applications were in commercial operation worldwide and 20 other units were in the start-up, construction, or design phase.

The implementation of the technology in the Matindok field is awaiting government approval for the field’s development plant.

Ritchie declined to mention exact figures on how much Pertamina was spending on the technology, but said Thiopaq usually cost less than 3 percent of the project’s total value.

Pertamina estimated that the Matindok field development would require as much as US$800 million in investment.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc., Shell GS’s parent company, has also been short listed by Pertamina as one of seven potential partners in developing the gas-rich Natuna D-Alpha block.

In Indonesia, Shell Plc. is better known for its fuel retailing business. Through its local unit, PT Shell Indonesia, the company operates 43 fuel stations.

Shell Indonesia (Shell) plans to open five more petrol stations in Jakarta and Surabaya in East Java within the next few months, the company’s executive said early this month.

Shell public management consultancy manager Esto Sunarso said that three of the stations would be in Jakarta and the other two in Surabaya.

One station will start operating on Jl. Fatmawati, South Jakarta, another two in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta, and one on Jl. Ahmad Yani, North Jakarta, this month.

The two Surabaya stations will open on Jl. Mayjen Sungkono and Jl. Ahmad Yani next month, he said.

Midea invests 2 million US dollars in Indonesia

Antara News, Thursday, June 24, 2010 09:26 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Chinese electronic company Midea Electronics invested an initial 2 million US dollars to enter the Indonesian market.

"By building a joint company, Midea is officially operating in Indonesia with an initial capital of 2 million US dollars," President Director of PT Midea Planet Indonesia (MPI) Jino Sugianto said after launching Midea Brand at Hotel Indonesia Kempinski in Jakarta on Wednesday.He said the money will be used to expand the marketing network.

He said that he became interested in entering the Indonesian market because the country has a very large population.

"Besides Indonesia is one of the three countries in the world besides China and India with the ability to revive in the recent global crisis," he said.

He also said that Indonesia has a very large market potential and a steady economic growth with the support of a favorable economic and political situation.

"This is what makes the Indonesian market very promising in our view," Jino said.

Midea Indonesia officially started operating in Indonesia on Wednesday in a joint company called PT Midea Planet Indonesia sharing 51 persen of the shares for Midea China and 49 percent for local company PT Maco Amangraha.

As an initial target, the company is aimed at Rp100 billion till the closing this year.

"In the next three years, we believe that we will enter the five biggest electronic players in Indonesia with sales reaching 30 million US dollars," he said.

He added that in the coming days he will also become interested to open a production center in Indonesia like what had been built in Vietnam, Thailand, and Belarus.

The company which was buiilt in 1968 produced household utensils like air conditioners, refrigerators, electric fans, and washing machines.

In China, the company has been successful in becoming the biggest market shareholder in electronics.

President of the International Division of Midea China John Cen said the company has the support of 17 production centers in leading industries in China and in some other countries.

"We are also supported by R & D products of the latest technology with a marketing network in more than 150 countries," he said.

Up till 2008, total assets of the company set up by He Xiangjian had reached Rp59.4 trillion from merely Rp30.4 trillion in 1993.

Total sales up to 2009 reached Rp140 trillion, and targeted to increase by 20 percent to Rp170 trillion in 2010.

In Indonesia, he has prepared 30 after sales network outlets in Sumatera, Jawa, Bali, Kalimantan, and in Sulawesi.This number would be raised to 100 outlets by the closure of 2010.

RI obtains US$ 55 million grant from global fund

Antara News, Wednesday, June 23, 2010 21:51 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Global Fund has once again provided Indonesia with a grant of US$55 million for its AIDS prevention program.

"In the first phase, the Fund will provide 55 million US dollars to be e given to three main recipients, namely the Ministry of Health, the National AIDS Commission (KPA) and the nation`s biggest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU)," Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih said here on Wednesday.

She said the grant would be provided in installments for two periods, namely 2010-2012 and 2012-2015.

Of the grant`s total amount , about 39 million US dollars would be managed by the Ministry of Health, 18 million US dollars by the National AIDS Commission (KPA) and about 2 million US dollars by NU.

The grant would primarily be used to tackle three infectious diseases, namely AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) and malaria.

Indonesia was again given the grant because it was considered successful in preventing these diseases in recent years.

Global Fund Executive Director Professor Michel Kazatchkine said Indonesia had been very successful in the use of previous grant funds. The Global Fund had witnessed Indonesia`s success in fighting the three diseases over the past eight to ten years.

Since 2002, the Global Fund has disbursed 630 million US dollars in grants to Indonesia to combat the three diseases.

The minister said of the total of amount of grants received from the Global Fund as much as 115 million US dollars were used for prevention of AIDS, 113 million US dollars for tuberculosis and 185 million US dollars for malaria.

Unilever to Boost Indonesia Spending Amid P&G Threat

Businessweek, By Jeroen Molenaar, June 23, 2010, 5:52 AM EDT

June 23 (Bloomberg) -- Unilever plans to boost the amount it spends building factories in Indonesia over the next two to three years as it adds products to fend off Procter & Gamble Co. in the world’s fourth-most-populous country.

Expenditure will “significantly increase” to about 200 million euros ($242 million), Jan Zijderveld, head of Unilever’s southeast Asian unit, said in an interview. A personal-care factory in Indonesia is among four to five plants that the maker of Dove soap aims to open in southeast Asia this year, he said.

“We’re growing fast in this part of the world,” Zijderveld said by telephone from Singapore. “Part of the challenge is to cope with this growth.”

Unilever, the world’s second-largest maker of consumer products, gets about 50 percent of its 39.8 billion euros of annual revenue from emerging markets. With P&G cutting prices in countries including China and India, the London-and Rotterdam- based company is relying on new versions of products such as a Citra body cream soap bar to keep sales growing.

“Developing markets give Unilever an edge,” said Martin Deboo, an analyst at Investec Securities in London. “If as a company you’re exposed to high growth markets, your growth is higher. That’s just simple arithmetic.”

Shares of PT Unilever Indonesia rose 2.3 percent to 17,800 rupiah in Jakarta trading, closing at the highest level in almost 19 years. Unilever NV stock in Amsterdam traded at 23.50 euros as of 11:30 local time, a 0.4 percent decline.

Price Cuts

According to a June 9 report from the World Bank, economies in developing nations will grow as much as 6.2 percent annually from 2010 to 2012, almost three times faster than high-income countries. Growth in the East Asia and Pacific region will be 8.7 percent this year and 7.8 percent in 2011, the report said.

“The world is not flat,” Zijderveld said. “It’s sloping towards Asia, so many competitors are also seeing this and coming here and doubling down.”

In India, Unilever’s home and personal-care sales rose 5.5 percent in the first quarter, lagging behind the 18 percent growth in food revenue. The maker of Rin washing powder was forced to lower prices to counter price cuts on P&G’s Tide Naturals detergent. P&G, which started selling its Tide brand in the country 41 years after Unilever introduced Rin, reported a 30 percent increase in Tide shipments in that quarter.

In Touch

“In tough economic times you have to be even more in touch with your consumer and understand what they want and need,” Deb Henretta, P&G’s group president for Asia, said by e-mail.

Pricing isn’t confined to India and has been spreading to other countries in the region, particularly in Unilever’s laundry and hair categories, according to Zijderveld.

“We will not walk away from a fight,” the executive said. “But it’s one of the weapons that we have in our arsenal and it’s not the healthiest weapon. The name of the game is to grow these markets.”

Zijderveld, who joined Unilever in 1988 and has worked in Europe and the Middle East, sends sales representatives to visit 1 million shops in his region every week to market new products from Omo detergents in Vietnam to Lifebuoy soap in Australia. Unilever gets a growing proportion of its 4 billion euros of sales in southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand from new introductions or renewed versions of brands, he said.

Old Spice

Three months after P&G introduced an Old Spice deodorant stick in Indonesia, Unilever responded with a new format of its Rexona deodorant lotion and stick, Zijderveld said.

Increased competition in southeast Asia is causing Unilever to react faster to customer needs. An anti-bacterial version of Surf washing powder was introduced in the Philippines this year, only five months after Zijderveld walked the slums of Manila and noticed some consumers were using anti-bacterial soap. Such a process used to take as long as two years, he said.

“Speed is a key difference between the developing world and the developed world,” Zijderveld said. “We build a factory in Indonesia in seven months. Everything is fast here.”

Helped by the introduction of products such as Pepsodent toothpaste in the Philippines, sales growth in Unilever’s Asia, Africa and central and eastern European division has accelerated for three consecutive quarters and rose 7.6 percent, excluding acquisitions and currency swings, in the first quarter.

Yet Unilever has also cut prices in that division for two straight quarters and may lower them another 2.5 percent in this quarter, according to a Bloomberg survey of three analysts.

“The challenge for them is to continue to compete to preserve volume growth,” said Pierre Tegner, an analyst at Oddo & Cie. in Paris. “That’s key for them.”

--With assistance from Mark Clothier in Detroit. Editors: Paul Jarvis, Chris Staiti

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeroen Molenaar in Amsterdam at jmolenaar1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Celeste Perri at cperri@bloomberg.net.

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Indonesian scientists to discuss climate change in Germany

The Jakarta Post, Antara, London | Tue, 06/22/2010 5:32 PM

Indonesian scientists and professionals will hold a conference on "Technology cooperation and economic benefit of reduction of green-house gas emissions in Indonesia", in Hamburg, on Nov. 1 and 2, 2010.

The conference would be organized jointly by the Indonesian embassy in Berlin, the Indonesian consulate general in Hamburg, the Association of Indonesian scientists and academicians and the Hamburg chapter of the Indonesian-German Association, Yayat Sugiatnya, Indonesia's acting consular general in Hamburg, told Antara in London, Tuesday.

The conference will focus on three climate change-related topics, namely renewable energy development, increased energy efficiency in the industrial sector and urban waste management to reduce greenhouse gas emission.

Some 25 scientists and professionals from Indonesia and Germany will speak in the conference also aimed at boosting research cooperation between Indonesia and Germany.

According to Yayat, Indonesia has around 28 GW geothermal energy source. Besides, the country also has renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and hydro energy which have not yet been optimally exploited.

If those energy sources could be used, it would help cut gas emission rate, he said.

He also called for active participation of Indonesian scientists and professionals in Germany to encourage transfer of technology from European countries, Germany in particular, to Indonesia.

OZ pledges cash for clean water access, sewerages

The Jakarta Post | Mon, 06/21/2010 10:04 AM

Australia plans to give A$25 million (US$21.7 million) to 29 local governments in Indonesia to increase access to clean water and expand household sewerage connections.

“The local governments are expected to provide a clean water supply service and good sanitation for their communities,” Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto said recently.

The 29 regions include Palembang in South Sumatra, Palangkaraya in Central Kalimantan, Banjarbaru in South Kalimantan, Pekalongan in Central Java, Bogor and Banjar in West Java and Malang in East Java.

Grants for sewerage connections will be provided for Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan, Surakarta in Central Java, Balikpapan in East Kalimantan, Jambi in Central Sumatra, Payakumbuh in West Sumatra, Blitar in East Java and Denpasar in Bali.

However, the funds will be made available only once the local governments have developed water pipe networks and sewerage systems.

“This disbursement is output based, and this is the first time we have ever used this kind of approach,” the minister said.

In this output-based system, recipients are required to have included clean water access and sanitation programs in their annual regional budgets.

The recipients can only get the allocated fund once they have proven that they have built pipe networks for clean water and a sewerage.

“For each of the household pipes installed, we will pay Rp 2 million [US$218],” the minister said. “And if they install more than 1,000 pipes, we will pay Rp 3 million [$328] for each additional pipe,” he added.

Australian Ambassador to Indonesia Bill Farmer said the grant was meant to improve Indonesians’ hygiene.

“The initiative will give about 480,000 Indonesians ready access to cleaner water and better sanitation, helping people to stay healthier and be more productive,” he said.

The Australian Government has provided a total of A$300 million (US$260 million) to improve clean water and sanitation programs in the Asia-Pacific region. (map)

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`Sail Banda` to cost Rp160 Billion

Antara News, Monday, June 21, 2010 01:26 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia`s annual maritime sail festivity event, `Sail Indonesia`, this time dubbed as "Sail Banda" as it will be centered in the Banda waters, Maluku province, will cost Rp160 billion.

"There is no special allocation, the total budget of the relevant ministries reached Rp160 billion," Director General for Marine Resources and Fisheries Supervision, Aji Sularso, said here on Sunday.

Of the total budget, the biggest expenditure will be made by the Ministry of Public Works which reaches up to Rp70 billion.

Meanwhile, the office of the Coordinating Minister for People`s Welfare will spend up to Rp26 billion, most of which were used for social activities.

The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (NOA) spent up to Rp11 billion for the implementation of various international seminars related to maritime affairs and fisheries.

The Maluku regional government set a budget for the event, Sail Banda, amounting to Rp12 billion.

Various activities will start early in July with an initial activity of a major operation `Surya Bakti Jaya` on July 5, Youth Marine Sail, on July 23, a sailboat race from Darwin, Australia, and the major event, the Parade, which will begin on July 24.

As many as 110 sailboats from various countries including Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and Europe, have registered for the "Rally Yatch Banda Sail." A total of 50 sail boats will go straight to Banda, the rest will sail to Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara province.

Water governance workshop in Bandung

The Jakarta Post, Sat, 06/19/2010 12:07 PM

BANDUNG: Dozens of participants are attending a five-day international workshop on water governance scheduled to be held in Bandung from Monday.

The participants, according to organizing committee member Erita K. Santosa, come from Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia. The training program is a jointly funded initiative between UNDP Cap-Net, AguaJaring, IHE Indonesia and CKNet INA.

"Improved integrity, transparency, accountability and anti-corruption regarding water leads to better decision-making and more effective and fairer management, allocation and distribution of water resources and services." - JP

President says nuclear power plant not a priority

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Bogor, West Java | Sat, 06/19/2010 11:58 AM

Despite the country's heavy dependence on fossil fuel, the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is in no hurry to construct a nuclear power generator.

Yudhoyono said Friday there was no definitive plan to set up such a power plant under his administration although there was a discussion for setting one up on the coast of Jepara in Central Java.

"Maybe the next administration will consider such a plan should there be an urgent need for an alternative energy source," he said.

Yudhoyono reiterated that construction of a nuclear power plant would require meticulous planning as any mistake would have devastating consequences.

"Looking at alternatives to fossil fuels, the administration would focus more on developing power plants fueled by geothermal energy, wind, solar and biofuels," he said.

The administration of Megawati Soekarnoputri in early 2004 had initiated the construction of a nuclear generator, which was slated for completion by 2020.

Early in his first tenure, Yudhoyono had pledged to continue with the plan and made trips to several nuclear power plant contractors in South Korea in 2006.

The government also signed a deal with South Korea, Russia and the US to supply Indonesia with uranium for peaceful purposes.

However, neighboring countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and Australia have reportedly raised concerns over the plan, saying that once Indonesia managed to construct the plant, the nation would be a step closer to producing nuclear weapons.

The government has also faced criticism from local NGOs and Greenpeace, which staged a rally in the middle of 2007 in Central Java, calling for the termination of the nuclear reactor plan.

With the power plant plans likely to be shelved indefinitely, the government has yet to prepare any serious efforts to accelerate the development of alternative energy.

Analysts have partly blamed bureaucracy problems and energy subsidies for discouraging efforts to develop alternative energy, providing no incentives to use energy in an efficient way as well as failing to make energy conservation a habit in society.

There are also restrictions on the state budget to finance other sectors, including the construction of energy infrastructure, which is a higher priority.

The government this year will spend more than US$5.8 billion on subsidizing electricity, more than half of which will go to diesel for fueling power plants.

Diesel accounts for only around 23 percent of the fuel to run power plants.

Eleven Indonesian banks to receive US financing

Antara News, Friday, June 18, 2010 20:58 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) Friday announced that it has given initial approval to 11 banks in Indonesia to receive financing as part of the banking facilities amounting to one billion dollars to support US exports to Indonesia.

The 11 banks are Indonesia Eximbank, Bank Mandiri, Bank Negara Indonesia, Bank Rakyat Indonesia, Bank Central Asia, Bank Danamon, Panin, Bank CIMB-Niaga, Bank OCBC Indonesia, Bank Internasional Indonesia and Bank UOB Buana.

Chairman and President of the US Ex-Im Bank, Fred P. Hochberg, through a press statement released by the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, Friday, announced a new banking facility on Friday at a meeting with Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs of Indonesia in Jakarta.

"With a diverse economy that continues to grow, Indonesia offers huge opportunities for U.S. exporters in various sectors. This banking facility will allow Indonesian companies to access financing of Ex-Im Bank support from their local banks and help Ex-Im Bank approved the transaction faster," said Hochberg.

US banks interested in RI`s 10,000 MW power project

Antara News, Friday, June 18, 2010 21:00 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) -The Export-Import Bank of the United States expressed interest in financing Indonesia`s second 10,000 MegaWatt power project half of which is to run on geothermal energy, a spokesman said.

"We support the prospective cooperation with Indonesia to develop renewable energy," said US Export-Import Bank, Fred P. Hochberg, in Jakarta on Friday.

According to him, he was in talks with state-owned power utility firm PT PLN about its second 10,000 MW power project.

The project is divided into two, namely for the construction of 5000 MW of geothermal power plants and the balance of conventional power plants.

U.S. Ex-Im Bank currently has given initial approval for financing imports of various products from the U.S. by Indonesian companies worth one billion U.S. dollars.

He hoped the facility will promote U.S. exports to Indonesia up to two-fold. During 2009, Ex-Im Bank has authorized US$ 279.5 million to U.S. exports to Indonesia, including to finance the purchase of Sikorsky helicopters for PT Travira Water.

"We have to give credit totaling 1.8 billion U.S. dollars for the purchase of Boeing aircraft by Garuda and Lion Air," he said.

Throughout the 2009-2010 fiscal year, the U.S. Ex-Im Bank has provided loans worth nearly one billion U.S. dollars to purchase 30 Boeing 737-900ER to Lion Air.

RI to host 7th Asian court conference

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 06/18/2010 10:16 AM

Indonesia’s Constitutional Court will host the 7th Conference of Asian Constitutional Court Judges, which will take general election laws and constitutional practices as its theme, from July 12 to 15.

“A nation cannot restrain nor avoid the establishment of democracy and both law and human rights enforcement,” Constitutional Court chief justice Mahfud M.D. said Thursday.

He explained that nations needed to discuss each country’s past experiences with electoral systems and constitutional practices, then to find future plans to facilitate development.

Twenty-five countries are expected to participate at the conference, including Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Kazakhstan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Thailand, Timor Leste and Uzbekistan. The conference will also invite non-Asian countries: Austria, Germany, Turkey, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Egypt and Morocco.

“At the conference, we will discuss elections issues and shortcomings of electoral courts in each country,” Mahfud said.

Mahfud said in terms of settling election disputes, Indonesia’s experience was considered exemplary by other countries.

“The Indonesian Constitutional Court has resolved 640 electoral disputes in the 2009 presidential and regional elections peacefully,” he said. Of these cases, the court delivered rulings in 70 cases that consequently changed the election results, Mahfud said.

He claimed that a peaceful settlement of electoral disputes through courts was rare in other countries.

Mahfud explained that Indonesia’s elections proved that laws could be drafted to settle any disagreement. He said he believed the Constitutional Court contributed to the country’s democracy.

However, Mahfud admitted there were still incidents of electoral violations, such as vote buying, unfair nomination processes and nepotism.

Eight Asian countries at the conference will also establish the Association of Asian Constitutional Courts and Equivalents Institutions by signing the Jakarta Declaration, Court secretary-general Janedjri M. Gaffar said.

The eight countries are the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, as well as host Indonesia.

The objectives of the association are to protect human rights, promote democracy and supervise the implementation of the law, as well as overseeing the independence of constitutional courts and other similar judicial institutions.

“I hope the formation of the association can improve our role,” Mahfud said. (ipa)

BPMigas renews call on delay to enforcement of environmental law

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 06/17/2010 9:59 PM

Upstream oil and gas regulator BPMigas warned Thursday that a number of CEOs and presidents of oil and gas firms were getting ready to leave Indonesia on fears of sanctions from the environmental law.

The BPMigas requested a minimum of two-year delay to the enforcement of the law to give times for the companies to adapt with the technology needed to lower temperature of its wastewater.

“The CEOs and presidents of oil companies are very scary of criminal penalty as stated in environmental law,” Sinang Bulawan, head of operation unit at the BPMigas told a seminar.

Without elaborating, Sinang said that 17 companies had stated their difficulties to comply with requirement of the temperature of wastewater.

Article 100 of the 2009 Environment Law stipulates anyone violating standards of waste water, emissions and noise levels will face a maximum of three years imprisonment and/or up to Rp 3 billion in fines.

The Environment Ministry previously granted extra times to 7 oil and gas companies to install technology to lower its wastewater level.

The 2007 ministerial decree requires temperature of the wastewater pumped from oil rigs should be 40 Celsius degree from the previous of 45 Celsius point.

The decree took into effect since 2007 but the complaints boomed in 2010 following the implementation of environmental law.

Indonesia receives french`s climate change loan

Antara News, Thursday, June 17, 2010 21:47 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia is to receive a loan of 300 million US dollars from the Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) to support the implementation of a matrix policy for its climate change program

An agreement on the loan was signed by Indonesian Finance Ministry official Rahmat Waluyanto, the AFD Director in Indonesia Joel Daligault at the Finance Ministry here Thursday.

The last meeting of the Climate Change Program Loan (CCPL) steering committee had accepted the results of Indonesia`s program in 2009 and decided on several goals and activities for 2010.

The climate change program loan was to support the ongoing policy reforms to deal with climate change issues through a number of objectives or activities embodied in the framework of a triennial policy matrix consisting of mitigation (forestry, energy), adaptation (agriculture, water), and cross-sectoral issue areas.

AFD had provided first and second stage loans of 200 and 300 million US dollars, in a co-financing scheme with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in 2008 and 2009, Rahmat said.

JICA would also provide loans amounting to 300 million US dollars to support the third stage and the World Bank would also join the CCPL starting this year, with contributions amounting to 200 million dollars

AFD is a financial institution for development to fight poverty and support economic growth in developing countries and French overseas territories.