Canada’s RIM Sets Up Shop in Indonesia

Jakarta Globe, Shirley Christie | November 09, 2010

Jakarta. Research in Motion announced on Tuesday that it was establishing an Indonesian subsidiary, a move aimed at providing marketing support for its wildly popular BlackBerry smartphones and to comply with local law, following the establishment of a similar unit in Singapore four years ago.

A woman using a Blackberry in front of Blackberry
banner  at a shopping mall in Jakarta, in this file photo.
BlackBerry's parent company Research In Motion is
setting up an  Indonesian subsidiary.
(JG Photo/Jurnasyanto Sukarno)

“I’m here because Indonesia matters a lot to Canada as a trading partner in the G-20,’’ Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said in Jakarta on Tuesday at a ceremony to unveil Research In Motion Indonesia.

“RIM is a very important Canadian-based company, and has now become a significant player here in Indonesia.”

Gregory Wade, RIM’s managing director for Southeast Asia, said the establishment of the local unit was a milestone and a testament to its long-term commitment and investment in Indonesia.

“Thanks for the support and approval of the [Investment Coordinating Board] to incorporate RIM Indonesia,” he said.

The establishment of RIM’s marketing office in Southeast Asia’s largest economy comes after government officials expressed concerns over the company’s compliance with Indonesia’s Information and Electronic Transaction Law (ITE).

Tifatul Sembiring, communication and information minister, said in September that the Canadian company should establish a database center and server in Indonesia to meet legal requirements.

Tifatul said the center would allow authorities to conduct lawful interceptions of e-mail and other messages, and the leasing of bandwidth for the servers would contribute revenue.

Other nations, such as India, have threatened to discontinue BlackBerry service because of security concerns.

The ITE also stipulates all phone producers must open an after-sales office if they want to sell products in Indonesia, a condition RIM met in August.

There are 1.5 million BlackBerry users in Indonesia, around 7.1 percent of the 21 million global users of the smartphones, said Mike Kirkup, RIM director for developer relations.

RIM, based in Waterloo, Ontario, operates offices in North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia-Pacific.

RIM Indonesia has three domestic distributors for its handsets: Teletama Artha Mandiri, Comtech Cellular and Selular Media Infotama.

Daniel Tumiwa, head of business development at 7 Langit, a BlackBerry alliance member, praised the opening of the unit, saying the time was right because other players, such as Apple, were entering Indonesia’s lucrative market.

Int’l medical team provides free services

M. Azis Tunny, The Jakarta Post, Ambon | Sat, 07/31/2010 11:48 AM

Medical teams from various countries collaborated in the 2010 Pacific Partnership Mission to provide free medical services to thousands of coastal residents in Maluku.

The humanitarian mission was carried out for three days from July 27 in a number of locations in the region. It was part of the Sail Banda event, which will be attended by President Susilo Bambang Yudho-yono on Aug. 3.

More than 17,000 people received health services, said Pacific Partnership Mission Commander Capt. Lisa M. Franchetti. Around 105 doctors were involved in the mission, consisting of 40 doctors manning onshore health posts and 65 doctors aboard the USNS Mercy hospital ship.

“Medical examinations and treatment are conducted at the health posts on land as well as aboard the USNS Mercy,” Franchetti told The Jakarta Post at a health post in Pelauw village, Haruku Island, on Thursday.

More than 10 health posts have been set up on Seram, Ambon and Haruku islands to support the

program. To reach posts outside Ambon city, medical teams and logistics were airlifted by two helicopters on stand-by aboard the USNS Mercy.

“The most common sickness is sore eyes. More than 500 patients come each day to have their eyes treated. Besides medicine, we also provide eyeglasses. Many of the residents also complain about internal illnesses and a number of common ailments,” Franchetti said.

Ailments requiring surgery on board the USNS Mercy include kidney problems, prostate cancer, hernia and cleft palate, Franchetti said.

Members of the medical team on board the USNS Mercy are able to perform between 150 and 200 surgeries daily, while the on-land health posts provide medical treatment for common ailments, such as sore eyes, toothaches, internal diseases and skin ailments.

The medical workers mark the patients with colored wrist bands according to their ailments, such as red for sore eyes, purple for toothaches and yellow for common

illnesses.

Data on patients and their ailments are recorded on computers using the Civil Humanitarian Information Management Expeditionary System (CHIMES).

“We will give this data to the Maluku governor after our mission in Maluku is over, and we will also submit it to the Health Ministry,” Franchetti said.

Besides the presence of the USNS Mercy from the US, a number of countries have also dispatched hospital ships. Singapore deployed its RSS Endevour, while Australia contributed the services of two heavy landing craft (HLC) — HMAS Labuan (L128) and HMAS Tarakan (L129).

Other countries taking part in the program include Canada, Cambodia, New Zealand, the UK and Indonesia. As many as 17 international relief organizations also took part in the mission by sending activists and relief aid.

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.

BP Eyes Indonesian Papua Exploration

The New York Times

By REUTERS, February 3, 2010, 1:05 a.m. ET

JAKARTA (Reuters) - BP is eying a new oil and gas exploration area in Indonesia's West Papua province near Tangguh to boost reserves, an official at the Indonesia energy ministry said on Wednesday.

"BP has an intention to explore oil and gas in a new area in Western Papua and it has submitted its request. We welcome their intention and we are now studying their proposal," Edy Hermantoro, a director at the ministry, told Reuters.

An official of BP's Indonesia unit confirmed the company intended to expand its area in West Papua but gave no further details.

BP Indonesia is the operator of the Wiriagar, Muturi and Berau blocks in West Papua, which together have combined reserves of 14.4 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas.

Another Indonesian energy ministry official, who declined to be identified, said proven plus probable and possible reserves in West Papua's Tangguh were estimated at around 23 trillion cubic feet of gas.

In December last year, Indonesia offered a new tender for 24 oil and gas blocks as part of efforts to boost investment and lift dwindling production.

The areas include blocks in West Berau, offshore of Bintuni, West Papua. This area is near to BP Indonesia's current operation.

In Indonesia's most recent tender, which was for 31 oil and gas blocks, six blocks were awarded to foreign and local companies including Canadian oil firm Talisman Energy Inc and Canadian Niko Resources . The remaining blocks received no expressions of interest from investors.

Indonesia has said it will offer new incentives to oil and gas investors, including more favourable tax treatment and production splits, in order to encourage exploration and stem a steady decline in production. But industry players have said the incentives are not enough.

Indonesia's proven and potential oil reserves have dropped to 8.3 billion barrels, from 9.6 billion barrels in 2001.

(Reporting by Muklis Ali; Editing by Neil Chatterjee)

Businessman to develop Islamic resorts

Indra Harsaputra and Achmad Faisal, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya | Tue, 09/01/2009 5:45 PM

A Sumenep legislative council member confirmed reports that two islands off Madura had been sold to a businessman who intends to develop them into resorts.

Councilor Badrul Aini said Tuesday that businessman Zainal Seniya bought the islands and had leased them to Canadian and Singaporean investors.

“Both Sitabok and Seradeng islands will be developed into maritime resorts equaling Bunaken [North Sulawesi],” Badrul said.

Local cleric Dailami Abu Hurairah, who is close to the businessman, said the two islands would be Islamic resorts and target Middle East tourists.

“We have been involved in the project and will help operate the maritime resorts, which will follow an Islamic concept,” Dailami said.

He said many Middle East tourists felt uncomfortable with major tourist destinations like Bali, which do not promote Islamic values.

Deputy Sumenep Regent Mochammad Dahlan said the two islands belonged to the state and had not been sold to anyone.

Official Claims New Legislation Is Vindicated As Overseas Firms Line Up for Mining Licenses

The Jakarta Globe, March 31, 2009

The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry is expected to issue six mining licenses under the country’s new mining law over the next two months to five companies, including to Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto and Canada's Barrick Gold Corporation, a ministry official said Tuesday.

The companies are currently exploring under provisional licenses, with four of the five searching for gold, while Rio Tinto is seeking nickel in Sulawesi, Bambang Gatot Ariyono, the ministry's coal and mineral development director, said on the sidelines of a Jakarta meeting to explain the new mining law.

Although the Jakarta unit of PricewaterhouseCoopers complained in February that the new legislation had rendered the investment climate unfavorable as it didn’t offer long-term protection for large-scale capital projects as the old law did, Bambang said the fact that the five companies had sought licenses was testimony that it worked.

Barrick, Canada’s biggest publicly traded company, is exploring in Sumatra's Bengkulu region for gold deposits. PT Nusa Palapa has teamed up with an Australian mining company in Bengkulu, while Canada’s East Asia Mineral Corporation is exploring two sites in Aceh.

Rio Tinto said in January that it remained committed to investing up to $2 billion in a Central Sulawesi project, in which it will explore extensive nickel deposits in Lasamphala district. The plan is to process the ore to pure nickel, which fetches higher prices than less-processed nickel-in-matte, or ferro nickel.

Under the new mining law, passed in December, concessions are limited to 100,000 hectares, which shrinks to 25,000 when production starts. There was no limit under the previous law.

Bambang said the ministry was seeking ways to enlarge the concessions. “We are considering whether to grant more than one license in order to embrace all the acreage they have currently,” he said, adding that the government intended to honor existing contracts of work, including the previous acreage.

Bambang warned, however, that any new mining rights issued by local governments after Jan. 12 would have to comply with the new law. Local governments have yet to report whether they have granted mining rights to companies since that date.

Indonesia has enormous mineral potential, but convoluted red tape and complicated regulations often discourage foreign investors, critics say.

Canada opens job opportunities for Indonesians

Denpasar (ANTARA News) - Canada has opened job opportunities for foreign workers including from Indonesia, in the formal sector, a Canadian immigration lawyer, Louay Alghoul, said here on Monday.

"The Canadian government has opened the opportunity for job seekers in other countries, including Indonesia, to work in the formal sector in Canada," Alghoul said at a business meeting on Indonesian migrant workers.

He said the foreign workers could be employed on long-term contracts and ultimately have the chance to become Canadian citizens.

"In addition, they will receive high wages and good protection," he said, adding that in Canada local and foreign workers were treated equally.

He said the job opportunities offered available in Canada for foreign workers were in the fields of health, construction, and hotel industry.

In addition, he said, Canada was seeking serious partners from Indonesia to cooperate in the manpower employment field.

"We even want to open an official representative office in Indonesia," he said.

Kalimantan Gold in India talks on Indonesian coal

Reuters, Mon Mar 16, 2009 7:39am EDT  

JAKARTA, March 16 (Reuters) - Canadian mining firm Kalimantan Gold Corp. is in talks with an Indian power plant on equity participation and a supply deal in a coal project in Indonesia's East Kalimantan, a company official said on Monday. 

Kalimantan Gold (KLG.V), a junior mining firm listed on Canada's TSX Venture Exchange and the AIM Exchange, said in November last year it had signed an option with a local firm PT Indobara Pratama to bring its coal deposits into production and acquire up to an 80 percent stake. 

The firm has an exclusive 90-day option on due diligence as well as for a drilling programme during this period, Kalimantan Gold said in its statement. 

PT Indobara owns a coal mine in East Kalimantan which has potential deposits of between 55-60 million tonnes of 5,400 kcal/kg of coal, Kalimantan Gold said in December. 

"We are inviting them (the Indian power firm) because for this type of coal you need long term and certainty. It's not the type of coal you can sell for spot market," said Mansur Geiger, Kalimantan Gold's vice president for exploration. 

"They will own shares and they will be responsible for the coal off-take," Geiger told reporters, adding the mine is expected to start commercial production in September. 

He did not name the Indian power plant or give the number of shares it might take up in the project. 

The coal mine is expected to produce 1 million tonnes in the first year, gradually increasing to 5 million tonnes within 4-5 years, he said. 

Indonesia' energy ministry expects the country to produce about 230 million tonnes of coal this year, unchanged from 2008 on expected slowing demand. 

But industry officials said the country's coal output may reach 250-260 million tonnes as coal consumption by India and China would help shore up demand.[ID:nDEL409393] 

India's demand for coal is growing by around 8-9 percent a year, outpacing production that is growing by 6 percent as the power sector has not been as badly hit by the credit crunch. 

The government expects Indonesia's coal output to increase to 250 million tonnes in 2010 and 321 million tonnes by 2015. 

(Reporting by Fitri Wulandari; Editing by Ed Davies)

Indonesian Health Workers Unable to Fill Overseas Quotas Due to Poor English Skills

The Jakarta Globe, Dessy Sagita, January 23, 2009 

Despite a strong demand overseas for migrant health workers, Indonesian nurses and caregivers are unable to take advantage of the highly-paid jobs because they lack English skills, an official said on Friday. 

Mohammad Jumhur Hidayat, head of the National Agency for the Placement and Protection of Overseas Labor, or BNP2TKI, said after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the agency and three health academies in Jakarta, that demand from the Asia Pacific, Middle East and United States for Indonesian health workers would continue to rise. 

“The demand for Indonesian nurses and other health care workers is skyrocketing but we cannot adequately respond to it because of a human resource shortage and language problems,” Jumhur said. 

In 2008, Japan offered a 1,000-person quota for Indonesian health workers but Jumhur said that the agency had only been able to send 208 workers. He also said that this year, there were requests from Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, United Sates, Canada, Kuwait and Jordan for Indonesian health workers. 

Jumhur said that from now until 2015, Japan would need 600,000 migrant health workers while Saudi Arabia required 30,000 health workers this year. 

“It’s such a great opportunity for us, but we’ve been hampered by the fact that many of our nurses and caregivers do not speak English or other languages,” he said. 

Jumhur referred to a nursing school in Cirebon, West Java Province, which required its students to learn Japanese. Of the 208 health workers sent to Japan in 2008, 44 of them came from the school. 

“If health academies and foundations provided English lessons, I guarantee that all our nurses and caregivers would be employed,” he said. 

Imam Dahlan, the Ministry of Health’s head of the empowerment center for overseas health workers, said that most Indonesian nurses were highly qualified medically. 

“We don’t really have a problem when it comes to medical skills; the only problem is a lack of language skills,” Imam said. 

In order to capitalize on the demand, this year the BNP2TKI expects to send abroad more skilled labor workers than in 2008, when only 36 percent of the 740,000 migrant workers were skilled. This year Jumhur said the agency expected to increase that figure to 40 percent. 

The BNP2TKI reported that through to 2015, there would be more than 2.85 million job opportunities for nurses in the United States, Canada, Australia, Europe and the Middle East.

Govt gets more power over projects

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 01/19/2009 6:14 PM  

Indonesia has signed a commitment with creditors which allows it to access project financing more easily without burdensome conditions. 

Unlike other commitments, the so-called Jakarta Commitment, which was signed last week with 22 creditors, empowers Indonesia to lead all foreign-funded projects. 

Previous funding commitments were often criticized as they normally contained burdensome terms and conditions imposed on the borrowing country. 

Indonesia was represented by the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) deputy for development financing Lukita Dinarsyah Tuwo, the Finance Ministry director general of debt management Rahmat Waluyanto and the deputy Coordinating Minister for the Economy, in charge of economic cooperation and international financing, Mahendra Siregar. 

Acting Coordinating Minister for the Economy Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Bappenas chairman Paskah Suzetta were also present. 

Mulyani said Indonesia would no longer be dictated to by foreign creditors when borrowing money to conduct its projects following the signing of the commitment. 

"Thus far, the borrowing country is in a lowly position, so it can find that there are many imposed terms and conditions. The Jakarta Commitment lays down a more equal position or (project) partnership," she said. 

Lawmaker Harry Azhar Aziz said the commitment would benefit Indonesia as the country would now lead on all projects funded by foreign loans. 

Japan is one of Indonesia's largest creditors. The Jakarta Commitment is expected to facilitate talks between the government and Japan regarding project financing. 

The construction of the mass rapid transit (MRT), expected to solve traffic problems in Jakarta is funded by JICA. However, the 20-year-long planned construction has not even started due to a "miscommunication" between JICA and the Transportation Ministry. 

If the Jakarta Commitment can simplify financing matters, then Jakartans may see the city MRT system sooner. 

The commitment will also benefit Indonesia, which may face difficulties in selling bonds to plug the budget deficit. 

In the 2009 budget, the government expects to secure Rp 52.2 trillion (US$4.69 billion) in foreign loans, while also issuing bonds of Rp 99.7 trillion. 

It has talked with several creditors to raise up to $5.5 billion in standby loans to plug the budget deficit if the government raises less from bonds than expected. 

The deficit is set at Rp 51.3 trillion in the 2009 budget. The government plans to raise the deficit to Rp 132 trillion to stimulate the economy amid the global crisis. 

Indonesia has so far borrowed $51.77 billion from 22 creditors, $33.42 billion of which come from bilateral loans and the rest from multilateral loans. 

Creditors signing the Jakarta Commitment

1. ADB
   
2. AFD
   
3. JICA
   
4. KOICA
   
5. NZAID
   
6. USAID
   
7. DFID
   
8. World Bank
   
9. UN
   
10. Govt of Australia
    
11. Govt of Austria
    
12. Govt of Canada
    
13. EU
    
14. Govt of Finland
    
15. Govt of France
    
16. Govt of Germany
    
17. Govt of Italy
    
18. Govt of Japan
    
19. Govt of the Netherlands
    
20. Govt of Norway
    
21. Govt of Poland
    
22. Govt of Sweden
    

 

Overseas demand for Indonesian workers stays high

Astrid Wijaya, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 11/26/2008 10:47 AM  

The ongoing global financial crisis will not reap havoc on the demand for Indonesian migrant workers, particularly in Kuwait, the United States and Canada, an official said. 

According to the promotion director of Manpower Replacement and Protection (BNP2TKI) Endang Sulistyaningsih, opportunity for Indonesian laborers to work abroad remains high, with the U.S. and Canada in need of about one million nurses and care-givers. 

"I just came back from the U.S., and they said they are seeking up to one million nurses before 2020," Endang told Antara. 

Endang added that the demand for care-givers in the U.S. and Canada was on the rise due to the huge population of elderly citizens. 

"Opportunities for our citizens to work abroad remain high, but the biggest challenge comes from language proficiency. We still lag behind the Philippines, India, and Bangladesh, but only because English is an official language in those countries," she said. 

On its official website (www.Bnptki2.go.id), BNP2TKI said that, through a private manpower recruitment company, Kuwait had requested 12,000 nurses from Indonesia for 2009. 

"This is a hard work to deal with in 2009," BNP2TKI head Muh. Jumhur Hidayat said, after a meeting with the company's chief executive in Kuwait on Monday. 

According to the latest data from the Central Statistics Bureau there are 5 million Indonesian migrant workers across the world. The bureau has predicted the number will grow by 700,000 to 1 million next year. 

BNP2TKI data showed that the total combined remittance of migrant workers increased from US$3.42 billion in 2006 to $5.84 billion last year. In the first four months of 2008, the figure already stood at $2.23 billion. 

Canada is deemed the best potential market for Indonesian workers. Yonas Karyanto, the general manager of labor supplier PT Yonasindo Intra Pratama, said Tuesday that, at the end of the year, the North American country had requested 500 skilled Indonesian workers. The company has managed to send just 15 people so far, as the rest failed to meet the Canadian Embassy's qualifications. 

Yonas said Canadian employers would pay their Indonesian employees salary equal to that given to local workers. (iwp)

Indonesia's Excelcom receives $140 mln loan

JAKARTA, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Indonesia's third-largest mobile phone operator, PT Excelcomindo Pratama Tbk (EXCL.JK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), said on Friday it has received a $140 million syndicated loan from four overseas banks to help meet its capital expenditure needs. 

Excel, 83.79 percent controlled by Telecom Malaysia (TLMM.KL: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), received the loan from DBS Bank (DBSM.SI: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Ltd, Economic Development Canada, The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UJF and Chinatrust Commercial Bank Ltd. 

"We are very pleased to have the support of the four mandated lead arrangers in such volatile times, and believe that they will be great partners as we continue to expand our operations," the firm's president director, Hasnul Suhaimi, said in a statement.Excel has revised up its capital expenditure for 2008 to $1.25 billion from an earlier figure of $1 billion, which would be used largely for network upgrades as its subscribers soar. 

The company said its subscribers jumped 124 percent to 22.9 million in the first half of 2008 from a year ago. (Reporting by Andreas Ismar; Editing by Sugita Katyal)

Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Husky to invest $91m in oil and gas blocks

Alfian and Olivia Dameria, The Jakarta Post

Three global energy giants -- Chevron Corp, ConocoPhillips and Husky Energy Inc -- won new oil and gas exploration rights in the country on Friday and pledged total investment of at least US$91.4 million during the next three years. 

The three are among the winners of 22 new oil and gas blocks announced by the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry Friday.

Chevron, through its subsidiary Chevron Indonesia Ventures Ltd, won the rights to explore two blocks in West Papua. For the first three years of exploration, it is committed to spend $24.5 million of investment in each field. 

ConocoPhillips, meanwhile won exploration rights in the Arafura Sea block and will need to invest $30 million in the first three years. 

The investment commitment from Canada-based Husky Energy Inc is expected to be $12.4 million, to be used to back three years of exploration activities in the North Sumbawa II block. 

For the 22 blocks, the government expects to mobilize a total investment of $375,5 million, said director general for oil and gas, Evita H. Legowo. 

Evita said the government offered the blocks through the direct offer mechanism, under which interested investors propose to the government to undertake a joint study to assess oil and gas reserves in one or more particular blocks. 

Once the studies find positive indications of reserves, then the government opens a bidding process, although the first bidding rights will be given to the company that proposed, financed and undertook the study. 

"The fact that Chevron and ConocoPhillips are still interested in these blocks shows that our production sharing contract (PSC) scheme is still attractive for investors," said R. Priyono, head of upstream oil and gas regulator BPMigas. 

Under the PSC, the government and companies concerned share the output of the block. The government's share from the projected output from these 22 blocks would be between 65 and 85 percent for oil and between 60 and 70 percent for natural gas. 

However the scheme also includes the much reported cost-recovery mechanism which requires the government to allow the companies to recover specific expenses spent by operators related to exploration activities. 

Indonesia has adopted the PSC system for more than 40 years, but lately the system has drawn some criticisms over the large expenses paid to oil and gas operators under the cost recovery provisions. 

On Friday, the government also opened a tender for 31 new oil and gas blocks, 16 of which were offered through regular tenders with the remaining blocks through the direct offer mechanism.

Canada opens resource center in Yogyakarta

Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

Canadian Ambassador to Indonesia John Holmes officially opened on Monday the UIN-McGill Canadian Resource Center which is set to promote Canada and expand people-to-people links between the archipelago and the North American country.

Holmes said the center is the first of its kind in Indonesia and underscored important links between the two countries.

"This project was conceived, funded and implemented by UIN (State Islamic University) Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta and McGill University and stands as an excellent example of academic cooperation between Canada and Indonesia," Holmes said.

Situated at UIN's University Library on Jl. Laksda Adisucipto Yogyakarta, the center features a collection of printed and audiovisual materials on Canada.

It has a space for future activities including discussions, workshops and film screenings.

Holmes also said his office would try to make sure it integrated the center into general embassy activities.

He said as an example when the embassy had speakers coming to Jakarta, it would try to make sure their programs included the center, to give book readings or academic discussions.

"That is very much the embassy's goal," Holmes said.

The ambassador said he hoped the center would also advance an important partnership on the study of Canada in Indonesia, especially because both countries had a great deal in common.

"We have a lot to learn from each other, from our different experience with multi-culturalism and pluralism," Holmes said.

Phillip Buckley of McGill University said he hoped the center would not just offer displays or a space for Indonesians to learn more about Canada.

"One other thing I really look for is that this center will become a vibrant center of intellectual life in comparative analysis and that more and more Canadians will come here to learn about ourselves through the way in which you look at Canada," he said.

"Perhaps we are coming in a full circle.

"At one point some Indonesian scholars came to McGill to learn about Islam.

"In the future Canadian scholars will come to the UIN Yogyakarta to learn about Canada," he said.

Speaking to The Jakarta Post at the opening ceremony on Monday, Holmes said there were some 1,100 registered Canadians living in Indonesia, some 60 of whom were in Yogyakarta.

"The number could double if we include those who do not report to the embassy.

The next resource center would be established next year at UIN Jakarta, he said.

Also at the opening ceremony was the chairman of the country's second biggest Muslim organization Muhammadiyah Din Syamsuddin and UIN Sunan Kalijaga Rector Amin Abdullah.

Canadian envoy to hand over houses in Aceh

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Canadian Ambassador to Indonesia John Holmes will travel to Banda Aceh to meet with project partners delivering his country`s post-tsunami reconstruction assistance.

While in Banda Aceh, the ambassador will participate in a ceremony marking the transfer to owners of new houses built by the Canadian Red Cross and funded by the Canadian government through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Canadian Embassy said in a press statement issued on Friday.

The transfer to owners of 185 houses is part of a $130 million (Rp1.24 trillion) initiative by the Canadian Red Cross to build up to 6,300 houses in Aceh Besar, Aceh Jaya and Nias.

Aceh bore the brunt of an undersea 9 magnitude earthquake and a subsequent tsunami on December 26, 2004 when around 200,000 people perished and thousands of homes leveled to the ground.

RI, Canada sign US$19 million project to improve social services

The Jakarta Post

JAKARTA (Antara): Canadian Ambassador to Indonesia John Holmes and Indonesian Minister of Home Affairs Mardiyanto on Tuesday signed an agreement on an important bilateral project worth C$19.4 million (US$19.3million) aimed at supporting the Indonesian government to improve the quality of decentralized social services in an equitable and gender sensitive manner.

"This six-year project represents a significant commitment on the part of Canada to continue its support for the Government of Indonesia in the implementation of decentralization and the strengthening of local governance institutions," Holmes said in a press statement.

The project called the Better Approaches to Service Provision through Increased Capacities in Sulawesi (BASICS) is funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and will be implemented in the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.

"The BASICS project is specifically designed to strengthen the capacities of local governments in planning and budgeting processes that lead to greater transparency and improved social service provision for citizens in the island," he said.

The new project is part of CIDA's current five-year country development programming framework for 2005 to 2009 which has a regional focus on Sulawesi.

CIDA's programming focuses on three priority sectors: improved local governance for enhanced public service delivery; growth of the small business sector to create jobs; and sustainable use of natural resources to generate income and improve livelihood for the rural poor.

Indonesia forestry ministry grants permit for Inco power project

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Nickel miner PT International Nickel Indonesia (INCO) said Monday the Forestry Ministry has given it permission to use a forested area adjacent to its concession area for the construction of the Karebbe hydroelectric generating facility in South Sulawesi.

Construction of the facility was suspended in January 2006 pending issuance of the permit.

"We are very pleased to have received this permit that is central to moving forward on the project," Inco president and CEO Arif Siregar was quoted by Thomson Financial as saying.

He said Inco's board of commissioners will meet shortly to decide when to resume construction of the project.

Once completed, the facility will increase Inco's hydroelectric power-generating capacity by 90 megawatts or 33 percent.

Inco is majority-owned by CVRD Inco Ltd of Canada. CVRD Inco is wholly owned by Companhia Vale do Rio Doce of Brazil.

PT Inco expects to start construction of Karebbe Dam next month

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Nickel miner PT International Nickel Indonesia (Inco) expects to start the construction of a new dam, called the Karebbe dam, on the Larona river in the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi, which will increase its hydroelectric power-generating capacity by 90 megawatts or 33 pct, company president Arif Siregar said.

"We're now waiting for the final clearance letter from the Forestry Ministry, which we expect to receive soon. If everything goes as planned, we could begin constructing the dam next month and it should be completed in 2009," Siregar was quoted by Thomson Financial as telling reporters.

His company estimates that the cost of building the dam is 280 million US dollars.

Siregar said he expected that, once the dam was completed, his company's output would increase to 200 million pounds of nickel in matte in 2010 from the 60-165 million pounds forecast for this year.

Canada Grants Rp2 Billion To Overcome Terrorism

Tuesday, 15 May, 2007 | 14:21 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The Canadian government granted mechanisms for the prevention of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons for terrorism handling. In addition , Canada will give training.

The grant are to be given in the amounts of US$250,000 or equivalent to around Rp2 billion. This was revealed by the Canadian Ambassador John Holmes to Secretary of the Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law and Security Agustadi Sasongko, yesterday (14/5).

“This contribution shows the strategic interests owned by Canada in supporting the development of anti-terrorism in Indonesia,” said John.

Similar grants have been given by Canada since 2004. From this cooperation, Canada has sponsored four training sessions of prevention of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons, in Semarang, Surabaya and twice in Jakarta.

According to Agustadi, so far there has not been any indication that terrorism groups in the country use such weapons.

Canadian Red Cross to build 3,000 more houses for tsunami victims

The Jakarta Post

BANDA ACEH, Aceh Province (Antara): The Canadian Red Cross Thursday announced its plan to build 3,000 more houses for tsunami victims in Banda Aceh and Aceh Jaya, Aceh province.

Spokesperson of the Red Cross delegation Gita Modgil said in Banda Aceh that the organization had signed three contract agreements for the constructions of the houses.

"We announce that we will sign three contract agreements to construct some 3,000 strong houses in Banda Aceh and Aceh Jaya," Modgil was quoted by Antara news agency as saying.

Two developers, which will develop the houses, are state-owned PT Wijaya Karya and PT Totalindo Eka Persada, which would start their work in April.

Modgil said some 9,200 victims of tsunami have occupied houses build by Canadian Red Cross and the total houses to be built by the Red Cross would reach 33,000.