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Indonesia Economy Forum

Indonesia gets more foreign tourists in October
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Majestic attraction: Tourists visit Rumah Gadang, a traditional Minangkabau house in Payakumbuh, West Sumatra. (Shutterstock.com/shahreen/File)

The number of foreign tourists arriving in Indonesia in October increased by 18.5 percent year-on-year to 1.04 million, with visitors from China, Malaysia, and Australia dominating the inbound trips.

Data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) showed that the number of incoming Chinese tourists had increased by nearly 20 percent yoy to 121,880, while Malaysian and Australian tourists increased by 22.8 percent and 6 percent respectively.

BPS deputy head of distribution and statistics Sasmito Hadi Wibowo said the offer of free visas to citizens of 169 countries had helped boost tourist arrivals, especially over the past three months.

“Tourism events held by regional administrations, such as a sailing festival and a bicycle race, have also helped keep the number of foreign tourist arrivals stable at 1 million per month, despite it being the traditional low season,” Sasmito told reporters on Thursday.

From January to October, Indonesia welcomed 9.4 million foreign tourists, up by 9.5 percent compared to the same period last year.

Sasmito said he was optimistic that Indonesia would be able to meet its target of attracting a total of 12 million foreign tourists in 2016.

“We still have another holiday season in December,” he said. (hwa)

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/12/01/indonesia-gets-more-foreign-tourists-in-october.html
 
Thursday, 01 December, 2016 | 08:46 WIB
FLEGT Boosts Indonesian Timber Competitiveness, Minister Says

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said that the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) license has provided a comparative advantage to Indonesian timber products.

"With the approval of FLEGT license, we have to make use of our competitive advantage to enter Indonesian wood products to larger markets in the European Union," Minister Retno said in a press release quoted by Antara news agency on Wednesday, November 30, 2016.

The statement was made following the FLEGT license official authorization event in Brussels, which was attended by Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Union, and the European Union Commissioner for the Environment, Maritime and Fisheries Affairs Karmenu Vella.

FLEGT is an agreement established by the European Union and its partner countries that aimed at ensuring the legality of products, production sustainability, and compliance with the principles of environmental preservation.

FLEGT is also aimed at assisting EU partner countries in eradicating illegal logging through better forest governance and regulation issuance.

"With the FLEGT license, Indonesian timber exported to Europe will be able to enter the country through green lane access," Retno said.

ANTARA

http://en.tempo.co/read/news/2016/1...donesian-Timber-Competitiveness-Minister-Says
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relevant to the news. perhaps more foreigner should be looking forward to purchase our wooden replica made by cutoff woods. there are too many skilled craftsmen idling around.

 
are this means someday Indonesia will be capable to assembling and designing our own gas turbine engine?
I hope so. Since Mr Silmi being rotate to Barata, i gues that goverment has a special duty for Him to make Barata as good as Pindad Today even more in the Barata's Main Bisniss to support our national independent in the field of Power plant
 
Saturday, 03 December, 2016 | 10:44 WIB
Apple Agrees to Develop R&D in Indonesia

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia has reached a cooperation agreement with Apple Inc., the Minister of Telecommunication and Informatics, Rudiantara, said on Friday.

"We have signed a cooperation agreement with Apple. They have agreed to undertake R&D (research and development) here and will be ready to recruit our people to work with them," he stated at the Presidential Palace complex.

He noted that basically, it was most important that Indonesia could take part in the investment project of the US Silicon Valley company.

Apple products include the latest iPhone 7 that has not entered Indonesia yet although the number of iPhone users in the country has been increasing, he explained.

The minister observed that following the cooperation agreement, it is expected that all lines of Apple products, including the latest Apple series, could immediately enter Indonesia.

Rudiantara disclosed that the cooperation agreement would later cover research and development and even the industrial field.

"I will personally be involved in the cooperation for R&D development locally while the industry minister wil be involved in any initiatives in the industrial field," he emphasized.

He commented that he plans to invite Apple Inc. to come to Indonesia by the end of December 2016.

"Let the Apple people announce the value of investment. Our estimate is that it will be above Rp100 billion," he pointed out.

ANTARA

http://en.tempo.co/read/news/2016/12/03/310825142/Apple-Agrees-to-Develop-RD-in-Indonesia


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Saturday, 03 December, 2016 | 10:22 WIB
Indonesia`s Coffee Export Worth US$650.2 Million Until September

TEMPO.CO
, Jakarta - Indonesia is now one of the four biggest coffee exporting countries in the world.

According to Indonesian Trade Ministry, the realization of coffee product exports until September 2016 has reached US$ 650.2 billion, making the country the fourth biggest coffee exporting county in the world.

"The increasing interest of the international market towards Indonesian coffee is among other caused by the sustainability and transparency of our coffee industries,” said Director of Image and Promotion Development of Trade Ministry Merry Mariyati in Denpasar, Friday.

In addition, the ownership of certificates among coffee farmers, innovation in producing coffee and supports from cooperatives given to the farmers have also contributed to the productivity of coffee products.

Merry added that Indonesia’s coffee product exports in 2015 was worth US$1.19 billion or increased from US$158 billion in 2014.

In the period of 2011-2015, she added, coffee exports posted a positive growth, which was 1.05% per year.

Indonesia exports its coffee products mainly to the United States, Japan, Italy, Malaysia and Germany.

BISNIS.COM

http://en.tempo.co/read/news/2016/1...e-Export-Worth-US6502-Million-Until-September

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Indonesia investment board upbeat about 2017, tourism potential
c0830d39798894449dfeaa06e0e1e2f8c5584879-fad5e.jpg

The Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) says Indonesia remains attractive for foreign investors and is maintaining an optimistic investment outlook for next year, eyeing tourism as the key contributor to investment growth.

BKPM chief Thomas Lembong said his office was confident that the
realized investment target of Rp 592 trillion (US$43.97 billion) would be met this year, and therefore a larger goal could be set for 2017.

He added that one of the major sectors expected to boost cash inflows was tourism as reportedly, foreign investors had expressed the most interest in tapping into Indonesia’s underdeveloped yet promising tourism sector.

“Luckily, it [tourism] shined in the eyes of several investors who came to Jakarta for the Forbes Global Conference,” Thomas recently said.

Indonesia, the world’s biggest archipelago with more than 17,000 islands, is seeking to spur significant growth in the tourism sector in a bid to lure 20 million tourists a year by 2019, nearly double the current figure of around 12 million per year.

To lure people, particularly those who only holiday on the world’s most visited island of Bali, to other scenic spots, the government is working on developing 10 other destinations, including Lake Toba in North Sumatra, Borobudur Temple in Central Java and Thousands Islands in Jakarta.

The World Bank’s latest Indonesia Economic Quarterly Report declared that tourism was a promising field that could generate significant private investment for the nation.

In the first half of this year, Indonesia received $858.7 million as investment poured into the sector.

Apart from tourism, other areas that BKPM will rely on to raise investment are the basic metal industry and petrochemicals, both of which form the backbone of domestic industry, Thomas said.

According to Thomas, BKPM may roll out new measures to lure more investment in the near future, but no details could be disclosed as plans were still being discussed with offices of coordinating ministers and the Presidential Office.

2016_12_05_17200_1480898979._large.jpg

“From the BKPM’s side, what we can do is sort out issues relating to regional administrations. I have already spoken to the Home Ministry, which holds power over the regional bodies, so that the BKPM’s technical requests can be fulfilled in order to boost investment in those areas,” he said.

In the past two years, the investment body has launched several initiatives to improve its service to potential investors, most notably one-stop integrated service centers to ease the process of applying for a business permit.

Around Rp 453 trillion in investment has been realized in Southeast Asia’s largest economy from January to September, up 13.4 percent from 2015.

The figure consists of Rp 295 trillion of foreign investment and Rp 158 trillion in domestic investment, increases of 10.6 percent and 18.8 percent, respectively, from the past year.

Another sector that can help attract investment and will be looked at after the next year is the creative economy industry, which Creative Economy Agency chairman Triawan Munaf called an excellent contributor to Indonesia’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth.

One particular aspect of the creative economy that will be focused on is the increasing number of cinemas in Indonesia, he said. “It remains a lucrative part of the creative economy, the prevalence of cinemas boosts the film industry as well,” Triawan said.

Previously, the head commissioner of PT Graha Layar Prima, Bratanata Perdana said that his company was targeting to open eight new cinemas in the near future, a plan that requires Rp 150 billion to Rp 200 billion.

Graha Layar Prima is the operator of a number of CGV Blitz cinemas scattered nationwide.

Early this year, the government scrapped the film industry from the negative investment list, paving the way for new foreign investment.

Thomas also added that the culinary and fashion sectors, which are parts of the creative economy, were also formidable factors in propping up exports and imports and thereby potentially increasing investment opportunities.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/...oard-upbeat-about-2017-tourism-potential.html
 
Indonesia strong in face of Trump effect: Analyst
Senin, 5 Desember 2016 21:48 WIB | 1.592 Views

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesias economy is strong enough to face the challenges to the global economy likely to emanate from Donald Trumps policies, an academician and economic analyst has said.

"I do not see any reason to be concerned because our consumption still accounts for 56 percent of our total output," Wahyoe Soedarmono, who is also the chairman of the study management program of the University of Indonesia (UI), said here on Monday.

He made the remark after attending an expose on Indonesias economy 2017 entitled: Waiting for the Daybreak in the New Global Economic Equilibrium," organized by Sampoerna.

In the third quarter of 2016, Indonesias current account deficit of 1.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) is seen as adequately good. This could minimize the negative sentiment against Indonesias economy, and result in lower capital outflows.

The capital outflow in mid-November, or when Donald Trump was elected president, reached Rp16 trillion. Yet, the effect of the capital outflow is far smaller on Indonesia compared with Thailand, India, Taiwan or South Korea, Wahyoe said.

Pressures in Indonesia that could cause the depreciation of the rupiah could be reduced through an increase in state revenue from the tax amnesty program.

The assets declared under the program have reached a redemption value of Rp98.7 trillion, and repatriation funds are worth Rp143 trillion. The funds will be entering Indonesia until the end of the year (2016).

The budget cut and not-too-high exports to the United States are also supporting factors for Indonesias economy in the face of the fiscal policy and the economic policies of the incoming Trump administration.

"In general, Indonesias position is relatively strong and it is ready to face the short-term market turmoil, at least until the end of 2017," he said.

However, Indonesia should watch the planned increase of the benchmark rate by the United States Federal Reserve at the end of 2016 and the whole of 2017. There are a number of policy choices such as expenditure-switching policy and increase of Bank Indonesias (BI) reference rates.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted that the Indonesian economy will grow at 5.1 percent next year, mostly fueled by high consumption and private investment.

"The growth will follow a recovery in commodity prices, and a lower lending rate in 2017," IMF Executive Council Luis E Breuer said in a press statement released last month (November 25).

The IMF also predicted that Indonesias economy will expand by 5.0 percent this year, propelled by high private consumption.

The countrys inflation rate in 2016 is projected to reach 3.3 percent year-on-year and increase to the mid-range of 3-5 percent in 2017 due to the revised electricity subsidy target, he added.

"The current account deficit is projected to increase from 2 percent of the gross domestic product in 2016 to 2.3 percent next year due to an increase in fixed investment and imports," Breuer stated.

The IMF praised the good economic conditions in Indonesia as of November-end 2016, driven by a mixture of proper and prudent macro-economic policy and structural economic reforms.

"The authority (in Indonesia) is capable of directing its economy to steer it through the various dynamics in the global economy," he underlined.

The IMF supports the governments steps to improve the country's fiscal structure by slashing the budget in proportion with state revenue.

The way in which the government has expanded state revenue sources to spur economic growth has helped induce a sense of stability as it has managed to prevent the deficit from exceeding 3 percent of GDP, the IMF noted.(*)

http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/108195/indonesia-strong-in-face-of-trump-effect-analyst
 
Indonesia’s Inward Turn
The country’s focus on domestic priorities is a loss for ASEAN and the world.
068980700_1451461409-20151230-Jokowi_merauke2.jpg

The profile of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) profile has risen dramatically over the past decade, including in the Washington, D.C. foreign policy community. Once derided as a talk shop, U.S. policymakers have now generally accepted the importance of keeping ASEAN at the center of regional affairs, and senior administration officials spend vast amounts of time at ASEAN meetings. While it is unlikely President-elect Donald Trump will follow in President Barack Obama’s footsteps with as much presidential-level engagement with ASEAN, robust cabinet and sub-cabinet level interaction has been institutionalized and will continue under the Trump administration.

ASEAN’s newfound prominence and centrality has also exposed its weaknesses in dramatic fashion, particularly its consensus-based decision-making processes. Cambodia’s willingness to protect Chinese interests has made ASEAN unable to tackle the region’s most vexing challenge – the South China Sea dispute. Looking ahead to the Philippines’ 2017 chairmanship under the combustible President Rodrigo Duterte, ASEAN’s relevance to solving regional problems appears to be increasingly bleak.

Although these dynamics have all been widely reported, a recent visit we made to Jakarta drove home another major challenge for ASEAN in the near term that has received comparatively little scrutiny: that Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo cares little about foreign policy and, when he does, ASEAN is an afterthought. As a result, under Jokowi’s watch, Indonesia has retreated from its traditional leadership role in ASEAN, leaving the bloc leaderless and fragile.

This is not to say that Jokowi is an ineffective leader or has the wrong priorities for his country. Just over two years into his five-year term as president, Jokowi’s approval rating stands at 66.5 percent, he sits comfortably atop a broad coalition of political parties, and the economy is showing signs of life. This is a stark contrast to what many feared when he entered office – a political neophyte entering a lion’s den of personalities and entrenched interests, with a deposed opponent threatening impeachment and a scorched earth campaign to oppose his presidency.

Jokowi has also demonstrated a strong commitment to achieving more equitable economic growth for the people of Indonesia, including infrastructure initiatives that prioritize integrating the relatively poor eastern part of the country with the more prosperous western islands of Java and Sumatra. Energy projects in eastern Indonesia are also a priority. For instance, in October, Jokowi inaugurated six electricity projects in Papua and West Papua, regions often neglected in the past. At the micro-level, a major accomplishment early in his administration was to scrap inefficient fuel subsidies to instead subsidize health care and education.

However, these sensible domestic priorities have also impacted Indonesian foreign policy, making it both bigger and smaller at the same time. On the one hand, Jokowi has elevated relations with major non-ASEAN powers such as China and Japan. But, on the other hand, its foreign policy objectives have become quite narrow – essentially, foreign policy must provide immediate economic gains to Indonesia. This tendency manifests itself in prioritizing ties with wealthy non-ASEAN powers, which are seen as potential sources of foreign direct investment, particularly in infrastructure and manufacturing. This approach appears to be achieving its objectives. For instance, Jokowi’s five meetings in two years with Chinese President Xi Jinping have coincided with a doubling of Chinese investment in Indonesia.

With this intense focus on economic diplomacy, ASEAN has receded in importance. Even rhetorically, once the centerpiece of foreign policy under former Indonesian President Yudhoyono, ASEAN has been demoted to one policy cornerstone among many.

More broadly, while Yudhoyono was an evangelist for Indonesian soft power, boldly promoting lessons from Indonesia’s democratic reforms since 1998, Jokowi has done little to burnish Indonesia’s credentials on the world stage. He frequently skips global summits – most recently, the UN General Assembly and Lima APEC summit this year. Parliament agrees: Fadli Zon, Indonesian House of Representatives deputy speaker, described Jokowi’s foreign policy record as “lower profile” compared to Yudhoyono’s.

As foreign policy has become focused on delivering economic gains, defense policy has also increasingly been used as a way to achieve domestic goals. While the Indonesian military (TNI) became more focused on international security missions under Yudhoyono, who saw the TNI as a tool to burnish Indonesia’s internationalist credentials, the TNI now is rapidly turning inward, aided and abetted by Jokowi.

Today, rather than international peacekeeping or disaster response, top priorities are domestic counterterrorism (despite this nominally being the National Police’s job) and domestic infrastructure building and agriculture. As resources are redirected toward these priorities, which are overseen by the Army, they are effectively siphoned away from modernizing naval and air forces — despite the fact that it is these two military branches that Indonesia would most need to protect its vast archipelago. Although defense officials refer to Jokowi’s Global Maritime Fulcrum (GMF) as the defining strategy for Indonesia’s military, the GMF is again primarily a domestic policy initiative, focused on developing Indonesia’s blue economy, including enhancing port infrastructure and connectivity.

International defense diplomacy has also been highly correlated with domestic priorities, particularly the development of an indigenous defense industrial base. On our recent visit, a cabinet member told us concisely that in defense, “relationships are transactional, not political.” Such is the case of a burgeoning defense relationship with South Korea — a partner willing to transfer technology at mid-range prices.

Indonesia’s foreign policy drift should be worrying for anyone concerned with the relevance of ASEAN, including U.S. policymakers. ASEAN is a more effective entity when Indonesia is actively engaged and the region is more stable when ASEAN drives the agenda for the region – rather than the potentially dominant powers. But ASEAN needs a strong leader to take initiative and break stalemates in order to remain relevant – and only Indonesia has the heft to fill this role. Beyond ASEAN, the world also is a dimmer place when democratic, pluralist Indonesia punches below its weight. Unfortunately, this is likely to be the Indonesia we continue to see under Jokowi as he intensely focuses on domestic priorities. ASEAN – and the world – will suffer as a result.

http://thediplomat.com/2016/12/indonesias-inward-turn/

Churchill Mining's $1bn claim against Indonesia struck off
07mining-jumbo.jpg

A tribunal has struck out a claim by Churchill Mining for damages after Indonesia’s government revoked its licence for a coal project.

The AIM-listed miner said it was “extremely disappointed” by the decision by a tribunal from the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes that ruled that the Indonesian government could dismiss its claims over the Kutai coal project in East Kalimantan, after its licenses were taken away.

The tribunal said that the 34 documents that the company presented were not authentic and the forger of the documents was “most likely a person or persons acting for or on behalf of Churchill's Indonesian partner, the Ridlatama group, in collusion with a person inside the East Kutai Regency”.

However, it also found that neither the company, nor any of its officers, had been involved in any forgery.

It also said the company’s due diligence assessments at the time of acquiring the licenses were “insufficient”.

The tribunal dismissed the company’s claim for $1bn compensation and ordered it to pay $9.45m for costs and arbitration fees. The company said the suspension of shares on AIM will remain until it could clarify its financial position.

In 2010 Isran Noor, East Kutai's local government regent, revoked the company's license to mine alleging the outfit and its Indonesian partners had cut down a protected forest in the region.

Churchill chairman David Quinlivan said: "We are obviously extremely disappointed by the tribunal's decision and the fact that the tribunal drew no adverse inferences against Indonesia following the refusal by Mr Isran Noor to attend the August 2015 hearing so that he could be cross-examined and the refusals by Indonesia to provide documents that the tribunal itself considered prima facie relevant.

“While we are still reviewing the reasons, the tribunal appears to have accepted that Mr Noor was deceived into signing the exploitation licenses despite his non-appearance and his witness statement having been struck from the record. Indonesia has always conceded that the East Kutai coal project exploitation licenses were validly issued and signed and it is difficult to understand how the tribunal found otherwise on the evidence available."

The company is considering requesting the ICSID annul the award and is working with law firm Clifford Chance to establish the best way to move forward.

ICSID's process allows for the award to be annulled if it is found that the tribunal was not properly constituted, that it “manifestly” exceeded its powers, that there had been a serious departure from the fundamental rule of procedure, or that the award failed to state the reasons on which it is based.

http://www.digitallook.com/news/aim...im-against-indonesia-struck-off--2347056.html


They wanted $1 billion but instead ended up paying $9.45 million :haha:
 
Indonesia’s Inward Turn
The country’s focus on domestic priorities is a loss for ASEAN and the world.
068980700_1451461409-20151230-Jokowi_merauke2.jpg

The profile of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) profile has risen dramatically over the past decade, including in the Washington, D.C. foreign policy community. Once derided as a talk shop, U.S. policymakers have now generally accepted the importance of keeping ASEAN at the center of regional affairs, and senior administration officials spend vast amounts of time at ASEAN meetings. While it is unlikely President-elect Donald Trump will follow in President Barack Obama’s footsteps with as much presidential-level engagement with ASEAN, robust cabinet and sub-cabinet level interaction has been institutionalized and will continue under the Trump administration.

ASEAN’s newfound prominence and centrality has also exposed its weaknesses in dramatic fashion, particularly its consensus-based decision-making processes. Cambodia’s willingness to protect Chinese interests has made ASEAN unable to tackle the region’s most vexing challenge – the South China Sea dispute. Looking ahead to the Philippines’ 2017 chairmanship under the combustible President Rodrigo Duterte, ASEAN’s relevance to solving regional problems appears to be increasingly bleak.

Although these dynamics have all been widely reported, a recent visit we made to Jakarta drove home another major challenge for ASEAN in the near term that has received comparatively little scrutiny: that Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo cares little about foreign policy and, when he does, ASEAN is an afterthought. As a result, under Jokowi’s watch, Indonesia has retreated from its traditional leadership role in ASEAN, leaving the bloc leaderless and fragile.

This is not to say that Jokowi is an ineffective leader or has the wrong priorities for his country. Just over two years into his five-year term as president, Jokowi’s approval rating stands at 66.5 percent, he sits comfortably atop a broad coalition of political parties, and the economy is showing signs of life. This is a stark contrast to what many feared when he entered office – a political neophyte entering a lion’s den of personalities and entrenched interests, with a deposed opponent threatening impeachment and a scorched earth campaign to oppose his presidency.

Jokowi has also demonstrated a strong commitment to achieving more equitable economic growth for the people of Indonesia, including infrastructure initiatives that prioritize integrating the relatively poor eastern part of the country with the more prosperous western islands of Java and Sumatra. Energy projects in eastern Indonesia are also a priority. For instance, in October, Jokowi inaugurated six electricity projects in Papua and West Papua, regions often neglected in the past. At the micro-level, a major accomplishment early in his administration was to scrap inefficient fuel subsidies to instead subsidize health care and education.

However, these sensible domestic priorities have also impacted Indonesian foreign policy, making it both bigger and smaller at the same time. On the one hand, Jokowi has elevated relations with major non-ASEAN powers such as China and Japan. But, on the other hand, its foreign policy objectives have become quite narrow – essentially, foreign policy must provide immediate economic gains to Indonesia. This tendency manifests itself in prioritizing ties with wealthy non-ASEAN powers, which are seen as potential sources of foreign direct investment, particularly in infrastructure and manufacturing. This approach appears to be achieving its objectives. For instance, Jokowi’s five meetings in two years with Chinese President Xi Jinping have coincided with a doubling of Chinese investment in Indonesia.

With this intense focus on economic diplomacy, ASEAN has receded in importance. Even rhetorically, once the centerpiece of foreign policy under former Indonesian President Yudhoyono, ASEAN has been demoted to one policy cornerstone among many.

More broadly, while Yudhoyono was an evangelist for Indonesian soft power, boldly promoting lessons from Indonesia’s democratic reforms since 1998, Jokowi has done little to burnish Indonesia’s credentials on the world stage. He frequently skips global summits – most recently, the UN General Assembly and Lima APEC summit this year. Parliament agrees: Fadli Zon, Indonesian House of Representatives deputy speaker, described Jokowi’s foreign policy record as “lower profile” compared to Yudhoyono’s.

As foreign policy has become focused on delivering economic gains, defense policy has also increasingly been used as a way to achieve domestic goals. While the Indonesian military (TNI) became more focused on international security missions under Yudhoyono, who saw the TNI as a tool to burnish Indonesia’s internationalist credentials, the TNI now is rapidly turning inward, aided and abetted by Jokowi.

Today, rather than international peacekeeping or disaster response, top priorities are domestic counterterrorism (despite this nominally being the National Police’s job) and domestic infrastructure building and agriculture. As resources are redirected toward these priorities, which are overseen by the Army, they are effectively siphoned away from modernizing naval and air forces — despite the fact that it is these two military branches that Indonesia would most need to protect its vast archipelago. Although defense officials refer to Jokowi’s Global Maritime Fulcrum (GMF) as the defining strategy for Indonesia’s military, the GMF is again primarily a domestic policy initiative, focused on developing Indonesia’s blue economy, including enhancing port infrastructure and connectivity.

International defense diplomacy has also been highly correlated with domestic priorities, particularly the development of an indigenous defense industrial base. On our recent visit, a cabinet member told us concisely that in defense, “relationships are transactional, not political.” Such is the case of a burgeoning defense relationship with South Korea — a partner willing to transfer technology at mid-range prices.

Indonesia’s foreign policy drift should be worrying for anyone concerned with the relevance of ASEAN, including U.S. policymakers. ASEAN is a more effective entity when Indonesia is actively engaged and the region is more stable when ASEAN drives the agenda for the region – rather than the potentially dominant powers. But ASEAN needs a strong leader to take initiative and break stalemates in order to remain relevant – and only Indonesia has the heft to fill this role. Beyond ASEAN, the world also is a dimmer place when democratic, pluralist Indonesia punches below its weight. Unfortunately, this is likely to be the Indonesia we continue to see under Jokowi as he intensely focuses on domestic priorities. ASEAN – and the world – will suffer as a result.

http://thediplomat.com/2016/12/indonesias-inward-turn/

Churchill Mining's $1bn claim against Indonesia struck off
07mining-jumbo.jpg

A tribunal has struck out a claim by Churchill Mining for damages after Indonesia’s government revoked its licence for a coal project.

The AIM-listed miner said it was “extremely disappointed” by the decision by a tribunal from the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes that ruled that the Indonesian government could dismiss its claims over the Kutai coal project in East Kalimantan, after its licenses were taken away.

The tribunal said that the 34 documents that the company presented were not authentic and the forger of the documents was “most likely a person or persons acting for or on behalf of Churchill's Indonesian partner, the Ridlatama group, in collusion with a person inside the East Kutai Regency”.

However, it also found that neither the company, nor any of its officers, had been involved in any forgery.

It also said the company’s due diligence assessments at the time of acquiring the licenses were “insufficient”.

The tribunal dismissed the company’s claim for $1bn compensation and ordered it to pay $9.45m for costs and arbitration fees. The company said the suspension of shares on AIM will remain until it could clarify its financial position.

In 2010 Isran Noor, East Kutai's local government regent, revoked the company's license to mine alleging the outfit and its Indonesian partners had cut down a protected forest in the region.

Churchill chairman David Quinlivan said: "We are obviously extremely disappointed by the tribunal's decision and the fact that the tribunal drew no adverse inferences against Indonesia following the refusal by Mr Isran Noor to attend the August 2015 hearing so that he could be cross-examined and the refusals by Indonesia to provide documents that the tribunal itself considered prima facie relevant.

“While we are still reviewing the reasons, the tribunal appears to have accepted that Mr Noor was deceived into signing the exploitation licenses despite his non-appearance and his witness statement having been struck from the record. Indonesia has always conceded that the East Kutai coal project exploitation licenses were validly issued and signed and it is difficult to understand how the tribunal found otherwise on the evidence available."

The company is considering requesting the ICSID annul the award and is working with law firm Clifford Chance to establish the best way to move forward.

ICSID's process allows for the award to be annulled if it is found that the tribunal was not properly constituted, that it “manifestly” exceeded its powers, that there had been a serious departure from the fundamental rule of procedure, or that the award failed to state the reasons on which it is based.

http://www.digitallook.com/news/aim...im-against-indonesia-struck-off--2347056.html


They wanted $1 billion but instead ended up paying $9.45 million :haha:

The fraud paid the price...

Onto the next ones we go!!!
 
Indonesian infrastructure budget improvement graphic
Anggaran Infrastruktur 2009 2017 Terus Meningkat   Databoks.png

2009: Rp 70 trillion (US$ 7.4 billion / € 5.1 billion - 2009 currency)
2017: Rp 387.3 trillion (US$ 29 billion/ € 27 billion - current currency)

Grew more than 500% in eight years
 
Indonesia to Take 52% Share of SE Asia E-Commerce Market by 2025
498618_620.jpg

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia is projected to take 52% share of Southeast Asia e-commerce market worth US$87.8 billion by 2025.

A joint research conducted by Google and Temasek revealed that in 2015 Indonesia ranked first in the world in e-commerce market growth. The growth is projected to reach 19% by 2020.

The same is predicted to also happen to internet economy, in which e-commerce sits atop, followed by online media and online travels.

SPV Strategic Partnership of Lazada Indonesia Miranda Suwanto said the projection is underpinned by the middle class’ growth, increased internet penetration and development of second and third tier cities.

“The higher the number of internet users in many cities and the more affordable mobile devices are, the more Indonesians can easily and comfortably shop online. Without having to worry about time lost from traffic jams or long travel. It was one of the factors that boost online shopping in Indonesia,” said Miranda Suwanto, also organizing committee chief of National Online Shopping Day (Harbolnas) 2016, as quoted by Bisnis Indonesia.

This year, Harbolnas will be held on December 12-14. The transaction value is expected to increase two to three folds compared to that of last year Rp2.1 trillion.

http://en.tempo.co/read/news/2016/1...52-Share-of-SE-Asia-E-Commerce-Market-by-2025
 
President Jokowi in Aceh, discusses effects of earthquake
Kamis, 8 Desember 2016 21:15 WIB - 0 Views

Banda Aceh, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (ANTARA News) - President Joko Widodo held a meeting here Thursday to coordinate handling of the effects of earthquake that hit Pidie Jaya district in the Sumatran province of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam.

President Jokowi also received reports from officials who had earlier come to Aceh to directly monitor the handling of the effects of the earthquake that hit Pidie Jaya and its surrounding areas early Wednesday morning.

The meeting, which started at 7.15pm, was attended by Health Minister Nila Moeloek, Housing and Public Works Minister Basuki Hadimuljono, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, the Commander of the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI), General Gatot Nurmantyo, Indonesia Police chief General Tito Karnavian, presidential chief staff Teten Masduki, presidential communication team member Ari Dwipayana and acting governor of Aceh Soedarmo.

Teten Masduki who was sent to Aceh immediately after reports reached said that 102 people had been killed in the disaster while one person had gone missing, 103 had been seriously injured, 616 had suffered minor injuries, and 10,029 were evacuated to 28 shelters in three districts.

"The disaster has affected Pidie Jaya, Bireun and Pidie districts," he said.

In Pidie Jaya, 105 shop houses had collapsed, 12,560 houses had suffered heavy or minor damage, and 49 mosques had collapsed. The Pidie regional hospital had been heavily damaged, several street sections were damaged, and electricity poles were down.

In Bireun, 41 houses had suffered heavy or minor damage, a mosque and a school building had suffered heavy damage, and a rice refinery had also been damaged.

The earthquake, measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale, hit Pidie Jaya at around 5.36am on Wednesday, according to the Meteorology, Geophysics and Climatology Agency.

Its epicenter was on land 106 km southeast of Banda Aceh at a depth of 15km.

President Joko Widodo arrived in Banda Aceh, the capital of Naggroe Aceh Darussalam province, at around 5.30pm on Thursday and proceeded immediately to visit the wounded being treated at the Zainal Abidin Hospital.(*)
Editor: Heru

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