Indonesia's central bank expects that the country's monthly inflation rate will ease to below one percent in August. However, in order to meet this expectation the bank stresses that there needs to be an improvement in the food product supply through imports and good distribution practice. The latter, particularly, is problematic due to Indonesia's lack of quality and quantity in infrastructure. In July, monthly inflation rose 3.29 percent due to the start of the new school year and impact of higher subsidized fuel prices.

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Pembangunan Perumahan (better known as PP) is a government-controlled construction and investment company in Indonesia. The company's lines of businesses consist of construction services in building and infrastructure, property, engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), as well as investment. PP was the second-largest company in terms of largest net income in Semester I-2013. Being a state-controlled entity, it benefits from the government's increased focus on infrastructure development. 

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According to Indonesia's police department, heavy traffic caused by the Idul Fitri celebrations resulted in the deaths of more than 471 people as well as 740 seriously injured people in over 2000 traffic accidents. Most accidents are caused by drivers that fall asleep during the journey. Idul Fitri marks the end of the holy fasting month (Ramadan) and is one of the major national holidays in Indonesia. This year Idul Fitri fell on Thursday 8 August and, as usual, is accompanied by the tradition that Indonesians travel back to their places of birth.

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Alam Sutera Realty (ASRI) is an Indonesian real estate company that develops and manages a large-scale township which includes residential and commercial properties as well as ancillary facilities and infrastructure. The company has large real estate projects in Serpong, Cibitung, Cianjur (all on Java), Tanjung Pinang (Riau) and Sanur (Bali). In the first half of 2013, the company's profits increased by 52 percent to IDR 800 billion (USD $80.0 million) as Indonesia's property sector has been booming.

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Nine Indonesian construction companies that have released their financial results over the first six months of 2013 show a combined net profit of 849 billion (USD $83.2 million). State-controlled Wijaya Karya (Wika) still leads the ranking in terms of net profit. Interestingly enough, another state-controlled company, Adhi Karya, posted the largest YoY percentage growth in net profit (135.6 percent). Lastly, state-controlled Pembangunan Perumahan is second-largest company in terms of largest net income in Semester I-2013.

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The city center streets of Indonesia's capital city of Jakarta, which are normally characterized by heavy traffic jams, are becoming quiet. As the holy Islamic fasting month (Ramadan) is getting towards the end, people are traveling back to their places of origin for the Lebaran celebrations. This annual tradition is known as 'mudik'. Usually, the people spend a few days at their hometowns before traveling back to their places of work. This period also means that businesses (including the stock exchange) are mostly closed until 12 August 2013.

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Wijaya Karya (Wika) is one of Indonesia's construction companies. The company is involved in engineering and construction work in both Indonesia and abroad. Its businesses include civil engineering, building construction, and construction of industrial plants as well as energy facilities. Being a state-controlled company, Wika has a close connection to the government and as such is one of the first choices to participate in government infrastructure projects. Shares of Wika have grown over 37 percent in 2012.

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Although the combined performance of the four listed Indonesian cement companies in the first six months of 2013 is good with net profit rising 13.7 percent from the same period in 2012, the individual companies posted mixed results. Net profit of Semen Indonesia, Indonesia's largest cement producer, rose 22.9 percent, while net profit of Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa, the country's second-largest cement producer, rose 11.8 percent. The other two cement producers, Holcim Indonesia and Semen Baturaja, posted a decline in net profit.

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Indonesia's biggest taxi operator, the Blue Bird Group, is planning to conduct an initial public offering (IPO) in the fourth quarter of this year. The company expects to reap between USD $600 and $800 by selling 20 to 40 percent of the company's stock equity. If the company will indeed manage to meet this target, then the IPO of Blue Bird will be the largest since the publicly listing of Indofood CBP Sukses Makmur, which raised USD $696 million in October 2010. It has been reported that Credit Suisse, Rothschild and UBS will act as underwriters.

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Indonesia Investments has updated the financial highlights of state-controlled enterprise Adhi Karya (ADHI). The company is engaged in construction services, infrastructure development, property, real estate and engineering, and procurement & construction. Its infrastructure projects include roads, bridges, irrigation, power plants and ports, while its building projects include high rise buildings, hotels, hospitals and schools. Shares and net income of the company have surged in 2012 amid Indonesia's booming property sector.

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A total of twenty Japanese companies engaged in the food and beverage industry are exploring investment opportunities in Indonesia. According to research conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the food and beverage industry of Indonesia is regarded as a lucrative investment opportunity by these companies. If realized, these foreign direct investments could be worth between USD $400 million to USD $1 billion. However, JICA’s research did not mention any names of the Japanese companies.

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The plantation sector of Indonesia is vulnerable to land disputes. Noor Marzuki, a Director at the National Land Agency (Badan Pertanahan Nasional, or BPN), a non-departmental government institution, said that currently only 30 percent of Indonesia's total plantation estate area has been registered at the BPN. This implies that 70 percent of Indonesian plantation estates are unregistered and thus susceptible to land conflicts. The total size of Indonesia's plantation estate area is 120 million hectares.

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Regarding stock trading on the Indonesia Stock Exchange, investors who focused on property, banking and infrastructure stocks have made the highest profit so far in 2014. Although all sectoral indices that are contained within the benchmark stock index of Indonesia, known as the Jakarta Composite Index (abbreviated IHSG) have shown a good performance, the three aforementioned sectoral indices stand out as the country's top performers. Indonesia's IHSG has risen 16.14 percent between 1 January and 26 May 2014.

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Indonesian cement sales fell 0.4 percent (year-on-year) to 4.52 million tons in April 2014. The decline in cement sales was the result of the country’s legislative election that was held on 9 April 2014 as consumers bought few building materials during the campaign period. Head of the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI) Widodo Santoso stated that a number of large infrastructure projects are currently being tendered and are thus unable to boost domestic cement sales yet.

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As rapid economic development has pushed the percentage of people working in most East Asian countries to among the highest in the world, policy makers should enact labor regulations and social protection policies to benefit all workers, including those in the large informal economy, according to a new World Bank report, East Asia Pacific at Work: Employment, Enterprise and Well-Being (released on 8 May 2014). Current regulations, however, favor salaried, prime-age males at the expense of women and youth.

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The Indonesian government is still studying the feasibility study for the National Capital Integrated Coastal Development (NCICD) masterplan. The NCICD masterplan, a joint project between the governments of Indonesia and the Netherlands, aims to protect the capital city of Jakarta against floods caused by high tides and faciliates sustainable development of Jakarta. The masterplan is developed by a consortium headed by Witteveen+Bos (main contractor) and Grontmij, with subconsultants KuiperCompagnons, Deltares, Ecorys and Triple-A.

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Fitch Ratings, one of the three major global credit rating agencies, said that its latest annual survey on economic prospects and the business climate in Indonesia indicates an optimistic view. Respondents in the survey, mostly CEOs and Division Heads at financial institutions, companies, government and media, were asked 11 questions about the Indonesian economy, reformation and prospects for the next five years. Andrew Steel, Managing Director Head of Asia Pacific Corporate Ratings Group, presented results of the survey.

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Imports of oil will accelerate to 1.6 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2020 if fuels continue to be subsidized by the Indonesian government. This development will seriously burden Indonesia's trade balance (and current account). In 2013, Indonesia posted a trade deficit of USD $12.6 billion in the oil & gas sector. Due to improved performance in the non-oil & gas sector, the overall trade deficit was kept at USD $4.06 billion. Besides placing downward pressure on the rupiah exchange rate, expensive subsidies also burden the state budget.

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Tourism in Indonesia has posted impressive growth rates in recent years. This development is due to the fact that Indonesia has plenty of beautiful sites and cultural traditions to offer to foreign (and domestic) tourists, improved airline accessibility to Indonesia, and enhanced focus on promotional campaigns in foreign countries. Lastly, and not unimportantly, there have been no violent terrorist attacks in recent years. In the 2000s, a vicious terrorist attack always resulted in a temporary drop in foreign tourist arrivals.

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In 2015, Indonesia's Ministry of Public Works will start with the land acquisition process for the construction of the Trans-Sumatra Highway. This highway is a 2,732.2 kilometers-long toll road connecting Banda Aceh in the north of Sumatra to Bandar Lampung in the south through 23 routes that connect ten provinces. The total land area that needs to be acquired is roughly 218,976 million m² and is expected to cost around IDR 15 trillion (USD $1.3 billion). By 2025, construction of the project should be finished.

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