Indonesia's Ministry of Public Works and Housing targets to complete the tender process for eight dams, worth a combined IDR 8.60 trillion (approx. USD $637 million) - all national strategic projects - by June 2016. Imam Santoso, Director of Dams at the Public Works Ministry, said one dam has already been tendered last week: the IDR 1.04 trillion Kuwil Kawangkoan Dam in North Sulawesi. Next week the government is set to tender the Leuwikeris Dam in West Java. The central government aims to tender a new dam project every two weeks up to June 2016.

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India-based conglomerate GVK is ready to invest USD $500 million as part of its commitment to develop a new international airport in Yogyakarta. Karthi Gajendran, President of Airport Development at GVK, said the company sees great potential in the construction of a new airport in Temon (Kulo Progo) near the coastal line in the Indonesian province of Yogyakarta. GVK will create a joint venture with Indonesian state-owned airport operator Angkasa Pura I later this year to develop the new airport.

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The start of infrastructure projects in Indonesia - ranging from roads, bridges, power plants, smelters, and public housing - has managed to boost cement consumption in the first month of 2016. Widodo Santoso, Chairman of the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI), said domestic cement consumption in Indonesia rose 4.4 percent (y/y) to 5.14 million tons in January 2016 from the same month one year earlier. Highest growth in consumption occurred in Sumatra (+15.8 percent y/y to 1.1 million tons), Java (+5.3 percent y/y to 2.9 million tons) and Sulawesi (+19 percent y/y to 424,000 tons).

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Besides infrastructure, Indonesia's food and beverage sector remains a favorite of Indonesian banks for the disbursement of loans in 2016 as this sector is regarded promising. Meanwhile, a good supply of food products also supports a stable inflation rate (apart from administered prices, volatile food prices are a key contributor to inflation in Indonesia). Roy Armand Arfandi, General Director of Bank Permata, said Indonesia's economic growth is still highly dependent on people's purchasing power (household consumption accounting for nearly 56 percent of the nation's GDP), hence those sectors that support domestic consumption are attractive for banks.

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Indonesian contractors involved in the development of infrastructure projects that have been declared 'national strategic projects' still see difficulty in realization of these projects despite the implementation of Presidential Instruction No. 1/2016 on the Acceleration of the Implementation of National Strategic Projects, signed on 8 January 2016 by Indonesian President Joko Widodo. This presidential instruction orders all relevant ministries and institutions to support the acceleration of the country's national strategic projects. By 2019 these projects - 225 in total - have to be completed.

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New York-based Moody's Investors Service kept Indonesia's sovereign credit rating at Baa3 (stable outlook), the lowest level within the investment grade rating. Although the rating agency is positive about the strong nature of Indonesia's economy and the prudent fiscal policy that is safeguarded by the Indonesian government and central bank, it sees few room for an upgrade soon (to Baa2) as government revenue is not expected to rise significantly in the period ahead. Moody's released this statement on Thursday (28/01).

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Indonesia's Ministry of Public Works and Housing said the government plans to offer three toll road projects to investors in the first quarter of 2016: (1) Cileunyi-Sumedang-Dawuan (Cisumdawu) in West Java, (2) Serang-Panimbang in Banten, and (3) Legundi-Bunder in East Java. These projects are part of the Indonesian government's target to add 1,000 kilometers of new toll roads up to 2019 in an effort to enhance the country's infrastructure development, hence improving connectivity across the archipelago and reduce logistics costs.

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Per 1 January 2016 the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) came into effect. This community implies stronger cooperation and integration among the ten member countries in Southeast Asia. According to its blue print the AEC involves the launch of a single market and production base among its member nations, hence allowing the free flow of goods, services, investment, and skilled labor as well as the freer flow of capital. Indonesia is one of the member countries.

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Indonesia's first high-speed train, which will run between Jakarta and Bandung (in West Java) is expected to give rise to new economic centers and cities along the 142 kilometers-long railway. Construction of the project, estimated to cost a total of USD $5.5 billion, is scheduled to kick off on 21 January 2016 in Bandung as Indonesia's Transportation Ministry has finally issued the track permit (this had been a major hurdle previously).

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Indonesia's cement sales totaled 61 million tons in 2015, up 1.8 percent from sales in 2014. Although the pace of growth is limited, the final result was well received by stakeholders and policymakers because in the first half of 2015 the nation's cement sales growth still stood at -1.5 percent on a year-on-year basis due to a delay in government-led infrastructure development. In the second half of the year there occurred a surge in infrastructure development projects, hence triggering higher cement sales.

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Based on the latest reports - and contrary to earlier plans - the Indonesian government will not postpone the development of 15,200 MW of power projects. Earlier the government said it wanted to delay various power projects in an effort to curtail imports, thus improve the country's current account balance and ease heavy pressures on the rupiah exchange rate.

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If we take a look at Indonesia's central government spending in the first four months of 2018, then we detect something interesting. Overall, government spending has grown in the January-April 2018 period (compared to the same period one year earlier). However, growth in government spending is led by rising social assistance spending and rising subsidy spending. Meanwhile, growth of infrastructure spending has been much less robust. Does this mean that the Indonesian government has curtailed infrastructure development spending in order to relieve rising pressures on the budget deficit?

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The tourism industry of Indonesia is one of the most important industries in terms of the nation's foreign exchange earnings. However, compared to its neighboring countries - specifically Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand - Indonesia lags behind in terms of foreign visitor arrivals. This "failure" is partly attributed to the weak state of Indonesia's infrastructure. This includes the lack of enough airports or the lack of enough aircraft and passenger handling capacity at existing airports.

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Cement sales were good in January 2018 for Indonesian cement manufacturers, growth that is attributed to rising cement demand on the back of the government-led infrastructure development program, particularly the construction of toll roads. Indonesia's cement consumption rose 9.9 percent year-on-year (y/y) to 5.68 million tons in January 2018.

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The completion of the high-speed Jakarta-Bandung railway in West Java is expected to see a delay due to land acquisition and licensing troubles. The USD $5.9 billion project is now expected to be completed in 2020, one year later than originally planned.

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Revenue and profit of Wijaya Karya (Wika), one of Indonesia's biggest construction companies, is partly dependent on developments surrounding the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway project. Earlier this month, Indonesian President Joko Widodo ordered an evaluation of this railway project, which saw groundbreaking in 2016 but has shown limited progress ever since.

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It was a solid year for the Indonesian economy. The macroeconomic fundamentals of the nation have strengthened due to the hard work of the Indonesian government under the leadership of President Joko Widodo. However, there is no room for complacency as there remain major bottlenecks, while legislative and presidential elections - in which voters can approve or disapprove Widodo's performance - are scheduled for 2019.

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Last week Indonesian President Joko Widodo inaugurated the 41.7-kilometer Parbarakan-Sei Rampah section of the Medan-Kualanamu-Tebing Tinggi toll road in North Sumatra. This Parbarakan-Sei Rampah section is now the longest piece of toll road on the island of Sumatra and will boost connectivity in the province of North Sumatra.

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In its latest report, the World Bank stated that Indonesia's macroeconomic fundamentals are solid and have been strengthening amid the central government's eagerness to implement critical structural reforms, while investment growth rose to the highest levels since the last quarter of 2015 (mainly investment in buildings and structures).

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Indonesian Minister of Home Affairs, Tjahjo Kumolo, made a statement in support of the Lippo Group's controversial Meikarta integrated township project. At the Indonesia Future City & REI Mega Expo 2017 on Thursday (14/09) Kumolo said Indonesia's regional governments should not unnecessarily obstruct private projects that help to develop the regional economy. He cited Meikarta as an example.

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