The ceramic industry in Indonesia is expected to grow about ten percent in 2015 amid the country’s +5 percentage point GDP growth. Economic expansion translates to increased purchasing power of Indonesian consumers and the ceramic industry is one of the industries that will benefit from this. Moreover, as Indonesian President Joko Widodo targets +7 percent GDP by the end of his term, new infrastructure and property projects are to rise as well. As such, domestic ceramic demand will increase accordingly.

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The administration of Indonesian President Joko Widodo (popularly known as Jokowi) will not give priority status to the Sunda Strait Bridge project. As such, the new government’s stance is in direct contrast to the previous administration’s stance toward the ambitious infrastructure project. The Sunda Strait Bridge, a planned road and railway connection between the two (westernmost) Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Java, was placed high on the agenda of the government led by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

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Ahead of implementation of the ASEAN Single Aviation Market (ASAM) in 2015, it is important for Indonesia to improve infrastructure at (and around) airports, particularly the nation’s smaller airports, in order to be able to compete with other airports in the ASEAN region. ASAM will turn ASEAN into a unified and single aviation market by 2015, meaning that air travel between ASEAN member states is fully liberalized. As such, ASAM will supersede existing unilateral, bilateral and multilateral air services agreements between ASEAN members.

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Cement sales in Indonesia are expected to rise as the new Indonesian government aims to ramp up infrastructure development while - in the long term - Indonesian banks will lower interest rates. Lower interest rates give rise to enhanced property development in Southeast Asia’s largest economy. The country’s three leading cement producers are expected to benefit significantly from these developments. These companies are Semen Indonesia, Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa, and Holcim Indonesia.

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Cement sales in Indonesia surged 21 percent month-to-month (m/m) to 5.6 million ton in September 2014 from 4.6 million ton in the preceding month. Widodo Santoso, Chairman of the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI), said that the increase in Indonesian cement sales was supported by the start of a number of central and regional government infrastructure projects. Santoso also detected an increase in development of property projects. Infrastructure and property are the sectors that absorb most cement.

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Indonesian Coordinating Economic Minister Chairul Tanjung said that construction of the Giant Sea Wall project, part of the National Capital Integrated Coastal Development (NCICD) masterplan, will start on 9 October 2014. This ambitious mega-project, situated in the bay of Jakarta, aims to enhance flood prevention, foster urban development and - more generally - to turn Jakarta into a more prestigious metropolis. The project requires a total of USD $40 billion in investments. Private participation is vital for financing of the project.

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The economy of Indonesia, which has been slowing since 2011, will have difficulty to rebound in 2015 as the central bank’s key interest rate (BI rate) is expected to be raised again to avert capital outflows brought on by higher interest rates in the US and to combat accelerated inflation after domestic subsidized fuel prices have been raised by the new government led by president-elect Joko Widodo (Jokowi). After a GDP growth pace of 6.5 percent (y/y) in 2011, economic growth in Southeast Asia’s largest economy fell to 5.8 percent (y/y) in 2013.

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Often the lack of quality and quantity of infrastructure in Indonesia has been cited as a reason for limited economic growth. Lack of adequate infrastructure causes the country's logistics costs to rise steeply, thus reducing competitiveness and attractiveness of the investment climate. Also in the country’s natural resources sector Indonesia’s infrastructure problems hamper development. For instance, the lack of quality irrigation to supply ample quantities of water to rice basins causes rice production to be far from optimal.

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The Indonesian government should improve inter and intra island connectivity to boost the number of foreign and domestic tourists in Indonesia. Due to the country’s lack of quality and quantity of infrastructure, a number of Indonesian regions that contain huge tourist potential cannot be reached easily. This was one of the conclusions drawn at a dialogue about the progress made after the Masterplan for Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia’s Economic Development (MP3EI) has been underway for three years.

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Indonesia has jumped four places in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index 2014-2015. In the latest edition Southeast Asia’s largest economy is ranked 34th (from 38th in last year’s edition of the index). Since the 2012-2013 edition, when Indonesia was ranked 50th, the country has risen steadily. The Global Competitiveness Index measures the institutions, policies, as well as factors that set the sustainable current and medium-term levels of economic prosperity among 144 countries around the world.

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After having grown rapidly in the years 2010-2013, infrastructure development in Indonesia lost its momentum in 2014. This was due to limited available government funds, uncertainty caused by the legislative and presidential elections, and the nation's slowing economic growth. After Joko Widodo became Indonesia's seventh president in October 2014, it was expected that infrastructure development would revive. However, it didn't. But Widodo made one important move by seriously reducing energy subsidies, hence making more funds available for infrastructure development.

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Last week it was officially announced that China Railway International Co. Ltd, subsidiary of China Railway Group Ltd, together with a consortium consisting of Indonesian state-owned enterprises (which include Pilar Sinergi BUMN Indonesia, Wijaya Karya, Kereta Api, and Jasa Marga) will build Indonesia's first ever high-speed railway, valued at over USD $5 billion, between the capital city of Jakarta and Bandung (in West Java), a route that stretches for approximately 150 km.

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Republik Rakyat Tiongkok (RRT) telah memenangkan sebuah kontrak untuk membangun jalur kereta berkecepatan tinggi antara Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta dan Bandung (Jawa Barat), mengalahkan Jepang dalam proses ini. Pada awal bulan ini, Pemerintah Indonesia secara tak terduga memutuskan untuk menunda proposal dari Jepang dan RRT untuk konstruksi jalur kereta berkecepatan tinggi bernilai miliaran rupiah antara kedua kota karena proposal-proposal ini mencakup bantuan keuangan atau jaminan dari Pemerintah Indonesia. Terlebih lagi, Indonesia menganggap kereta super cepat tidak diperlukan untuk rute yang relatif pendek (150 km).

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Merespon ekonomi global yang melambat, Presiden Joko Widodo telah mengumumkan paket kebijakan ekonomi yang baru yang bertujuan untuk mendongkrak pertumbuhan ekonomi Indonesia di tengah ketidakjelasan yang tinggi dalam konteks global. Pada hari Rabu (09/09), Joko Widodo (dikenal dengan panggilan Jokowi) memberikan sejumlah detail mengenai fase pertama ini dalam sebuah pidato di Istana Negara di Jakarta.

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Government-led infrastructure development is regarded by most analysts and policymakers as the key to overcome Indonesia’s slowing economic growth as infrastructure development will cause a multiplier effect in the economy (triggering growth in other industries such as cement and property while job availability grows accordingly). In the second quarter of 2015, Indonesia’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth slowed to 4.67 percent (y/y), a six-year low.

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Indonesia adalah pemegang saham terbesar ke-8 di Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) yang baru saja didirikan. Kementerian Keuangan Indonesia mengumumkan di awal minggu ini bahwa Indonesia akan menginvestasikan 672,1 juta dollar AS di AIIB selama lima tahun ke depan. AIIB adalah sebuah lembaga keuangan multilateral yang baru (dipelopori oleh Republik Rakyat Tiongkok) yang menyediakan dana untuk proyek pembangunan infrastruktur di wilayah Asia Pasifik.

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A total of 1,555,609 foreign tourists have visited the island of Bali, the most popular tourist destination in Indonesia, in the first five months of 2015, an 11.3 percentage point growth from the same period last year. Given that the number of foreign tourists usually peaks in the period June-September it is most likely that the government’s target of welcoming 4 million foreign tourists on Bali in 2015 will be achieved, or exceeded. Most tourists that visit Bali originate from Australia, China and Japan.

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Data terakhir dari Asosiasi Semen Indonesia (ASI) menunjukkan bahwa konsumsi semen di Indonesia menurun 3,8% (year-on-year) menjadi 22,9 juta ton di lima bulan pertama tahun 2015 (dari 23,8 juta ton semen di periode yang sama tahun lalu). Kejatuhan ini adalah penurunan paling tajam dalam konsumsi semen Indonesia sejak 2009 waktu permintaan jatuh hampir 7% pada basis year-on-year (y/y) karena dampak dari krisis finansial dunia. Penurunan saat ini disebabkan oleh perlambatan perekonomian Indonesia dan jatuhnya harga-harga komoditi di luar Jawa.

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Although most emerging market stocks fell, Indonesian stocks and the rupiah showed a solid performance on Thursday (21/05). The rupiah appreciated 0.40 percent to IDR 13,122 per US dollar according to the Bloomberg Dollar Index, while the benchmark stock index of Indonesia (Jakarta Composite Index) rose 0.39 percent to 5,313.21 points. Most emerging stocks fell due to weak data from China (despite a series of stimulus). However, Indonesian stocks were supported by news about its credit rating and dividend announcements.

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Indonesia is not the easiest place to invest for foreign investors. This is reflected by the World Bank's Doing Business 2014 index in which Indonesia ranks 120th. In a business forum, held last week in Beijing, Chinese businessmen expressed a number of matters that blocked or seriously delayed their investments in Indonesia. For Indonesia (both domestic and foreign) investment realization, particularly in infrastructure, is important as investments is considered the main driver for the country’s economic growth in 2016.

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