• Indonesian Stocks & Rupiah Fall on Stalemate between Greece & Creditors

    As Greece and its international creditors have failed to reach an agreement (yet) regarding the disbursement of crucial bailout funds for the debt payment of debt-ridden Greece to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) later this month, most Asian stocks fell on Thursday (25/06) in cautious trading. Indonesia’s benchmark stock index (Jakarta Composite Index) fell 0.68 percent to 4,920.04 points, while the rupiah depreciated 0.20 percent to IDR 13,328 per US dollar according to the Bloomberg Dollar Index.

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  • Coffee Production & Export Indonesia to Improve unless El Nino Appears

    Due to the prolonged dry season impacting on harvests, coffee production in Indonesia as well as coffee exports from the world’s third-largest coffee grower continued to decline. Based on the latest data from the International Coffee Organization (ICO), Indonesia’s coffee output plunged 23 percent to 540 million kilograms in the period April 2014 to March 2015 compared to the same period in the previous year, while Indonesia’s coffee exports declined to 336 million kilograms from 612 million kilograms over the same period.

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  • Gelar Batik Nusantara 2015: Indonesian Batik Popular in the USA

    According to Indonesia’s state news agency Antara, the United States (US) have become the largest export destination for Indonesian batik. Approximately 37 percent of Indonesia’s total batik export is shipped to the US, the world’s largest economy. Batik is a traditional textile produced by using a technique of wax-resist dyeing applied to cloth. Although several other countries also produce batik, the most well-known batik originates from the island of Java (batik was recognized as a World Cultural Heritage by the UNESCO in 2009).

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  • Property in Indonesia: Expats Allowed to Own Luxurious Apartments?

    Indonesian Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro is completing a study related to the possibility of allowing foreign ownership of property in Indonesia. In a bid to generate more state revenue through taxation, the Indonesian government may allow foreigners (expats) to own luxurious (residential) apartments in the bigger cities of Indonesia. These apartments should be worth at least IDR 5 billion (approx. USD $375,940) according to current proposals. Brodjonegoro emphasized that expats will not be allowed to own landed houses.

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