The Indonesian government will speed up construction of the 2,700 kilometers-long Trans-Sumatra toll road by revising Presidential Regulation No 100/2014 on Toll Road Construction in Sumatra and by accelerating the land acquisition process. The Trans-Sumatra toll road will become the main highway on Sumatra that connects Banda Aceh in the north to Bandar Lampung in the south through 24 sections stretching across ten provinces. President Joko Widodo said that construction of the highway is to start in April 2015.

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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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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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On 16 February 2014, Indonesia Investments released the latest edition of its newsletter. This free newsletter, which is sent to our subscribers once per week, contains the most important news stories from Indonesia that have been reported on our website in the last seven days. Most of the topics involve economic matters such as Bank Indonesia's benchmark interest rate, the rupiah exchange rate, tourism, trade balance, the eruption of Mount Kelud, cement sales, an update on the MP3EI, and more.

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The Ministry of National Development Planning (Bappenas) estimates that between 2015 and 2020 the country needs IDR 7.200 trillion (USD $600 billion) for investments in infrastructure. However, the central government can only supply about 25 percent of the needed investments. These figures are the preliminary results of a study conducted by Bappenas. The study, which focuses on Indonesia's infrastructure development in the period 2015 to 2020, is expected to be completed by March 2014.

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According to the Deputy Minister of Transportation Bambang Susantono, the construction of the Trans-Java railroad is well on its way and might be fully operational from the first quarter of 2014. The Trans-Java railroad is a 727-kilometer double-track railroad that connects Jakarta and Surabaya, Indonesia's two largest cities. Most of the railroad, which costs the government IDR 9.8 trillion (USD $852.2 million), will be ready for use before New Year but there are still a few plots of land that the government needs to acquire.

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The government of Indonesia invites foreign and domestic investors to invest in the country's small islands and coastal areas in order to make these locations more attractive for tourism and other sectors. Facilities and infrastructure in these areas as well as transportation to and around these areas should be improved. Therefore, the government - through its Team for the Acceleration of Investment in Small Islands within the Ministry of Fishery and Maritime - is eager to make the investment climate more attractive. Currently, it sees three bottlenecks.

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The realization of infrastructure projects through the Indonesian government's public-private partnership (PPP) scheme is yet to bear fruit. Up to this day, PPP infrastructure projects in Indonesia are still constrained by the difficulty of land acquisition, regulatory uncertainties and lack of funding. These investments projects are not among the most popular investment projects of private investors because they usually involve expensive (and risky) investments as well as patience while waiting for return of investment.

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About one week ahead of the APEC Economic Leaders' Week in Bali, Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono inaugurated the 12.7-kilometer long toll road in Bali on Monday (23/09). The toll road, which runs almost entirely on viaducts above the sea, consists of a north-south route from the city of Denpasar to Nusa Dua, as well as a branch to the Denpasar airport (Ngurah Rai International Airport) and a connection to the port of Benoa. Operator of the Bali toll road is Jasamarga Bali Toll, a consortium of state-controlled companies.

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The total value of investments in the Masterplan for Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia's Economic Development (MP3EI) between 2011 - when the Masterplan was first introduced - and July 2013 amounted to IDR 647.46 trillion (USD $58.86 billion). Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa said this to state-owned news agency Antara. State-owned enterprises invested a total of IDR 173.63 trillion, followed by the private sector with IDR 231.88 trillion, the government with IDR 99 trillion and public-private partnerships with IDR 143.12 trillion.

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It is estimated that Indonesia will need some USD $450 billion in funds to finance the government's infrastructure development plans for the 2015-2019 period. However, through the state budgets the government can only deliver USD $230 billion, or roughly 50 percent of required funds. The remainder should originate from the private sector (30 percent of total funds) and state-controlled enterprises (20 percent). However, is it likely that the private sector (both foreign and domestic) is to come up with USD $141 billion for investment in infrastructure up to 2019?

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Domestic steel sales in Indonesia are expected to rise 6 percent y/y to 15.1 million tons in 2014. Meanwhile, the global average steel price has been USD $536 per ton this year, implying that the market value of Indonesian steel sales is to reach USD $8 billion this year. In recent years, the country’s steel sales have been rising on development of infrastructure, defense industry, and manufacturing. The sales are expected to continue rising in the years ahead due to commitment of the government to boost infrastructure development.

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The local government of North Sumatra stated that a number of foreign investors have shown interest to participate in the tender for the construction of the Kuala Namu-Tebing Tinggi toll road. The toll road will connect the new Kuala Namu International Airport to the city of Tebing Tinggi, approximately 30 kilometers from North Sumatra's capital city of Medan. Kuala Namu is designed as Indonesia's air traffic hub for Southeast Asia as it has a more strategic location to Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Bangkok compared to Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta airport.

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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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Total realized investments in the context of the government's Masterplan for Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia's Economic Development (MP3EI) will reach IDR 628.9 trillion (USD $51.6 billion) in 2014. The MP3EI was unveiled by the Indonesian government in May 2011 to accelerate its ambitious goal of becoming one of the world's largest economies by 2025. This masterplan particularly focuses on (much-needed) infrastructure development by cooperating with the private sector (for example through public-private partnerships).

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Indonesia's cement sales in January 2014 declined 1 percent to 4.65 million metric tons from the same month in 2013 (4.68 million metric tons). The decline was caused by severe floods brought about by high rainfall amid a peak in Indonesia's rainy season. The floods resulted in disrupted distribution networks, therefore blocking cement shipments to retailers. Moreover, these weather conditions caused the postponement of several construction activities, thus reducing demand for cement.

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Rudi Wahyono, Executive Director of the Indonesian Center for Information and Development Studies (Cides), believes that Indonesia's economic expansion in 2014 will be divided in two stages: before and after the legislative and presidential elections. Before the 2014 elections, Wahyono expects that economic growth will be slightly lower at 5.7 percent compared to the period after the elections when growth is expected to hit 6 percent. Growth in the first half of 2014 will be less strong as investors are waiting for the election results.

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The regional government of Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city after the capital city of Jakarta, is planning to tender two separate infrastructure projects - open to both foreign and domestic investors - at the start of December 2013. The two projects involve the construction of the city's monorail, valued at IDR 6.42 trillion (USD $558.3 million), and the construction of a tramline, valued at IDR 2.41 trillion (USD $209.6 million). When finished, the two projects are expected to reduce traffic congestion in Surabaya, East Java's economic center.

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One of the major problems which is blocking Indonesia's economic growth is the country's infrastructure. The lack of quality and quantity of Indonesia's infrastructure causes logistics costs to rise steeply and thus makes investors (particularly the foreign ones) hesitant to invest as high logistics costs imply a weakening of the country's competitiveness. The problem of Indonesia's infrastructure is both 'hard' infrastructure (roads, airports and electricity supply) and 'soft' infrastructure (social welfare and health care).

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Although initially expected to start in 2015, the government announced that construction of the new Karawang airport (in West Java) may commence in 2014. The administrative process (including a spatial plan review) is near completion, thus clearing the way for the airport's groundbreaking. The Karawang International Airport, which is designed to have a passenger handling capacity of 70 million people per year, will be built on a 900 ha piece of land and is envisaged to relieve passenger and flight congestion at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

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