A total of 29 Indonesian provinces have already confirmed their new provincial minimum wages for the year 2015. Overall (excluding the four remaining provinces), the average Indonesian minimum wage rises 12.77 percent (y/y) in 2015. Although this growth is considerable, it is smaller than Indonesia’s minimum wage growth in 2014 (19.10 percent y/y). The highest minimum wage growth occurred in the province of Bangka Belitung (28 percent), while the lowest wage increase was in Riau (0.58 percent).

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Despite a global drop in piracy incidents in the first half of 2013, Indonesia has experienced a 50 percent surge in pirate attacks to 43 incidents in the same period. Total worldwide pirate attacks in Semester I-2013 fell to 138 cases (from 177). The location where most incidents take place in Indonesia are the waters around the Riau province, particularly around the ports in Dumai and Belawan. "Within Southeast Asia, most of the attacks occur on Indonesian anchorages [not when ships are sailing]" according to the International Maritime Bureau.

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Today, the governor of the Riau province (on Sumatra), Rusli Zainal, was officially declared a suspect by the Corruption Eradication Board (KPK). Zainal is accused of taking bribes from the management of state-controlled Adhi Karya, a construction company, in exchange for a contract to build facilities for last year's National Games in Pekanbaru, the capital city of Riau. The KPK stated that they found convincing evidence to underpin its allegation.

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