Below is a list with tagged columns and company profiles.

Today's Headlines Infrastructure

  • Dam Construction in Indonesia: 8 Dams to Be Tendered

    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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  • GVK to Develop New International Airport in Yogyakarta

    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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  • Cement Sales Indonesia Rise in January on Infrastructure Push

    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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  • Indonesian Banks Look at Food & Beverage Sector for 2016 Credit Growth

    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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  • National Strategic Projects Indonesia: Land Acquisition & Funds

    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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  • Moody's Investors Service Keeps Indonesia's Credit Rating at Baa3

    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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  • Infrastructure Indonesia: Government Offers Toll Road Projects

    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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  • Indonesia & ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) - Introduction

    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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  • New Cities and Economic Centers along the Jakarta-Bandung Railway

    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 End 2015 in a Positive Way

    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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Latest Columns Infrastructure

  • 20 Japanese Food and Beverage Companies Plan to Invest in Indonesia

    A total of twenty Japanese companies engaged in the food and beverage industry are exploring investment opportunities in Indonesia. According to research conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the food and beverage industry of Indonesia is regarded as a lucrative investment opportunity by these companies. If realized, these foreign direct investments could be worth between USD $400 million to USD $1 billion. However, JICA’s research did not mention any names of the Japanese companies.

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  • Indonesia Vulnerable to Land Disputes as Few Plantation Estate is Registered

    The plantation sector of Indonesia is vulnerable to land disputes. Noor Marzuki, a Director at the National Land Agency (Badan Pertanahan Nasional, or BPN), a non-departmental government institution, said that currently only 30 percent of Indonesia's total plantation estate area has been registered at the BPN. This implies that 70 percent of Indonesian plantation estates are unregistered and thus susceptible to land conflicts. The total size of Indonesia's plantation estate area is 120 million hectares.

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  • What are the Best Performing Indonesian Stocks so Far in 2014?

    Regarding stock trading on the Indonesia Stock Exchange, investors who focused on property, banking and infrastructure stocks have made the highest profit so far in 2014. Although all sectoral indices that are contained within the benchmark stock index of Indonesia, known as the Jakarta Composite Index (abbreviated IHSG) have shown a good performance, the three aforementioned sectoral indices stand out as the country's top performers. Indonesia's IHSG has risen 16.14 percent between 1 January and 26 May 2014.

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  • Indonesian Cement Sales Decline in April 2014 due to Legislative Election

    Indonesian cement sales fell 0.4 percent (year-on-year) to 4.52 million tons in April 2014. The decline in cement sales was the result of the country’s legislative election that was held on 9 April 2014 as consumers bought few building materials during the campaign period. Head of the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI) Widodo Santoso stated that a number of large infrastructure projects are currently being tendered and are thus unable to boost domestic cement sales yet.

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  • World Bank: East Asia Pacific at Work: Employment, Enterprise & Well-Being

    As rapid economic development has pushed the percentage of people working in most East Asian countries to among the highest in the world, policy makers should enact labor regulations and social protection policies to benefit all workers, including those in the large informal economy, according to a new World Bank report, East Asia Pacific at Work: Employment, Enterprise and Well-Being (released on 8 May 2014). Current regulations, however, favor salaried, prime-age males at the expense of women and youth.

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  • Jakarta's Giant Sea Wall & National Capital Integrated Coastal Development

    The Indonesian government is still studying the feasibility study for the National Capital Integrated Coastal Development (NCICD) masterplan. The NCICD masterplan, a joint project between the governments of Indonesia and the Netherlands, aims to protect the capital city of Jakarta against floods caused by high tides and faciliates sustainable development of Jakarta. The masterplan is developed by a consortium headed by Witteveen+Bos (main contractor) and Grontmij, with subconsultants KuiperCompagnons, Deltares, Ecorys and Triple-A.

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  • Fitch Ratings Survey Shows Optimistic View on Indonesian Economy

    Fitch Ratings, one of the three major global credit rating agencies, said that its latest annual survey on economic prospects and the business climate in Indonesia indicates an optimistic view. Respondents in the survey, mostly CEOs and Division Heads at financial institutions, companies, government and media, were asked 11 questions about the Indonesian economy, reformation and prospects for the next five years. Andrew Steel, Managing Director Head of Asia Pacific Corporate Ratings Group, presented results of the survey.

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  • Without Reform, Indonesia's Oil Imports Reach 1.6 Million Bpd by 2020

    Imports of oil will accelerate to 1.6 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2020 if fuels continue to be subsidized by the Indonesian government. This development will seriously burden Indonesia's trade balance (and current account). In 2013, Indonesia posted a trade deficit of USD $12.6 billion in the oil & gas sector. Due to improved performance in the non-oil & gas sector, the overall trade deficit was kept at USD $4.06 billion. Besides placing downward pressure on the rupiah exchange rate, expensive subsidies also burden the state budget.

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  • Tourism in Indonesia: Terrorism, Infrastructure and Asean Common Visa

    Tourism in Indonesia has posted impressive growth rates in recent years. This development is due to the fact that Indonesia has plenty of beautiful sites and cultural traditions to offer to foreign (and domestic) tourists, improved airline accessibility to Indonesia, and enhanced focus on promotional campaigns in foreign countries. Lastly, and not unimportantly, there have been no violent terrorist attacks in recent years. In the 2000s, a vicious terrorist attack always resulted in a temporary drop in foreign tourist arrivals.

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  • Infrastructure Development Update Indonesia: Trans-Sumatra Highway

    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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