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

  • Steel Industry in Indonesia: Challenges and Opportunities

    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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  • Finance Minister Chatib Basri on Indonesia’s Economic Fundamentals

    Indonesian Finance Minister Chatib Basri said that the lower pace of economic growth in China, the world’s second-largest economy, is a major concern for Indonesia as it leads to declining demand for commodities (and thus places downward pressure on commodity prices). As Indonesia is a major commodity exporter - such as coal, crude palm oil, nickel ore and tin - the country feels the impact of weak global demand for commodities. About 60 percent of Indonesia’s exports are commodities, mostly raw ones.

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  • Indonesian August Cement Sales Rise on Property & Infrastructure Projects

    Indonesian cement sales jumped 37.4 percent (year-on-year) to 4.7 million tons in August 2014 due to higher cement demand from Indonesian property and infrastructure developers. Widodo Santoso, Chairman of the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI), said that the development of smelters, power plants, apartments, hotels, and social housing has been key to improved cement sales last month. However, the 37.4 percentage point growth was also caused by fewer working days in August 2013 as the Lebaran holiday fell in that month.

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  • Infrastructure Indonesia: Tender Soekarno-Hatta Airport Railway Delayed

    The prequalification tender for the construction of the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport Railway project has been postponed until late October 2014 (from August) as agreements with several stakeholders still need to be finalized. For example, the government is yet to underwrite part of the required investment. Indonesia’s Ministry of Transportation proposes to underwrite IDR 13.5 trillion (USD $2.3 billion) - approximately 49 percent of total required investment for this railway project.

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  • Indonesian Property Stocks Gain Most in First 8 Months of 2014

    Property stocks listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) have outperformed all other stocks between the first trading day of 2014 up to 29 August 2014. The IDX’ property sector category rose 37.6 percent in the indicated period, whereas the benchmark stock index (Jakarta Composite Index, abbreviated IHSG) - which involves all stocks traded on the IDX - climbed 18.7 percent over the same period. On the IDX, stocks are placed in ten sectoral categories. The second-best performing sectoral index was finance (+24.5 percent).

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  • Infrastructure in Indonesia: President Yudhoyono Targets Start of 13 Projects

    Before the second and final term of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has finished on 20 October 2014, the groundbreaking of a total of 13 infrastructure projects should have been conducted. These 13 projects are diverse ranging from toll roads to steam power plants and the extension of the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport located nearby Jakarta. One of these 13 projects - the IDR 9.65 trillion Trans Sulawesi Railway project - has already had its groundbreaking in mid-August 2014.

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  • Joko Widodo’s Political & Economic Agenda: Future of Jokowi’s Indonesia?

    When campaigning, presidential candidates will always promise a bright future in order to gain votes. It is particularly easy for a new presidential candidate to promise golden mountains as opposed to the incumbent president who needs to be more cautious making promises as people can point to the (failed) results of his promises during the presidential term. The 2014 Indonesian presidential election was particularly interesting as we saw two new presidential candidates and, thus, the ‘inflation of promises’.

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  • Indonesian Government Tenders Soekarno-Hatta Airport Train Project

    The Indonesian Transportation Ministry will tender the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport train project in August 2014. The project, which will connect one of the world’s busiest airports to the capital city of Jakarta, is offered in the shape of a public-private partnership (PPP) with the Indonesian government. The total of investment required to develop the railway, which will be built partly underground, is estimated at IDR 26 trillion (USD $2.2 billion). The project aims to improve connectivity to the airport.

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  • World Bank Report: How Can Indonesia Avoid the Middle Income Trap?

    On Monday (23/06), the World Bank released its latest analysis regarding the Indonesian economy. In its report, titled ‘Indonesia: Avoiding the Trap’, the World Bank states that Indonesia needs to implement a six reforms in priority areas in order to avoid the so-called middle income trap (referring to the situation where a country gets stuck at a certain income level). Without these critical reforms, the country’s economic growth will slow and may not be able to escape the middle income trap.

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  • Presidential Election Indonesia 2014: 2nd Television Debate Jokowi-Prabowo

    Sunday evening (15/06), the second debate between Indonesia’s two presidential candidates - Prabowo Subianto and Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo - was held. This debate was broadcast live on various Indonesian television stations and - once again - managed to become a trending topic on social media. The debate, the theme of which was ‘development of the economy and social welfare‘, was characterized by a nationalistic and protectionist tone. This tone had already been set by Subianto in the past weeks but now Jokowi also stressed protectionism.

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