Construction firm Indonesia Pondasi Raya plans to conduct an initial public offering (IPO) on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in December 2015. The company, better known as Indopora, aims to raise around IDR 530 billion (approx. USD $39 million) by offering 303 million shares, or 15.1 percent of its paid-up capital, at a price ranging between IDR 1,280 and IDR 1,920 per share. This range is based on a price-to-earnings ratio of 8 to 12 times. Kurnia Salim, Head of Institutional Business at Yuanta Securities Indonesia, said Indopora is projected to collect IDR 333 billion (approx. USD $25 million) in net profit in 2016.

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In line with rising tourism in Indonesia, the value of hotel construction in Southeast Asia's largest economy is expected to grow 16 percent to IDR 21 trillion (approx. USD $1.6 billion) in 2016. Most of the new projects - roughly 21 percent - are located in the Greater Jakarta area. Besides tapping the tourism potential, hotel developers also want to tap the business potential, meaning that due to expected accelerated economic growth in 2016, there will arrive more foreign businessmen in Indonesia to attend meetings and other activities, particularly as the ASEAN Economic Community comes online.

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Sales of Semen Indonesia, Indonesia's leading cement producer, are expected to remain stagnant in 2015 despite recently rising cement demand due to the kick off of various government-led infrastructure projects. In the January-October 2015 period, the company's cement sales fell 2 percent compared to sales in the same period last year. On a positive note, Semen Indonesia's cement sales in October surged 10 percent to 2.7 million tons compared to the same month one year earlier. But with two months remaining it is not expected that the company's sales will significantly rise from last year's sales (26.6 million tons).

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The government of Indonesia is currently preparing the seventh economic policy package. Through this new package it aims to boost people's purchasing power by focusing on the village economy (ekonomi desa). The package will have two main centers of focus: (1) making the use of village funds - disbursed by the central government - more effective, and (2) improving logistics at the village level. Edy Putra Irawadi, Indonesian Deputy Minister for Industry and Trade, said these new policies will boost people's purchasing power, especially at the village level.

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According to the latest data from the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI), Indonesia's cement sales climbed 10.7 percent year-on-year (y/y) to 6.4 million tons in October 2015 as government-related infrastructure development has picked up in the second half of the year (cement sales only contracted on the island of Kalimantan in October). Cement sales are an interesting indicator as they provide valuable information about the country's household consumption and investment in property and infrastructure sectors.

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The second installment of Indonesia's September economic policy package, unveiled on Tuesday (29/09), received a warmer response from market participants compared to the first one (released on 9 September), evidenced by rebounding stocks and a stronger rupiah rate yesterday. Indonesia's latest policy package involves interest rate tax cuts for exporters, the speeding up of investment licensing for investment in industrial estates, and a relaxation of taxes on imports of capital goods in industrial estates and in the aviation industry.

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On Thursday (03/09), officials from the Netherlands, South Korea and Indonesia signed a letter of intent for a joint study of the second and third phase of the giant sea wall project (National Capital Integrated Coastal Development, abbreviated NCICD) off the coast of Indonesia’s capital city of Jakarta.

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Indonesia has cancelled further development of the multi-billion high-speed railway between the capital city of Jakarta and Bandung (West Java) as President Joko Widodo decided that Indonesia does not need a train that can reach speeds of over 300 km per hour on the relatively short route (150 km) between both cities. Besides the short distance, there will also be around 14 stations constructed between both terminal stations, implying that the train needs to hit the brakes before it can reach its maximum speed.

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In 2016 investors will be able to purchase about IDR 13.7 trillion (approx. USD $1.4 billion) worth of Islamic bonds (known as sukuk) to be issued by the Indonesian government. This amount is nearly double the amount of planned sharia-compliant sovereign debt paper this year (IDR 7.14 trillion). Indonesia will use proceeds from next year's bond sales to boost the nation’s infrastructure development (such as roads, ports, power plants, rail lines, bridges and Islamic universities).

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According to the latest rumours, the government of Indonesia tends to favour China to build the nation's first high-speed railway that will connect the capital city of Jakarta and Bandung in West Java. Over the past weeks, the ‘battle’ between China and Japan over who will be awarded the contract to construct the high-speed and high-profile railway between both cities (worth approx. USD $5 billion) heightened.

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It has been more than a week since the Indonesian government raised its subsidized fuel prices (Pertalite, Pertamax, and automotive diesel fuel) by an average of slightly over 26 percent. One of the most interesting things is to see whether this decision leads to overall growing prices in Indonesian society. After all, fuel is crucial for the movement of goods and services, and has a significant impact on logistics costs.

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When writing this introduction, the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (also known as COP26) had just started in Glasgow (Scotland). Indonesian President Joko Widodo is among the delegates who is slated to speech about the importance of preventing – and adapting to – climate change, and to seek ways to obtain climate financing as Indonesia is unable to finance the huge and costly energy transition by itself.

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On 30 September 2021 Indonesia’s House of Representatives (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat, DPR) approved the 2022 State Budget (Anggaran Pendapatan dan Belanja Negara, APBN) that had previously been proposed by the cabinet. And with 14.2 percent of total government spending being reserved for infrastructure development in the 2022 State Budget, the Indonesian government confirms that it remains committed to much-needed infrastructure development.

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Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) have existed for many decades around the world. By establishing a SWF – and inject capital into the SWF – governments can strengthen their national economies and generate wealth for future generations. In fact, a SWF is essentially a state-owned investment fund typically funded using excess capital.

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As regards Indonesia’s investment and business environment, there were a couple of interesting developments in February 2021. These were developments that – in our opinion – help to strengthen the economy of Indonesia in a fundamental way, albeit it will take a few years (as well as the assistance of other reforms) to fully enjoy the fruits of this labor.

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On 28 August 2020 Indonesian President Joko Widodo officially opened Yogyakarta International Airport (YIA), a brand new airport that is located in Kulon Progo in the Special Region of Yogyakarta; a region known as one of Indonesia’s main tourism centers. Many in fact call Yogyakarta the ‘heart and soul of Indonesia’.

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Those who have visited Indonesia should be well aware of the lack of infrastructure development across the country. Those who have been in urban centers (such as the capital city of Jakarta, Bandung or Surabaya) must have had the experience of being stuck in traffic as the number of road users (mostly cars and motorcycles) outpaces available road surface.

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Across the world, concern over the COVID-19 pandemic grew in September 2020 as the number of new COVID-19 cases continued to rise rapidly. Worldwide, at the end of September 2020, some 34 million people have been infected with the virus, while more than one million people have died after contracting the virus.

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One characteristic of the Indonesian economy is that the state-owned enterprises (SOEs) play an important role in this USD $1.0 trillion economy. They not only play an important role because some of them rank among Indonesia’s biggest companies (in terms of profit, sales and assets), thereby generating plenty of money for the government (in the form of tax revenue or dividend) while at the same time creating jobs for millions of Indonesians.

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On 25 September 2019, only a few days before Indonesia’s House of Representatives (in Indonesian: Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat, or DPR) finished its 2014-2019 term, it approved the 2020 State Budget bill (UU APBN 2020).

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