PT Pelabuhan Indonesia II (Indonesia Port Corporation in English but most widely known as Pelindo II), the state-owned enterprise that is involved in port and harbour services in ten Indonesian provinces, will choose its partner for the construction of terminal II and terminal III of the New Priok Port project from a selection of 12 companies. These companies can either opt to join the tender for the construction of one terminal, or, for both terminals together. At the end of the year, the winners of the tenders will be announced.

Read more ›

In order to be fully prepared for the start of the ASEAN Economic Community in late 2015, the Indonesian government has formed a national committee that will provide analysis, evaluations as well as recommendations to the government. Indonesia's president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced plans to set up this committee in April. He stated that the committee will include representatives from the government, entrepreneurs, analysts and members of the public.

Read more ›

Indonesia Investments presents the updated company profile of PT Lippo Cikarang Tbk, a leading Indonesian property developer that started operations in the early 1990s with the development of the Cikarang township in Bekasi (West Java). This township includes both industrial and residential centers, complete with supporting infrastructure and public facilities on a 3,000 hectare-wide landbank. Similar to other Indonesian property developers, Lippo Cikarang has posted growing profits due to higher demand in the property sector.

Read more ›

In order to tackle Jakarta's grave traffic problem, brought on by a lack of quantity and quality of infrastructure and public transportation in combination with millions of daily travelers, governor Joko Widodo has given great priority to the development of the Jakarta Mass Rapid Transit System (MRT). Similar to the Sunda Strait Bridge, Jakarta's MRT project has been a topic of heated discussion and study for decades. However, pressure from Jakarta's governor Joko Widodo (who is better known as Jokowi) put an end to the lingering delay.

Read more ›

The government of Indonesia expects inflation to rise to 7.2 percent in 2013 because of the increase in the price of subsidized fuel in June, and expects it to ease to 4 percent in both 2014 and 2015 provided that good monetary policy is implemented. This good monetary policy should particularly be targeted at maintaining food security. The projections were presented by the Fiscal Policy Agency (Badan Kebijakan Fiskal), the Ministry of Finance, and Indonesia's central bank Bank Indonesia.

Read more ›

About a week ago, Indonesia's highly optimistic minister of Industry, MS Hidayat, stated that Indonesia's non oil & gas manufacturing sector would grow around 9 percent in 2013. Now, however, the minister has felt the need to revise this figure down to 6.5 percent after meeting several other ministers. Issues that will limit growth of the manufacturing sector are higher minimum wages, the planned rise in subsidized fuel prices, and the lack of support through bank credits.

Read more ›

Indonesia Investments presents the updated company profile of Holcim Indonesia, Indonesia's third-largest cement producer. The company, part of the Swiss-based Holcim Group, provides a fully integrated range of cement types, concrete and aggregates to customers (mostly on Java). Indonesia's cement business has been booming in recent years and therefore Holcim is focused on expanding its production capacity through the construction of two Tuban plants. The company holds a 15 to 16 percent market share in Indonesia.

Read more ›

Royal HaskoningDHV, a Netherlands-based international project management and engineering consultancy services provider, has won the contract to supervise the construction of the extension of the main port of Jakarta, Tanjung Priok. The contract is part of the New Kalibaru Terminal Development. The first phase includes the development of a new 4.5 million TEUs container terminal which aims to enhance the economic development of Indonesia and will bring Indonesia's port facilities on par with other world-class ports.

Read more ›

Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa is the second largest cement producer of Indonesia in terms of market share. Its operations are spread across factories in West Java and South Kalimantan, comprising a total of 12 plants. At end 2012, Indocement’s total installed design capacity was 18.6 million tons of cement per year. Indocement offers a diversified range of cement products which are sold under the “Tiga Roda” brand. Indonesia's cement sector has shown a steep increase in domestic cement production and consumption.

Read more ›

PSA International (the Port of Singapore Authority) is one of the participants in the tender - organized by PT Pelindo II - for the construction of terminal two and three of the Kalibaru New Priok harbour in North Jakarta. According to the Director of Pelindo II, RJ Lino, there are 18 participants in the tender, of which the winner will probably be announced in September 2013. Companies can either opt to join the tender for the construction of both terminals, or, one of the two terminals.

Read more ›

In recent weeks, Indonesia has to cope with a large amount of negative publicity as large capital outflows from the country's financial markets occurred, partly due to weak economic results regarding the current account balance, inflation and the the rupiah. Interest rates are rising, thus eroding people's purchasing power and consequently curbing economic growth. However, the Global Competitiveness Index 2013-2014, released by World Economic Forum, contained a positive outcome for Southeast Asia's largest economy.

Read more ›

The government of Indonesia proposes to allocate IDR 336.24 trillion (USD $32.6 billion) for subsidy spending in the 2014 state budget draft: IDR 284.7 trillion (USD $27.6 billion) for energy subsidies and IDR 51.6 trillion (USD $5.0 billion) for non-energy subsidies. The proposed amount implies a 3.41 percent fall in total subsidy allocation compared to Indonesia's state budget in 2013. However, despite a reduction, subsidy expenditure is still large at 18.5 percent of total government spending (IDR 1,816.7 trillion).

Read more ›

Cement sales in Indonesia grew by seven percent to 32.9 million tons in the period January to July 2013. This pace of growth is significantly lower compared to the double-digit cement growth rate last year and thus forms another sign of cooling economic growth in Southeast Asia's largest economy (cement sales are a good indicator to measure the state of economic growth of a country). A slowdown in domestic cement sales is likely to continue in the second half of 2013, partly due to a decline in infrastructure projects.

Read more ›

Apart from the five tax incentives that I have mentioned in a previous column, the Indonesian government also intends to ease two other tax rules in order to boost investments in Indonesia from 2014 onwards. These are the tax holiday and tax allowance. Relaxation of the tax holiday involves an alteration to the period as well as the size of the investment, and relaxation of procedural difficulties. Relaxation of the tax allowance involves the revision of the number of sectors that are eligible and a relaxation of procedures in the form of tax clearance.

Read more ›

Due to uncertainty over the feasibility study, it seems highly unlikely that groundbreaking of the ambitious Sunda Strait Bridge project can be conducted in 2014. There has been a long delay with the feasibility study as differences of opinion emerged over who would undertake the study and how it will be financed. Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa said that if the government considers the project to have high priority, then it should make a decision now. If not, Indonesia's next government - after the 2014 elections - will be burdened with the issue.

Read more ›

Indonesia's main stock index (IHSG) rebounded on Tuesday (30/07) as domestic investors were keen on buying Indonesian assets. The value of transactions rose steeply to IDR 8.9 trillion (USD $872.5 million) and four billion shares changed hands. Indonesia's blue chips experienced a good day with Perusahaan Gas Negara gaining 3.51 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia 3.18 percent, and Telekomunikasi Indonesia rising 3.07 percent. The IHSG ended the trading day at 4,608.49 points, a 0.61 gain.

Read more ›

Indonesia's Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) said that it signals a lot of foreign interest in infrastructure projects in Indonesia. However, the country's unconducive investment climate blocks investors from initiating or participating in these projects. A number of matters that cause the unconducive investment climate are discrepancies in regulatory framework between central and regional governments, land acquisition, and a lack of human resources with adequate skills.

Read more ›

Cement consumption in Indonesia increased 8.6 percent to 18.11 million tons in the first four months of 2013. Demand was particularly supported by property and housing projects in the bigger cities of Indonesia. Another pillar of support was found in the development of various infrastructure projects (including those within the framework of the government's ambitious MP3EI plan). The Indonesian Cement Association expects this year's cement consumption in Indonesia to rise to 61 million tons in total.

Read more ›

Last week Indonesia's main stock index (IHSG) was mixed with a weakening trend. The index lost 19.9 points, equivalent to 0.40 percent of its value. During the last month, the index consolidated within the range of 4,800 and 5,030 points. Foreign funds continued to pour in and trade volume remained high although below average trade in the last three weeks. In fact, our technical indicators are showing signs that Indonesia's main stock index has become saturated.

Read more ›

Astra International, Indonesia's largest listed company by market capitalization, presented its Q1-2013 financial results yesterday. The company, which represents the dominating force in Indonesia's automotive sector, posted a seven percent fall in net earnings (YoY) to IDR 4,310 trillion (USD $444.3 million) amid Indonesia's rising labour costs, weak commodity prices, increased competition in the country's car sector and effects of new minimum down-payment regulations in automotive Shariah-financing.

Read more ›