THE
COORDINATING MINISTRY FOR ECONOMIC AFFAIRS
Tel: (021) 351-1178
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Trade and
Investment News[1], 20 April 2009
Highlights
National
·
Tsunami recovery agency wraps up work
Politics
·
Golkar considers VP candidates
Terrorism
·
Security
·
Defense minister in
Law & order
·
More Afghans detained as people smuggling focus
rises
Health
·
Asia-Pacific AIDS conference set for
Economy
·
First sukuk over-subscribed seven times
·
Markets respond strongly to peaceful election
Business briefs
Macroeconomy
·
Growth in 2010 forecasted between 4.5% and 5.5%
Investment
·
SMART Corp. to build $50 million crude palm oil
refinery
State concerns
·
Court rules that CSR programs mandatory for private
firms
·
SOEs
·
Construction-company PT Wika forecasts $864 million
in new contracts
Private sector
·
Auto finance firm, retailer Matahari bond issues
successful
·
Bakrie Telecom opens international calls, aims to
cut rates
Banks
·
Banks
could disburse up to $50 billion in next two years, says central bank
Power
·
Power
utility PT PLN looks to $93.5 million net profit
Oil & gas
·
Eni
SpA looks to 50,000 barrels of crude per day Ambalat output
Mining
·
NATIONAL
Tsunami
reconstruction body completes mandate
The tsunami reconstruction agency ended operations on
Thursday, more than four years after deadly waves killed 168,000 people across
northern
The headquarters of the Aceh-Nias Reconstruction Agency
(BRR) was officially closed in a low-key ceremony, ending its responsibility
for one of the largest disaster reconstruction efforts in history.
Post-tsunami reconstruction in the two provinces will be
taken over by the Aceh-Nias Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Continuity
Agency.
“We will hand over Rp1.6 trillion to the Aceh provincial government
and Rp300 billion to the
The new agency will be headed by the governors of Aceh and
Mangkusubroto praised the work of the agency, but
acknowledged it failed to meet the expectations of all victims.
“Building back an Aceh devastated by this disaster is not
the same as building real estate because what we have faced here is wreckage
and angry people, frustrated people because their hope is for speedy
development,” he said.
The 2004 Asian tsunami, which killed more than 220,000
people in total, including in
The BRR says it has allocated $6.7 billion of the $7.2
billion pledged by individuals and governments after the disaster. It has built
over 140,000 homes, 1,759 school buildings, 363 bridges and 13 airports.
By its own figures, around 350 families are still living in
barracks waiting for housing. A major US-funded highway through some of the
worst-hit areas also remains incomplete.
"What the BRR has done in Aceh, although not 100%
perfect, was 94% successful and extraordinary," Aceh Governor Irwandi
Yusuf said on Thursday, Republika reported.
It is now the responsibility of the central government and
provincial administrations to carry on reconstruction efforts," Yusuf
said.
POLITICS
Golkar ready
to offer VP candidates
A pragmatic Golkar Party seems to have realized that it is
no longer
Golkar deputy chairman and House Speaker Agung Laksono,
speaking during an interview at the House of Representatives on Thursday,
confirmed that the party would propose a number of candidates for President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to consider as his running mate in the presidential
election.
“There can be more than one candidate, but the final decision
of who will be picked rests with Yudhoyono,” said Laksono, who is among those
being considered for the post.
Golkar won 21.6% of the popular vote in the 2004 legislative
elections, but support for the party dropped sharply in the legislative poll on
April 9.
The current official count shows Golkar with 14.5% of the
vote, with about 10 million ballots counted as of Thursday night.
Senior Golkar politician Marzuki Darusman said Yudhoyono and
current Vice President and party chairman Kalla had reached an agreement to
create a coalition in the House and cabinet but did not discuss the vice
presidential position.
Kalla held a meeting with party leaders and branch
chairpersons on Thursday evening to discuss Golkar’s position.
Darusman said additional names are necessary because
“Yudhoyono wants an open option which should be understood by Golkar cadres.”
The Democratic Party announced earlier that the leaders of
political parties would not be considered as vice presidential candidates
because it wanted to establish an effective administration in the next term.
Yudhoyono is currently considered to be the strongest
contender for the presidency. The Democratic Party is the closest to achieving
25% of the votes cast in the legislative polls -- the minimum needed to
nominate a presidential candidate without a coalition partner.
TERRORISM
JI funding
network tracked in the
According to 10th Infantry Division commander Maj. Gen.
Reynaldo Mapagu, officials have already identified the local conduits of the JI
militants in Mindanao in the southern
"Our intelligence keeps track of JI’s fund flow. We
know they have local conduits here," Mapagu said.
He said the military is currently tracing the money trail on
how the Indonesia-based JI was able to finance several terrorist operations in
In a document on counter-terrorism obtained by The Star, an Indonesian national
identified as Imam Lamai was tagged as the JI financier, while Abdul Sakim
Sali, alias Commander Kidlat, acted as the team leader of the JI in the
A Malaysian national, Al Poze and an Indonesian, Joling,
were reported to be the organizers of the JI base in
Another Indonesian, Elmer Ambran, also known as Elmer
Enuran, was tagged as the finance officer of the JI's terror operation there.
Usman Colano has been identified as the contact of JI
financier Imam Lamai.
Mapagu also cited the continued influx of suspected JI
militants in the southernmost part of Mindanao, particularly in the coastal
areas of the island
National security officials also lamented that authorities
have failed to monitor the more than 26,000 boat trips that are made annually
between eastern
Three
militants to accept sentences
Three militants jailed for plotting bomb attacks in
“After consulting with their relatives and families, my
three clients decided not to appeal the verdict,” lawyer Asludin Hatjani said.
“It is their decision, so the legal advisers will remove all
appeal documents this week,” he said.
The South Jakarta District Court found the three defendants
— Agustiawarman, Sugiharto and Heri Purwanto — guilty under the Anti-Terrorism
Law and sentenced each to 12 years in jail.
Prosecutors recommended 15 years in jail for each of the
defendants, and requested a week to decide whether to appeal.
SECURITY
Indonesian,
French defense ministers meet in
Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono met with his French
counterpart, Herve Morin, in
Among issues discussed between the two ministers were Iran's
nuclear power program, Indonesian troops in Lebanon and efforts to intensify
cooperation in the procurement of military hardware, an official from the
Indonesian embassy in Paris said.
Sudarsono was in
The visit also aimed at developing, increasing and
strengthening bilateral relations in the defense sector.
Kusama said
Both ministers agreed to explore concrete cooperation on
education and training of military personnel, field communication, defense
industry development, seminars and bilateral dialogs, The
They agreed to set up a committee to follow up the
implementation of the planned cooperation.
The French minister also said there was a possibility that a
French bank could provide funds for the development of the Indonesian defense
industry.
LAW & ORDER
More Afghans arrive
as people smuggling becomes top issue
Police arrested 68 Afghan nationals at Tri Murti resort in
Anyer, Banten on Friday on charges of entering
Cilegon Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Dwi Gunawan said the
arrests followed a tip-off from suspicious local residents after the foreigners
had been staying at the beach resort for several days.
Cilegon police had stepped up patrols in Banten waters as
the area serves as a convenient gateway for illegal immigrants attempting to
use
The 68 Afghan citizens said they wanted to go to
Earlier this month, Bogor Immigration detained 22 Afghan
nationals in the Puncak area on suspicion they were illegal immigrants while last
month, Batam immigration officers detained four illegal immigrants from
The arrests came after 60 regional leaders, including
Sharp increase in suspicious transactions: Monitor
There was a sharp increase in suspicious banking
transactions in the first three months of this year, the Financial Transaction
Reporting and Analysis Center (PPATK) said, Tempo interactive reported.
“We identified 1,300 suspicious transactions per month so
far this year, averaging up to 40 reports in a single day,” PPATK chairman
Yunus Husein said Saturday.
In comparison, PPATK said in 2008 there were around 900
reports of suspicious transactions a month and only 486 reports a month in
2007.
Husein said it is still unclear if the rise is related to
the general election.
The suspicious transactions were reported by around 138
financial service providers, both from banking and non-banking sectors, said
the center.
Aside from the reports, PPATK also received 724 requests for
information on financial transactions from law enforcement agencies.
The largest number of requests came from the police followed
by the Corruption Eradication Commission and the Attorney General’s Office.
Lawyers
praise integrity of
The
The study, conducted by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences
(LIPI), showed that lawyers, who are often perceived as willing to sacrifice
their integrity to win cases, hold the court in high esteem.
"During the survey, lawyers explained that they never
used unethical practices when dealing with the
Lawyers acknowledged they were denied access to meet
It is common knowledge that lawyers and prosecutors often
engage in unethical practices such as bribery in order to win their cases.
Suaedy said lawyers interviewed for the survey half-jokingly
referred to the
The corruption law stipulates that a corruption case
investigated by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) cannot be stopped
at any level, including during the hearing process.
The survey, carried out from October 2008 to January 2009,
involved interviews with hundreds lawyers, judges, prosecutors and journalists.
Suaedy said that according to the survey, judges and
prosecutors felt supported by the cleaner environment the court provided, and
were positive it has been effective in reducing corruption.
The survey aimed at gauging public perception of the
Corruption court judges recalled: Supreme Court
Supreme Court chief justice Harifin Tumpa on Friday revoked
the appointments of 21 new judges to the
“We understand those judges have a number of controversial
issues. The law stated their appointment can be revoked if we find significant
cause,” said Tumpa.
Last week, ICW warned that six of the newly-appointed judges
acquitted at least 49 defendants in graft cases while working as district
courts judges between August 2005 and March 2009.
ICW legal coordinator Emerson Yuntho said their concern was that
if the appointees are officially installed, they will continue to acquit graft
defendants.
Time magazine wins appeal
Time magazine won an appeal in the
Supreme Court on Thursday against $93 million in libel damages awarded to late
dictator Suharto, Agence France-Presse reported.
The court overturned its earlier ruling that Time had defamed Suharto in a May 1999
article alleging he had amassed a vast fortune through corruption.
"The Rp1 trillion ($93 million) of damages is not
granted," Supreme Court judge Hatta Ali said.
"We determined that the article wasn't against the law.
There was no violation of press ethics because the right of reply was
given."
Suharto sought more than $27 billion in the defamation suit
filed against the Asian edition of US-based Time.
The court awarded him Rp1 trillion in damages in September,
2007 and ordered the magazine to apologize for the article.
In February last year the publication submitted a demand for
a review of the Supreme Court ruling, saying it had been based on a
"manifest error."
The article said a four-month investigation in 11 countries
had traced some $15 billion in wealth accumulated by Suharto and his six
children.
The dictator died aged 86 in January last year, having never
been brought to trial for corruption during his 32-year rule.
The Time case has
been closely watched as a benchmark for press freedom in democratic
In one of his last media interviews before he died, Suharto
told Gatra magazine in late 2007 that
he would give any damages he received to the poor.
He also denied that he had stashed a fortune in
"It's not true. If there are any (funds) let them be
given to the people. But in fact there are none," he said.
Suharto resigned amid mass protests and economic chaos in
1998.
Anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International
described him in 2004 as the world's most corrupt leader ever, accusing him of
stealing $15 to $35 billion in state assets.
HEALTH
Bali is set host the Ninth International AIDS Congress for
the
"The congress will be held in Nusa Dua,
The congress will be supported by the Coordinating Welfare
Ministry, the Health Ministry, the UN, the International AIDS Society and the
AIDS Society of Asia and the Pacific.
The congress will have particular relevance for
Papua’s infection rate, estimated at 2.4 out of every 100 people,
is one of the highest outside
While HIV/AIDS rates in the rest of
ECONOMY
First sukuk strongly over-subscribed
Indonesia’s
first-ever five-year Islamic bond, which matures April 23, 2014 and pays a
fixed 8.8% rate of return, was about seven times oversubscribed when it went on
the market Thursday, Agence France-Presse reported.
Middle
Eastern and Islamic investors snapped up 30% of the issuance while buyers from
Asia, including
Funds
were the largest investor class, accounting for 45% of demand, while banks
bought 37%. Retail investors bought 14% and insurance and pension funds 4%.
The government is likely to issue more benchmark-sized sukuk
in future, possibly on an annual basis and with a range of tenors, after the
successful launch of the maiden issue, Dow Jones reported.
"We are committed to develop new instruments so we have
to (conduct issuances) on a regular basis," said Rahmat Waluyanto, the
Finance Ministry's Director General for Government Debt.
"The debut sukuk was very well-received, and the
government is very firm in (its commitment to) developing that market. We might
be committed to issue on an annual basis, depending on the availability of
underlying assets," Waluyanto said.
"Our global sukuk will always be longer-dated. They
could be five-year, 10-year, or 15-year tenor, and (will be of sizes that) can
be used as benchmarks."
Waluyanto said the government is "very optimistic"
about its ability to issue sukuk in future, as the finance ministry has a large
pool of assets that can be securitized to back such debt.
Future issuances could be backed by properties belonging to
other ministries or by construction projects, he said, a move that would expand
the pool of assets available for sukuk offerings.
The government also sold Rp7.45 trillion ($686 million)
worth of regular bonds at an auction on Tuesday, significantly above its
indicative target of Rp2 trillion, AFP reported. The ministry said that the
total bids received amounted to Rp14.57 trillion.
The government has so far this year raised Rp72.95 trillion
from bond issuances, both from the domestic and offshore markets. It expects to
issue debt worth Rp99.6 trillion this year.
According to Bank
The bank said that
Meanwhile
The benchmark composite index, which lost about half its
value last year, was up 5.1% at the close on Monday, while the rupiah was
trading at 11,120 to the dollar compared with 11,385 at the last close before
the elections.
The gains were extended through the week with the rupiah
surging 5.7% to 10,705 per dollar on Friday after earlier reaching a four-month
high of 10,660.
The advance made the rupiah the only gainer this year among
The Jakarta Composite index has rallied almost 25% in the past
month, helped by a return of foreign investors, falling interest rates, rises
in key commodity prices and the smooth general elections. It closed the week at
1,634.79 and analysts said they expected further gains in the week to come.
"With a stable democracy and even stronger government,
BUSINESS BRIEFS
MACROECONOMY
Economic growth in 2010 forecasted between 4.5-5.5%
Bank Indonesia (BI) forecasts economic growth between 4.5
and 5.5 % in 2010, in line with the government's recent figure of about 5%, BI
said in its economic outlook report for 2009-2014 published on Wednesday, The Jakarta Post reported.
Private spending accounted for an average of 64% of gross
domestic product (GDP) between 1998 and 2008, up from 58% between 1988 and
1997.
"The characteristics of the economy tend to be domestic
demand-driven growth," the report said.
BI estimates private consumption, including household
consumption, will grow by 4%-5% next year, up from 3.2-4.2% this year.
However, BI warned that household consumption, the main
driver of private consumption, would be in a more fragile state as it was
heavily financed by labor income rather than savings, loans or other sources.
Around 60% of workers are employed in the manufacturing,
agricultural and mining sectors, which could be hard hit by the crisis,
according to BI.
"The possibility of household consumption slowing in a
significant way due to the impact of the global crisis should be closely
watched because there is already a wave of lay-offs following a decline in the
performance of the export-oriented sector."
BI forecast export growth this year to contract by between
5.1% and 4.1%, while possibly growing next year at between 6.7 and 7.7%.
On Tuesday, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said
"Economic activity is likely to start improving in
2010. We estimate growth to return to the 5% level, while inflation is forecast
at 5%," Indrawati told reporters after a cabinet meeting.
Indrawati also said the optimism of the country’s business
sector to conduct expansion in addition to the declining tendency of interest
rates would also give a positive impact.
Indrawati said the economy might expand between 4.3% and
4.8% in the first three months this year, with a “mid-point of 4.5%” due to
quite high growth in private consumption.
She said government spending reached between 8% and 13%,
higher than in the first quarter of 2008, Antara reported.
Meanwhile the country's Planning and Development Minister
said Monday GDP should grow by 4% in 2009, and the impact of the global
economic downturn on the domestic economy should dissipate this year, Dow Jones
reported.
"The effect on
The government is implementing a Rp73.3 trillion fiscal
stimulus, which will largely take the form of tax incentives, to boost
purchasing power and investment in
Last year the economy grew 6.1%. However, flagging external
demand for exports has sapped domestic fundamentals since late last year,
dragging down imports and domestic demand. The Finance Ministry's official
growth forecast for 2009 is 4.5%.
BI says room for rate cuts if inflation keeps falling
Bank Indonesia (BI) has room to cut rates further as long as
inflation continues to fall, BI deputy governor Hartadi Suwono said Wednesday, Dow
Jones reported.
"Inflation is currently trending down and, even though
our gross domestic product is also trending down, there is still significant
economic activity," Suwono told reporters.
BI this month trimmed its key rate 25 basis points to 7.5%
in its fifth consecutive cut to borrowing costs.
Govt. posts $263M cash surplus in Q1
A cash surplus of Rp2.9 trillion ($263 million) was recorded
in the first quarter of budget this year, a minister said, Asia Pulse reported.
State spending was valued at Rp159.7 trillion against
revenue and grants of Rp162.6 trillion, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati
said.
The revenue included Rp133.2 trillion in taxes and Rp19.4
trillion in excises, she was quoted as saying.
State spending in the first quarter, which reached only
16.2% of the entire annual forecast, included Rp88.8 trillion in government
spending and Rp71 trillion in funds transferred to provincial governments.
Govt. to cut corporate income tax to 25% in 2010
The government will proceed with its plan to cut corporate
income tax to a flat 25% next year from 28% at present, Finance Minister Sri
Mulyani Indrawati said Tuesday, Dow Jones reported.
"To reach our (economic growth) target, the government
will cut the corporate income tax," Indrawati told reporters.
The government and House of Representatives in February 2008
proposed cutting corporate income taxes to 25% in two stages. The tax was cut
to a flat 28% from a maximum 30% last year.
Meanwhile, in the first three months of 2009, the government
collected Rp133.2 trillion in gross tax revenue (20.1% of the full-year target)
and Rp19.4 trillion in customs and excise revenue (26.3% of the target),
Indrawati said, The Jakarta Post
reported.
“Tax revenue declined, mostly from value added tax (VAT) on
imports, which contracted,” said Indrawati.
BI
Governor positive foreign capital inflow to continue
Bank
Indonesia (BI) Governor Boediono said he was optimistic foreign funds and
capital will continue to enter the country and enable the rupiah to strengthen
further,
"I
am always optimistic. So, if the domestic situation is like this, better than
in other countries, I think many (investors) will be interested in coming to
He said
the rupiah's exchange rate depended on global conditions. At present global
sentiment toward
"However,
we want to guard the rupiah so it will not fluctuate too much," he said
without mentioning the ideal level of the rupiah's exchange rate.
BI Senior
Deputy Governor Miranda Goeltom said at present the local currency was
strengthening thanks to foreign capital inflows.
The
peaceful implementation of the legislative elections on April 9 had also
boosted the country's economic conditions, she said.
INVESTMENT
Smart
Corp to build new CPO refinery
PT SMART
Corp. plans to build a crude palm oil refinery to cost up to $50 million in
The
project was originally to be carried out in May last year, company investor
relations director Pintasari Chandra told Investor
Daily.
Chandra
said the new plant will have a processing capacity of 800 tons of oil palm
fruits per day.
It will
produce CPO derivatives including olein, margarine, and cooking oil.
Malaysian Islamic reinsurer eyes
Malaysia-based Islamic reinsurer
"In terms of
Chief executive Zainal Abidin M Noor estimated yearly growth
for Islamic insurance (takaful) at 20% in
The company is interested in specialized risk, including
special liabilities, offshore energy, aviation and satellite and space
insurance, he said.
He said the firm was in talks to enter into a strategic
alliance with an Islamic reinsurer in
Under takaful, the risk and reward are shared between the
customer and insurer, while in conventional insurance the insurer takes on all
the risk for a premium.
STATE CONCERNS
Such a system would allow for the creation of an Indonesian
benchmark for crude palm oil prices, discourage defaults and create a more
transparent and competitive pricing system.
The exchange hopes to start trading crude palm oil by early
June with more than 10 companies already signed up as sellers and around 20
signed up as buyers, said Edi Susmadi, the
exchange's director.
Although
Susmadi said with the new system,
SOEs
Wika forecasts $864M in 2009 new projects
State-owned contractor PT Wijaya Karya (Wika) is forecasting
Rp9.4 trillion ($864 million) in new contracts this year, with most of the work
expected to be government projects following an expansion in infrastructure
spending, The Jakarta Globe reported.
“This is more than last year, when we clinched new contracts
worth Rp8.93 trillion. The company will work on contracts worth around Rp17.2
trillion this year, including Rp7.7 trillion in contracts carried over from
last year,” Wika president director Bintang Perbowo said on Tuesday.
“We will focus on government projects, including state-owned
enterprise (SOE) projects, rather than private-sector ones,” said Ganda Kusuma,
Wika’s chief financial officer.
“In this current climate and amid the liquidity crunch, the
private sector will find the going tough so we have decided to focus on
government projects, including SOE projects, where funding is definite.”
Wika said it expected to post Rp7.4 trillion in revenue this
year, an increase of about 14% from Rp6.5 trillion in 2008. It predicted a net
profit of about Rp175 billion, up some 12% from last year’s profit of Rp156
billion.
In the first three months of 2009, Wika signed new contracts
worth Rp2.7 trillion, an increase of about 26.03% from Rp2.1 trillion during
the same period last year. The company also recorded unaudited revenue of
Rp1.26 trillion in the first quarter, compared with Rp1.1 trillion during the
same period in 2008.
“The biggest contract was from state power company PT PLN
worth Rp1.9 trillion to supply 2.6 million tons of coal to the Tanjung Jati B
power plant over the next five years,” Kusuma said.
In 2008, the government and SOEs entrusted projects worth
Rp3.8 trillion to Wika, accounting for about 50% of its total contracts.
Private companies represented some 47%, or Rp3.6 trillion, of the company’s
order book, while only about 3%, worth Rp233 billion, came from international
companies.
PRIVATE SECTOR
Federal
Finance sells Rp1T of bonds
Motorcycle
financing firm PT Federal International Finance increased the size of its
planned bond issue to raise Rp1 trillion ($92.8 million) for working capital,
the firm's president director said on Thursday, Reuters reported.
"We
received strong demand for our bonds and we wanted to take advantage of that,"
Suhartono said.
Suhartono
said it had received bids up to Rp1.2 trillion, doubling its initial target of Rp600
billion for the bonds, which are priced to yield between 12.55-14.6%.
Federal,
owned by PT Astra International, said the bonds would be offered in three
tranches, with maturities ranging from one to three years.
PT Indo Premier Securities, PT Kresna Graha Sekurindo and PT
Trimegah Securities were the underwriters.
Matahari raises Rp528B from bonds
Retailer PT Matahari Putra Prima raised a
bigger-than-targeted Rp528 billion ($46.68 million) from a bond issuance to
help finance business expansion, an underwriter said Monday, Reuters reported.
A growing number of Indonesian corporates, including home
lender PT Bank Tabungan Negara and construction firm PT Waskita Karya, plan
bond issuances later this year amid expectations of more interest rate cuts.
Matahari, which appointed PT HSBC Securities Indonesia, PT
Indo Premier Securities and PT Ciptadana Securities as underwriters, had planned
to raise Rp500 billion from a conventional and Islamic-compliant bond issuance.
It raised Rp226 billion from sukuk and Rp302 billion from
conventional bonds, which will be listed on the bourse on April 15,
Harimantoro, president director at HSBC Securities, said.
Matahari, with a market capitalization of about $237.5
billion, had stores in more than 50 cities across
Bakrie Telecom launches international call business
PT Bakrie Telecom launched Wednesday its international call
business, marking the end of the duopoly in the service currently enjoyed by
state-run PT Telkom and PT Indosat, The
Jakarta Post reported.
Bakrie Telecom president director Anindya Bakrie said the
company offered as much as 77% cheaper calling rates than the existing
operators.
Bakrie Telecom, which uses the international outgoing direct
call number 009, said the country's international call business had a revenue
of around Rp3 trillion ($280 million) annually, or only 3% of the total telecommunications
industry's revenue of more than Rp100 trillion.
"We are aiming for 30% of the Rp3 trillion cake,"
said Bakrie, adding the service might grow by 8-10% this year.
Bakrie Telecom secured a license for the service from the
government early this year in a decision that many said would put an end to the
expensive rates from Telkom and Indosat, which have jointly controlled the
service since 2004.
March cement consumption drops 10.9% on year
Domestic cement consumption in March fell 10.9% to 2.67
million tons from a year earlier, the Indonesian Cement Association said on
Tuesday, Reuters reported.
PT Semen Gresik,
Mayora posts strong growth amid general slump
Food manufacturer PT Mayora Indah reported a 32% increase in
year-on-year in income to Rp1.12 trillion ($102 million) in the first quarter
of this year, Asia Pulse reported on Friday.
The company also estimates a strong growth of around 40% in
net profit in the same period, finance director Hermawan Lesmana said.
Lesmana said sales for the whole year are expected to grow
20% from Rp3.9 trillion last year on 39% growth from the previous year.
He said the company also recorded an increase in exports to
various countries including
BANKS
Banks
still have high financing capacity: BI
Indonesian
banks still have a high capacity to finance loans, a Bank Indonesia (BI)
official said, Asia Pulse reported on Thursday.
Indonesian
banks could safely disburse up to Rp500 trillion ($50 billion) in the next two
years although the capital adequacy ratio (CAR) would fall to 13%, said BI head
of financial system stability Wimboh Santoso.
The CAR
of Indonesian banks averaged 18.04% in February, well above the minimum level
of 8%, Investor Daily said.
Santoso
said the liquidity of the country's banking industry has increased as a result
of weak demand for credits in the first quarter of this year.
Bank Danamon rights issue oversubscribed
Right shares offered by PT Bank Danamon
In the right issue concluded Thursday, demand was higher
than the offer of 3.43 billion shares valued at around Rp3.99 trillion ($371.07
million), executive vice president I Dewa Made Susila said.
POWER
PLN expects to post Rp1T net profit
State power company PT PLN expected to report a net profit
of Rp1 trillion ($93.5 million) in 2009 as it cuts costs, an official said,
Reuters reported on Friday.
"We will increase efficiency by reducing diesel oil
consumption and increase the use of much cheaper alternative energy such as
coal and natural gas,", PLN president director Fahmi Mochtar told
reporters.
PLN plans to cut diesel oil consumption to 7.9 million
kiloliters (kl) this year, from 11.3 million kl in 2008.
Coal consumption used for power generation will increase to
24.6 million tons in 2009, from 21 million tons in 2008, while natural gas
consumption is expected to increase to 298 billion British thermal unit (BBTU)
from 181 BBTU, Mochtar said.
PLN expects operating profit to reach Rp10 trillion this
year, up from Rp3.6 trillion in 2008, he added.
IFC offers energy-saving projects to industries
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has offered
“The energy efficiency programs will use the industries’
wastes to generate power or replace the use of fuel oil in the companies,” Tom
Moyes, the IFC’s program manager for energy efficiency projects, said in an
interview.
Moyes said that to facilitate the development of the
projects, the IFC would provide technical expertise on energy efficiency and
cooperate with banks on financing for the projects.
The IFC, the private arm of the World Bank, had conducted a
study since last November and decided that such projects would be started in
the palm oil and rice milling industries.
OIL & GAS
Eni may produce up to 50,000 bpd from Ambalat area
Eni has discovered oil in five wells and may start
production in 2010, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro,
told reporters in
Eni owns a 66.25% stake in Ambalat while Chevron Corp. has
the remainder, according to data provided by the energy ministry.
PLN to go ahead with LNG Banten terminal
State-owned power company PT PLN has agreed to go forward
with a plan to build an LNG receiving terminal in Banten after threatening to
pull out of the project due to disagreements with other consortium members,
PLN's president director Fahmi Mochtar said Friday, Platts reported.
"We will join the consortium. We finally agreed to the
capacity as well as the floating form, as the gas will be dedicated for our
Muara Karang and Tanjung Priok power plants. We will be the off-taker of the
gas," he said.
Energi Mega Q1 output jumps
PT Energi Mega Persada said petroleum output including gas
soared 20% in the first quarter from a year earlier, Bloomberg reported.
Output rose to about 30,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day
from 25,100 in the year-earlier quarter, Herwin Hidayat, the company’s head of
investor relations said Wednesday.
Production increased after the company resumed operations at
its Sepanjang field in
“Energi Mega will likely return to profit this year,” said
Nuvrial Prakarsa, an analyst at PT Bhakti Securities in
The company resumed oil production in Sepanjang at the end
of December, a year after rain and storms damaged a floating storage facility
at the field and reduced output, president director Christian Ponto said on
February 6.
MINING
Freeport
Indonesia hopes to boost output
PT
Freeport
Wawa J
Sungkawa,
Sungkawa
said
UAE fund seeks investors for E. Kalimantan project
UAE investment fund RAK Minerals & Metals Investments
(RMMI) is seeking partners to finance a $1 billion project to develop a rail
link and terminal to ship coal from
RMMI was awarded a license in March to build a 150-km rail
link to carry 15 million tons of thermal coal a year from a mine in
RMMI would provide around $100 million of the initial $600
million investment in the project, Madhu Koneru, the company's managing
director, said. "The rest will come from other partners whom we are now
seeking," he added.
Around $500 million would come from institutions such as the
World Bank and development banks.
"This project has a very strong socio-economic angle to
it and will help create at least 4,000 jobs," Koneru said. "That's
why a multilateral bank would be interested in taking part. We have also seen a
lot of interest from development banks, especially those in
Nearly five million tons of coal will be used to power
industrial projects in the UAE's northern emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, home to
RMMI. The remaining 10 million tons would be divided equally between exports
and
Indosmelt plans $500M copper plant in S. Sulawesi
PT Indosmelt plans to build a copper processing factory in
Maros regency,
Construction of the project will start next year in
cooperation with Australian investor Ausmelt, Indosmelt President Natsir
Mansyur said.
The factory, which will produce 100,000 tons of copper
cathode and 200,000 tons of copper crust, will need 350,000 tons of copper
concentrate for feedstock, Investor Daily
said.
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[1] This Trade and Investment News is a publication of the Coordinating
Ministry for Economic Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia. Readers are
welcomed to forward it in its original form but no reproduction is allowed
without permission.