Taking the pulse after two years into the SBY administration Kahlil Rowter, Jakarta It is that time of year again when report cards are being contemplated. And not just for school children but for the government of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Although there is more than two months left of the year, we can imagine how things are going to pan out. The obvious starting point is growth and its quality. The main reason for having a government, after all, is to raise living standards.

Government Prepares Management Contracts Friday, 20 October, 2006 | 12:48 WIB TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The government is preparing management contracts with the board of directors of state banks for the settlement of non-performing loans (NPL) at the banks. According to Deputy Economic Coordinating Minister for the Macro-Economy and Finance, Sahala Lumban Gaol, the management contract is aimed at making certain the banks follow the general professional standards and settle the NPL.

Government to Help Fertilizer Factory Friday, 20 October, 2006 | 13:25 WIB TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The government is allocating a budget valued at US$111 million for the gas to coal conversion program on five state-owned fertilizer factories. The aid that will be allocated as state co-financing will only cover 20 percent of total needed funds of US$555.4 million. Industry Minister Fahmi Idris said that state co-financing for the project will be taken from the 2007 State Budget.

Agriculture ministry releases new cacao varities Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Agriculture Ministry has released new cacao varieties which were developed jointly by its research and development institute and ACIAR, Australia`s agricultural research agency, an Indonesian official said. Released last month, the new cacao varieties had been code-named ARD-ACIAR10, ARD-ACIAR24 and ARD-ACIAR 25, Achmad Suryana, chief of the ministry`s research and development institute, said here Friday.

Originally posted by: Dilli May I suggest we ban anyone who works for them from joining Jakchat! Just a thought! would be a good idea, except the ban list would be extraordinarily long ...

May I suggest we ban anyone who works for them from joining Jakchat! Just a thought!

Originally posted by: patung They forgot to mention Indonesia's position - 60th of 62. funny that ANTARA should miss that in their report ...

They forgot to mention Indonesia's position - 60th of 62.

Funny thing is that most Indonesian go there and they could be discipline, smart and follow the rule, I wish Singapore could take over Indonesia gov't too

Singapore ranked most globalized country Singapore (ANTARA News) - Singapore has been rated the world's most globalized country, according to the Globalization Index compiled by management consultancy AT Kearney and Foreign Policy magazine. The index showed that foreign trade and investment flow more freely in Singapore than other countries in the survey, DPA reported citing the Straits Times newspaper Thursday.

Paper firm posing threat to Indonesian forest : WWF Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Asia Pulp and Paper, one of the world's largest paper companies, poses a threat to a massive peatland forest sheltering rare animals on Indonesia's Sumatra, conservation group WWF said Friday. The report accuses APP of hiding "its continued destruction of natural tropical rainforests that house Sumatran tigers and elephants" in the 400,000-hectare (nearly one million-acres) Kampar Peninsula in Riau province.

Govt to announce names of state firms to be privatized in 2007 Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The government will announce next month the names of state firms to be privatized in 2007, State Enterprises Minister Sugiharto said. "The names of state firms to be privatized will be determined in November 2006," he said on Thursday. He said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had set up a team in charge of privatizing state firms.