TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The Capital Market Supervisory Agency (Bapepam) has been examining the possibility of a tender offer from PT International Nickel Indonesia (Inco). That is regarding the acquisition process of Inco Indonesia’s holding company - Inco Limited (Canada) by Companhia Vale do Rio Doce which was completed last week. Head of the Real Sector Finance Assessment Bureau at Bapepam Nurhaida said the final report of the acquisition process was just received by Bapepam.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Indonesia faced seven main problems in its economic development, poverty alleviation and reducing the unemployment, as projected in the National Medium-Term Development Plan, an official said.

Reporters from major newspapers covering president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's visit to Shanghai, China wrote that China Huadian has eventually entered into a JV agreement with Indonesian partners to build the US$2.1 billion coal-fired power plant in Muara Enim, South Sumatra. A significant step forward, but the project is still in a chicken-and-egg situation. Why?

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The Infrastructure Conference and Exhibition 2006 (IICE 2006) will offer a number of ready-to-build infrastructure projects. Chris Kanter, Head Organizer of IICE 2006, said that details on the projects will be offered by the technical department. According to Kanter, his party is yet to receive the details of projects that will be offered two days prior to execution.

JAKARTA (Antara): Share prices closed the morning session higher after a week-long holiday break, with gains in mining stocks such as Aneka Tambang and INCO, lifting the composite index to a new intra-day high. Dealers said there was also interest in stocks of firms’ that have reported strong third quarter earnings. The composite index closed the morning session up 7.920 points, or 0.50 percent, at 1,580.766, after touching a new intra-day high at 1,582.843.

TOKYO (AP): President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will visit Japan in late November, Japan’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday, as the two countries work toward reaching a free trade agreement. Yudhoyono is expected to meet Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, as well as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during his Nov. 26-29 visit, the ministry said in a statement.

Neither the Indonesian government nor ExxonMobil will gain from a protracted spat over the status of the production-sharing contract for the development of the Natuna D-Alpha natural gas block in the East Natuna Sea. Instead, both parties will lose if this feud escalates into a legal battle or arbitration process, which could drag on for years.

Domestic and foreign investors will have plenty of tempting opportunities laid out before them this week. On top of large, national-level projects that the central government plans to offer at the upcoming infrastructure conference, the regions are also lining up ventures for investors to put their money into. More than 16 provinces will put projects worth some US$3.47 billion on the block at the upcoming Indonesian Regional Investment Forum (IRIF) on Nov. 2-3, says the event organizer.

Andi Haswidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta The Association of Indonesian Retailers (Aprindo) has urged the country’s banks to lower their lending rates in line with the central bank’s benchmark rate so as to enable them to expand their businesses. “We believe that the banking sector has not been supportive of business in general. When the BI rate goes up, the banks instantly increase their rates.

Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta The upcoming three-day “Indonesia Infrastructure Conference and Exhibition 2006” will not only showcase major investment opportunities, but also the government’s progress in improving the country’s investment climate.