Sinar Mas boost shares in toll road operator Sinar Mas Group has been aggresively expanded its business in the last few years. After the banking business comeback last year with the acquisition of small bank PT Bank Shinta through PT Sinar Mas Multiartha, the listed financial sub-holding of Sinar Mas, early this month the group bought more shares in toll operator PT Citra Marga Nusaphala Persada (CMNP)--once controlled by former president Soeharto's daughter Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana (Mbak Tutut).

Indonesia damage raises tourism worries Prambanan, Indonesia (ANTARA News) - Damage to some of Java's cultural treasures in the Indonesian earthquake has raised fears about long-term effects on the local economy, which depends heavily on tourism. At the spectacular temple complex at Prambanan, giant concrete blocks and fragments of intricately carved statues litter the ground. One entrance is in ruins and entirely blocked by debris. "We can't touch anything.

PLN's Future Competitors Tuesday, 30 May, 2006 | 14:38 WIB TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The government will form several new electricity companies. These State-owned enterprises will operate in distribution and generating, not in the transmission. The government's plan will automatically end the monopoly of PT PLN (State Electricity Company) in distribution. Previously the government opened the generating sector. The government's plan is included in the new Electricity Bill.

WB to push infrastructure development Endy M. Bayuni and Prodita Sabarini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta It's full steam ahead for World Bank infrastructure lending thanks to the insistence of its new president, Paul Wolfowitz, who feels that the bank needs to be part and parcel of poverty eradication programs in developing countries.

Government signs seven turnpike contracts The Jakarta Post, Jakarta The Public Works Ministry and a number of investors signed contracts Monday for the development of seven sections of expressway totaling 155 kilometers in length. The expressways are located in Java and Sulawesi, and will be constructed at a combined cost of Rp 13 trillion (US$1.4 billion).