JAKARTA - Indonesia is on the upswing, with strong export and economic growth combining to drive the Jakarta Stock Exchange Index up by more than 55%, accounting for the world's third-best stock-market performance in 2006. That good news was underpinned by surprisingly strong political stability and improved macroeconomic fundamentals, seemingly flouting the country's recent reputation as a haven for international terrorists and economic mismanagement.

Long-awaited projections of the country's long-term gas supply and needs will be issued later this month, providing the government with reliable figures on whether or not it should go ahead with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) export policy and interisland gas pipeline projects.

The Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is moving rapidly towards a more integrated economy, with some 80 percent of total products in the region having been exempted from all tariffs since Jan 1, an official says. "We aim to achieve full-pledge economic integration by 2015 so we must continue to cut tariffs on products and services," Herry Soetanto, director general for international trade at the Indonesian Trade Ministry, said Wednesday in Cebu, the Philippines.

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The Energy and Mineral Resources Department analyzed the national oil production decline. Every year there is a production decrease of between five and ten percent. The Director General of Oil and Natural Gas, Luluk Sumiarso, said based on the analysis, most oil production is from mature fields. Analysis, he said, is still being carried out because this regards many institutions and oil contractors including the Upstream Oil and Natural Gas Executing Body.

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Bankers are advising that Bank Indonesia (BI) relax the regulation on credit disbursement to the real sector. With this disbursement, the real sector, that so far has been stagnant, can grow in the future. Corporate Director of PT Bank Mandiri Abdul Rachman said that banks were actually interested in not expanding credit, moreover to disburse credit to losing companies.