Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian Trade Ministry is exploring the posssibility of cooperation with retail trade firms in Japan and the USA to conduct in-store promotions of Indonesian branded products, the ministry`s chief said. "With such a cooperation, we hope we can boost our exports. Apart from Carrefour, we will also cooperate with Del Heiz in Belgium," Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said here Thursday.

Banda Aceh, Aceh (ANTARA News) - Total investment in cement industry in 2007 reaches about US$ 1.4 billion, head of the National Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Muhammad Lutfi said. Lutfi made the remarks here on Thursday during his visit to the capital city of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD), the westernmost province of Indonesia.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The government is planning to build an environment-friendly thermal power plant running on sludge fine coal wastes in East Kalimantan as recommended by a study conducted as part of a "Care For Mahakam" program, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said. "The Care For Mahakam program aims to reduce pollution in the Mahakam river in East Kalimantan," Purnomo told a workshop on the program here Thursday.

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The Department of Energy and Mineral Resources has asked that three gold and copper mining companies increase production. The three companies are PT Freeport Indonesia, PT Inco and Newmont Batu Hijau. According to Marpaung, Director of Mineral and Coal Exploitation Management at the Department of Energy, the request was based on the state budget working plan at the beginning of January.

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The government will soon finalize the establishment of the Qatar Investment Fund (QIF). “The Finance Minister and I will finalize this when we met investors-to-be in the Middle East,” said Alwi Shihab, the President's Special Envoy of Middle East Region, after meeting with Vice President Jusuf Kalla, on Thursday (01/25). Alwi said that, together with Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, he would leave for the Middle East on February 2.

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: A total of 17 investors are interested in investing in a drinking water project at Tangerang. This project is one of the 10 projects that the government offered at the 2006 Infrastructure Summit.

Chandra Sahala Pasaribu, Equity Analyst The telecommunications industry remains attractive despite the high inflation of 2006. Last year, the total number of subscribers climbed to almost 65 million, representing a healthy growth rate of 38.6 percent. It is expected that Indonesia's telecommunications market has the potential to grow to between 110 million and 120 million subscribers over the next five years, and achieve a penetration rate of 50 percent.

Denpasar (ANTARA News) - Bali is hoping to receive 1.6 million foreign tourists and 2.8 million domestic tourists in 2007. "We have made various efforts and breakthroughs to improve the tourism industry in Bali. We hope that Bali could become a safe and convenient resort island," an official of Bali provincial administration, Wayan Subagiarta, said here on Thursday. In 2006, a total 1,260,317 foreign tourists and around 1.3 million domestic tourists visited Bali Island.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia no longer needs help from its main group of Western donors and will rely more on its own funding for development plans, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Wednesday. The Consultative Group on Indonesia, a World Bank-chaired group of the country's main Western donors, last year pledged 5.4 billion dollars in fresh loans and grants for Southeast Asia's largest economy.

Singapore (ANTARA News) - Construction counters were lower after the government of Indonesia said, in effect, that it had banned the export of sand to protect the country's environment, dealers said. Indonesia is Singapore's main source for sand for making concrete.