TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The prices of manufactured products will rise next year due to the soaring crude oil price on the world’s market. According to General Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), M.S. Hidayat, the rise is inevitable as the operational costs continue to swell due to the increase of the industrial fuel oil price. The industrial fuel oil price was affected by the ‘black gold’s’ price on the world market.

Despite considerable macroeconomic improvements, Indonesia still needs to review its tax system and labor laws if it wants to compete with other countries in attracting foreign investment, American businesspeople say. During a meeting with Industry Minister Fahmi Idris here Friday, the American businesspeople representing major multinational companies said the sales tax on luxury goods and uncertainty in labor laws remained major obstacles to foreign investors doing business in the country.