The Indonesian Mining Association (IMA) wants incentives for mining firms that under a new mining bill will be required to set up integrated, downstream-to-upstream business operations. Under the mining bill, whose deliberation at the House of Representatives is nearing completion, new mining companies must create added value to their mining products by setting up a complete operation, from the upstream to downstream sector.

Modern telecommunications thanks to fiber-optic networks would see some 40,000 villages nationally enjoy telephone and Internet connections, but only if the government's tender is answered. Information and communication minister Muhammad Nuh said Monday the government would open for tender the ambitious project in Surabaya, East Java on November 10. He said the project would link the entire archipelago via a fiber-optic network, to be known as the Palapa Ring Project.

Indonesia wants to more than double the creative industries’ contribution to the national economy in the next few years through aggressive development of the country’s rich, but largely untapped, artistic traditions and cultural heritage. Trade Minister Mari Pangestu said the creative industries contribute about 4.75% of Indonesia’s $400 billion gross domestic product. “I think we should be able to get it up to 10%,” she was quoted as saying by The Financial Times.

The government has decided to abolish the luxury sales tax on 11 electronic products next month, an official said. The decision came after a tariff team of the Finance Department and the Industry Department reached an agreement on tariff synchronization, Transport Equipment Industry Director General Budhi Dharmadi, said, according to an Antara report on Tuesday (23/10/07). The luxury sales tax for some products will also be reduced, said Dharmadi.

PT Antang Ganda Utama (AGU) PIR Butong plans to build more processing factories to produce crude palm oil and palm kernel oil in its plantation area in North Barito regency, Central Kalimantan province, Antara reported on Monday (22/10/07). The new factories will expand the company’s processing capacity of fresh fruit bunches of oil palm from 40 tons to 60 tons an hour.

The country is set to enter the "next stage" of its export recovery, 10 years after the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Trade Minister Mari Pangestu said. In an interview with Agence France-Presse last week as a major trade fair was launched aiming to lure cashed-up buyers from abroad, Pangestu said the government is now focusing on seeking to boost non-commodity exports.

Indonesia will boost exports of plantation and mining commodities to ensure stable economic growth should soaring crude oil prices prompt a global economic slowdown, according to a report in Bisnis Indonesia Thursday (25/10/07). Exports related to mining and plantation industries would act as a "trump card" for Indonesia in the event of a global economic slowdown, the business daily quoted Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Boediono as saying.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - State-owned steel company PT Krakatau Steel is considering a strategic alliance with a number of world steel companies to improve its performance particularly in supplying iron ore. The company`s president director, Daenulhay, at a press conference in Cilegon on Monday said Krakatau Steel would explore the possibility of developing a strategic alliance with four world companies and with domestic steel producers.

Medan (ANTARA News) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is planning to provide a loan for the construction of infrastructure including a highway from Penang in Malaysia and Songkla in Thailand to Medan in Indonesia to improve the growth triangle cooperation. "The result of an evaluation by the ADB has contributed a great deal to the development of the Indonesia- Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT)," Arthur M.D.

Nanning, China (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) has urged the government to soon improve facilities at Indonesian seaports as they were no longer adequate, thus often causing delays in the delivery of Indonesian exports.

Nanning, China (ANTARA News) - Transportation Minister Jusman Syafii Djamal here on Monday invited Chinese businessmen to invest in Indonesia. "I invite you (Chinese businessmen) to invest in Indonesia. There are still many investment opportunities and natural resources that can be developed in Indonesia," he said when opening a seminar on trade and investment opportunities in Indonesia at the Fourth China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) here on Monday. Opened on Sunday, the expo will run until October 31.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia`s exports to Europe had been predicted to remain increasing by 10-12 percent, despite the strengthening of the europ exchange rate against the US dollar. "Yes, it has really enhanced the competitiveness of Indonesia`s exports to the European market," Minister of Trade Mari Elka Pangestu said in Jakarta on Monday. The four destinations of Indonesian exports in Europe are Germany, France, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.