The International Conference on Oil Palm and the Environment (ICOPE) kicked off Thursday at Nusa Dua, Bali, aimed at highlighting environmental sustainability in the palm oil industry. The two-day event is being sponsored by the PT Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology (SMART) research institute, French agricultural research center CIRAD-France, and WWF-Indonesia, according to a media release sent Thursday.

Publicly listed property developer PT Bakrieland Development (Bakrieland) is confident about achieving strong full-year profits after posting a 168 percent rise in net profit in the first nine months compared with a year earlier. President director Hiramsyah S. Thaib said that the company's net profit rose to Rp 89 billion from Rp 33 billion in the same period last year, with operating profit surging to Rp 102 billion from Rp 36 billion.

The economy will remain resilient next year despite tough challenges ahead stemming from a predicted slowdown in the global economy as a result of high oil prices and the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis, a World Bank report says. "We are projecting 6.3 percent growth this year and are expecting it to pick up a bit further to 6.4 percent next year," WB East Asia and Pacific lead economist Milan Brahmbhatt, in Washington, said via a video linkup Thursday with reporters in Jakarta.

Indonesia improved its share of world trade last year thanks largely to a surge in the prices of the country's main commodities, according to the latest report from the World Trade Organization (WTO). The country's share of total global exports increased to 0.9 percent from 0.8 percent in 2005, with year-on-year export growth jumping by 19 percent from US$86.2 billion to $103.5 billion.

JAKARTA (AP): Indonesia's economy expanded a faster-than-expected 6.5 percent in the third quarter from a year ago, the government said Thursday, its strongest quarter of growth since the Asian financial crisis 10 years ago. Agricultural production was the biggest contributor to growth, followed by business investment, exports and private consumption. Growth in the July-September quarter was faster than the 6.3 percent marked in the second quarter, the Central Statistics Agency.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia's central bank sees the weakening of the rupiah currency as temporary and caused by external factors as the country's economic indicators are positive, a Bank Indonesia deputy governor said on Friday. Hartadi Sarwono told Reuters the central bank will intervene in the foreign exchange market, if necessary, to stabilise the rupiah.

Kuala Lumpur (ANTARA News) - Palm oil reserves in Indonesia, the world's top producer, are at their lowest in years on surging overseas sales, raising concerns prices will rise further, a senior government official said on Thursday. Private traders in Indonesia normally hold stocks between 1 million tonnes and 1.5 million tonnes, but current levels are around 500,000 tonnes, Rosediana Suharto, executive director of the state-run Indonesian Palm Oil Board, said.

Twelve information and communications technology (ICT) firms from Taiwan are looking for local agents to sell and distribute their products in Indonesia. "We have met a number of potential distributors that hopefully will team up with us, besides the one we already have," FSP Technology's sales division officer for Indonesia and India, Eddy Chen, told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of the Taiwanese company's one-day road show to Jakarta on Wednesday.

JAKARTA (JP): Gorontalo's bureaucratic and administrative staff receive up to 400 percent of their basic salary in incentives -- as long asthey meet or surpass performance targets, Governor Fadel Muhammad said. While presenting Thursday his experiences around implementing good governance, Fadel said providing financial incentives had seen an increase in staff performance.

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Investors from Indonesia are still dominating property ownership in Singapore where Indonesians own around 22 percent of foreign property. Based on data from the Singapore' Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and Savills Research Consultancy, during the first semester of 2007, 29 percent of property sold in Singapore was bought by foreign parties. Of this amount, around 1,300 properties or around 22 percent of foreign property purchases were made by Indonesians.

TEMPO Interactive, Kuta: Information and Communication Minister M. Nuh has promised that Internet access will be ready to be enjoyed by all the general public by the first quarter of 2009 at the latest so that education can be accessed regardless of limitations.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia's Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has received tens of thousands of reports of suspected corruption since 2003 but has resolved just a tiny fraction of them, an official said Wednesday. "It's a long process until one case concludes with a conviction," commission spokesman Johan Budi told AFP.

Pekanbaru (ANTARA News) - Greenpeace activists on Thursday afternoon blocked the path of a tanker loaded with crude palm oil (CPO) in the Dumai waters, Riau, on its way to an export destination. The tanker, MT Westama, loaded with 30,000 tons of CPO, was leaving Dumai port when it was intercepted by Rainbow Warrior of Greenpeace. A giant poster reading "Palm Oil Kills Forests and Climate" was attached to the tanker`s hull.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian economy is expected to grow by 6.4 percent in 2008 from an estimated 6.3 percent this year, supported by higher investment and vibrant domestic demand, the World Bank said Thursday. In its semi-annual report on the regional economies, the World Bank said investment in Indonesia is expected to rise next year with increased government spending, continued reforms and the impact of falling interest rates.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has urged Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyantono and governors to diversify food. "The diversification is aimed at reducing Indonesia`s dependence on rice as a source of carbohydrate," the president said when awarding letters of appreciation for national food security to 156 people at the state palace here on Thursday.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Economic Coordinating Ministry senior adviser M Ikhsan predicted that Indonesia would no longer be a net oil importer in 2008 because of increased oil production capacity and economization of domestic fuel oil. "Possibly 2008 will be the last year for Indonesia to be a net oil importer.