Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara (ANTARA News) - Three steam-powered electricity plants (PLTU) with a combined capacity of 107 megawatts will be built in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) in an effort to anticipate power shortages and attract foreign investment in the province, a local government said. Head of NTB`s Regional Development Planning (Bappeda) H. Lalu Fathurrahman said here on Monday that one of the PLTU would be built in Teluk Endok village, West Lombok district with a designed capacity of 75 MW.

Hong Kong (ANTARA News) - China's biggest coal producer, China Shenhua Energy, is planning a 4 billion US dollar bid for a controlling stake in an Indonesian coal producer, the South China Morning Post said Monday. China Shenhua was asked earlier this year to buy a small stake in Adaro Indonesia ahead of its 750 million US dollar listing on the Jakarta bourse next year, the newspaper was quoted by Thomson Financial as saying, citing unnamed sources.

Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) -- one of the world's largest automakers -- remains upbeat about its position in the Indonesian automotive industry, the firm's president, Katsuaki Watanabe, says. "Indonesia constitutes not only an important market for us but also a major production base," Watanabe said in response to questions from Indonesian journalists at a reception at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo late last month.

PT Central Proteinaprima (CP Prima), a member of Neptune consortium that manages Asia's top aquaculture company -- PT Dipasena Citra Darmaja, has signed a key agreement with local shrimp farmers. CP Prima, the world's top integrated shrimp producer and Indonesia's market leader in shrimp fry, shrimp feed and fish feed production, signed Friday the partnership agreement with the farmers, who are grouped under PT Wachyuni Mandira (WM) in an arrangement called a "core-plasma" scheme.

State oil and gas firm PT Pertamina will team up with a local company, Wahana Universal, to build an oil refinery in East Java at a cost of US$20 million. Pertamina exploration and production director Hestu Bagyo said that the two companies had signed an agreement to build the refinery, which will have a total capacity of 6,000 barrels per day.

Global payments company MasterCard Worldwide recently introduced its "World MasterCard" product in the region, which provides premium tailored payment services for its most affluent customers. In Indonesia, the premium payment card will be issued in cooperation with ANZ Panin, Bank Danamon and HSBC, providing a spending limit of up to Rp 1 billion (some US$100 million).

Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest economy, can expect relatively modest gains from a free trade agreement (FTA) between the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, an independent study shows. In 2020, after liberalization of all sectors, including agriculture and services, in terms of gains in welfare, Indonesia ranks fourth -- after Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam -- according to the scenario set up in the study.

For centuries, art lovers and academics have debated over the smile on the face of the Mona Lisa, one of Leonardo da Vinci's masterpieces, which is now housed in the Louvre in Paris. Nowadays, at any rate, the smiles of Indonesian people leave foreigners, be they first-time tourists or expatriates, guessing. The problems start for foreign tourists as soon as they arrive at the airport, just because they misinterpret the smiles of tip-hungry airport officers or mischievous taxi drivers.

Denpasar (ANTARA News) - Bali exported goods worth US$1.5 million to Russia during the first nine months of 2007, according to information from the local trade and industry official. The value of the Balinese exports to Russia this year increased from US$1.1 million in the same period of 2006, data from the Balinese Industry and Trade Service said here on Saturday. Russia mostly imported handicrafts such as wooden statues, and wooden furniture from Bali.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said oil subsidy in the 2007 state budget is likely to soar to Rp87 trillion from Rp55 trillion previously because of the global oil price spiral. Electricity subsidy would also increase to Rp42 trillion from Rp34 trillion, the minister said following a limited cabinet meeting at the presidential palace here on Friday.