Irked by the customs service's long-tainted image as a hotbed of corruption and poor service, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati took herself down to the docks to see how things have improved -- or worsened, as the case may be.

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The rank of ease in business in Indonesia has the chance to go up 41 places from the 123rd to 82nd in 2008. On the condition that the government repairs the mechanism for starting a business, ownership registration and obtaining credit.

Batam-based electronics component maker PT Sat Nusapersada, fresh from its IPO, plans to build a new factory and acquire stakes in two other companies next year to expand its operations and meet the growing demand for its products.

Rising construction costs resulting from the surge in oil prices will likely cause a delay in a number of large property projects in the country's major cities, particularly Jakarta, a property consultant says.

JAKARTA (JP): Hit by rising oil prices, many factory-gate prices will have to rise by up to 10 percent early next year unless the government can reduce its chronic red tape so as to bring down the cost ofdoing business, says an association.