Paris (ANTARA News) - PT Carrefour Indonesia, a unit of Carrefour, said Wednesday it expects negotiations for the purchase of a majority stake in retailer PT Alfa Retailindo to be completed shortly. "We have just signed a memorandum of understanding for the stake purchase. We hope an agreement can be reached over the next few days," Carrefour Indonesia corporate affairs director Irawan Kadarman told Thomson Financial.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Senior Deputy Governor of Bank Indonesia (the central bank) Miranda Swaray Goeltom said she expected that investment in 2008 would reach Rp1,165 trillion to meet the economic growth target of more than 6 percent. With the need of investment amounting to Rp1,165 trillion, banks have bigger opportunities to finance investment, she said at a function on the conferment of citations to the 2007 financial figures by a magazine in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian government intends to do its best to have the country`s investment rating rise to 75th from the present 135th place among the 175 countries usually surveyed by the International Finance Corporation, a minister said. "We want to rank 75th next year," Administrative Reform Minister Taufiq Effendi said after attending a meeting on "doing business in Indonesia" at the vice presidential office here Wednesday.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The government will let private enterprise enter the railway business through a railway revitalization program to be implemented in 2008-2010, Transportation Minister Jusman Syafii Damal said. Private business will have an opportunity to invest in and manage railway utilities and infrastructure, Jusman told the press after a meeting on railway revitalization at the vice-presidential office here Wednesday.

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Next week the government will assign the Implementation and Monitoring Team for Investment Climate Improvements to major cities. This effort is for supporting the government's target to raise the “doing business” rating in 2009.