With the sharp increase in the world commodity prices, Indonesian miners have become the most profitable companies in the country this year. PT Timah, the world's second biggest tin miner and refiner, could be a good example to prove this trend. The state-owned company recorded a 12-fold jump in its third-quarter profit thanks to the sharp increase in the tin metal price The tin price hit a new record of US$17,050 a ton in August, the highest since 1989.

Classic Indonesian problems, such as regulatory uncertainty, excessive bureaucracy and lack of incentives, have also hampered the development of new and renewable energy. Of almost Rp 200 trillion in investment commitments to the biofuel sector as of September, only a few of these have been realized, with many investors still waiting for the incentives promised by the government to materialize.

The negotiations under the World Trade Organization (WTO) framework may well end in a stalemate, but that will unlikely shatter the faith in multilateralism, with more and more groupings of countries embracing free-trade agreements (FTAs). Interestingly enough, as a response to China's high-flying economy, ASEAN has emerged as a leading force in paving the way for future multilateral deals, such as those with Japan, Korea, China and the European Union (EU).

Despite much criticism over its inability to cope with growing unemployment and poverty, the government has in general managed to get the economic wheels back on the right track this year. The government's success in achieving the economic targets set out in the 2007 budget can be seen from the improvements in most economic indicators.

The government officially launched Visit Indonesia Year 2008 on Wednesday, with the main aim of luring up to 7 million foreign tourists and booking US$6.4 billion in foreign exchange income. To help reach the target, the government is setting aside $15 million for a domestic and international advertising blitz.

Retailer PT Hero Supermarket will spend Rp200 billion next year to open 10 to 20 new supermarkets in the country, company president Ipung Kurnia said Tuesday (18/12/07), Thomson Financial reported. The company will also rebrand 10 to 20 "Hero" supermarkets into "Giant" supermarkets, he said. Since the beginning of this year, Hero has changed the name of 13 "Hero" supermarkets to "Giant" supermarkets.

The country's internet service industry is predicted to grow 40% next year following a 50% cut in tariff by bandwidth providers, Asia Pulse reported Wednesday (19/12/07). Chairperson of the association of internet service providers (APJII) Sylvia Efi Widyantari Sumarlin said the change in the tariff structure by bandwidth providers will boost the internet service industry. Sumarlin predicted that the number of users will grow 25% to 32 million next year from an estimated 25 million this year.

Motorcycle sales were up 7.8% for the first 11 months of the year compared to the same period of last year, data from the Indonesian Motorcycle Industry Association showed on Monday -(17/12/07), Agence France-Presse reported. Nationwide sales in Indonesia, the world's third largest motorcycle market after China and India, reached 4.29 million for January to November, compared to 3.98 million a year ago, the association said.

Japan will accept 1,000 nurses and health care workers from Indonesia from as early as next year under a free trade pact to help ease the country's shortage, a report in the Nikkei business daily said Saturday (22/12/07). The move will mark the first time Japan has brought in foreign nurses and care workers on a full-time basis, it said.

Senior Deputy Governor of Bank Indonesia Miranda Goeltom said she expected investment to reach Rp1,165 trillion ($124.6 billion) in 2008 to help meet economic growth target of over 6%, Asia Pulse reported Wednesday (19/12/07). With this level of investment, banks have bigger opportunities to finance growth, she said at a magazine award ceremony. "Currently, three fourths of investment is funded by banks," she said.

Direct investment hit a 40-year record high of Rp125.94 trillion ($13.99 billion) in the first nine months of 2007, the Capital Investment Coordination Board (BKPM) Asia Pulse reported Wednesday (19/12/07). The statement marked a high note for what for the business world was the effective end of 2007, "Direct Investment this year is the highest since 1967 when the capital investment law was put into force," BKPM Chief M. Lutfi said Tuesday.

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Bank Indonesia (BI) has started to become concerned over the rapid growth of consumer credit. Agusman, BI's senior researcher from the Banking Assessment and Regulations Directorate, said that an increase in consumer credit that is not balanced by improvements in credit quality might cause instability in the banking industry. “This instability will occur if household incomes are insufficient,” he said some time ago.