By 2010 there'll be an annual national shortfall of six million cattle and the unmet demand will cause domestic meat prices to rise, according to research conducted by Budi Santosa. "Every year the consumption of beef almost doubles," he said.

Palm oil producer PT Astra Agro Lestari said Monday (16/7/07) its first-half net profit rose 65% on year due to an increase in revenue from higher commodity prices, Dow Jones Newswires reported. Agro said in a statement that its net profit for January-June rose to Rp682.5 billion from Rp414.7 billion a year earlier. Sales during the first half of 2007 rose 26% to Rp2.4 trillion from Rp1.9 trillion a year earlier.

Car and truck sales are on track to return to record levels of more than half million units next year, powered by a recovery in the economy, the Indonesian Automotive Industry Association (Gaikindo) said. Vehicle sales are expected to top more than 400,000 units this year, recovering from a more than 40% slump in 2006 when sales sagged to 318,883 units amid a jump in interest rates, it said, according to Reuters.

China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) is taking a controlling stake in a $5.5 billion biofuel project, one of the project partners said Thursday (19/7/07), according to Dow Jones Newswires. CNOOC Group, Indonesia’s Sinar Mas Group and Hong Kong Energy (Holdings) Ltd in January signed a letter of intent to jointly develop biodiesel from crude palm oil and bioethanol from sugar cane or cassava in Papua and Kalimantan. The shareholding structure had not been disclosed.

TVS Motor Company, a leading two-wheel manufacturer in India, is confident the launch of its Neo and Apache motorcycle brands will help the company make a splash in the Indonesian market. TVS Motor chairman Venu Srinivasan said he was upbeat the company's Indonesian unit, TVS Motor Company Indonesia, would be able sell up to 100,000 units in its first year of operations, despite the strong competition from more established manufacturers in the country.

Recent improvements in Indonesia's macroeconomic indicators are bringing about confidence in the economy as a whole, with the central bank's latest survey showing estimates of higher growth built on more investment and a continued increase in bank lending for the year.

Dubai (ANTARA News) - A spokesman at Dubai-based Emaar Properties, the largest Arab property developer by market value, said that the company is planning to set up a major residential project in the Indonesian island of Lombok. The spokesman confirmed that the new project will be Emaar's last in the South Asian country, as the company plans to focus on its current $100 billion projects in the UAE, Pakistan, Egypt and 12 other countries.

 Originally Posted By: BaliDiscovery Such a facility, he argued, would also become a stimulus for opening up the cruise industry's penetration of eastern Indonesia. Is he trying to say we should get more of the Eastern Indonesian gals "on the game" -- a game that is currently dominated by the Javanese ayam?