TEMPO Interactive, Surabaya: As many as 368 provincial regulations in the Province of East Java are in fact hampering business development, especially concerning investment in the region. “This is BI's (Bank Indonesia) finding. After we studied the case, the regulations have the potential to deactivate business in East Java,” said Trisno Udjud, a member of the East Java Regional House of Representatives (DPRD), in Surabaya, Wednesday (08/01).

After suffering financial setbacks over the past few years, the country's consumer finance firms expect significant growth in this year on the back of lower lending rates. The Indonesian Consumer Finance Association (APPI) said that the industry recorded a 20 percent increase in the amount of loans disbursed in the first semester of this year. "And we believe we'll grow remarkably well this year.

Jakarta (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - State-owned electricity company PLN will need at least US$15.7 billion to increase its power supplying capacity to keep pace with growing demand, and to ward off a power supply crisis in 2010. "Around US$8.3 billion of the funds will be for generating facilities, US$4.9 billion for transmission systems and the rest for distribution networks," PLN director, Ali Herman Ibrahim said.

Stockholm (ANTARA News) - LM Ericsson AB said it has won a contract extension from Indonesian operator Indosat to expand its WCDMA/HSPA network in the greater Jakarta area. No financial details were disclosed. The agreement is an expansion of a contract awarded to Ericsson in 2006, the company was quoted by Thomson Financial as saying. (*)

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia`s crude palm oil exports in June rose 19.23 percent to US$798.4 million from US$669.6 million in May, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS). "The exports mainly went to China and Singapore," BPS chief Rusman Heriawan said here on Wednesday. The rise in CPO exports was the highest among various export commodities in the month. It was followed in second place by nickel (US$72.3 million) and organic chemicals (US$46.9 million).

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - More holiday-makers heading to Indonesia's resort island of Bali boosted overall tourist arrivals by 12.22 percent in the first half of 2007 compared to last year, according to data released Wednesday. The number of foreign tourists heading to Indonesia climbed to 2.14 million in the first six months of the year, official figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics showed.

Manila (ANTARA News) - The European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana on Wednesday welcomed Southeast Asia's plans to create a single market by 2015. Speaking at an Asian security summit in the Philippines, Solana said Europe was following "with the greatest interest" the plans of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). "We think it is very important not only for ASEAN but for the region and the world," he was quoted by AFP as saying.