The world's largest geothermal energy producer, Chevron Corp., officially opened the third unit of its Darajat power plant in Garut, West Java, on Tuesday (14/8/07), providing electricity to an additional 700,000 homes, The Jakarta Post reported. The Darajat III geothermal power plant boosted capacity at Chevron's Darajat geothermal complex by 110 MW to 259 MW, the company said in a statement.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) said Wednesday (15/8/07) it is interested in expanding its portfolio in Indonesia, reported Dow Jones Newswires. Announcing CBA's annual result, chief executive officer Ralph Norris told journalists the lender is interested in both acquisitions and organic growth in Indonesia.

The country’s biggest car dealer PT Toyota Astra Motor said Thursday (16/8/07) it sold 12,927 cars in July on the domestic market, down 2.9% from June but up 68.9% from a year ago. Industry-wide domestic car sales in July dropped 2.6% to 38,396 from June, but were up 75% from a year ago, it said.

The government plans to establish a holding company for state-owned plantation companies in 2009, State Minister for State Enterprises Sofyan Djalil said. The plan is expected to increase the equity of state plantation companies by 107% to Rp62.27 trillion ($6.9 billion) that year, he was quoted as saying by Antara.

The manufacturing sector grew 5.4% in the first half of 2007 compared with the same period last year, but fell short of the target set by the government, Antara reported. The main drivers for growth were the automotive, machine and equipment sector, which expanded by 10.37% in the second quarter and by 6.15% in the first quarter of this year, the Central Bureau of Statistic (BPS) said.

Malaysia's most valuable plantation firm IOI Corp Bhd said Wednesday (15/8/07) it has agreed to team up with Indonesia's Harita Group to cultivate oil palms in Kalimantan. The company will spend $130 million to buy a 33% stake in PT Bumitama Guanajaya Agro and a 67% stake in several unnamed companies, which will have total land for planting of 128,000 hectares, IOI said in a filing to the stock exchange, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

The Japanese government acknowledges Indonesia’s progress in improving its investment climate that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will bring 150 top Japanese business executives when he visits Jakarta on August 19-21, a Japanese official said Thursday (16/8/07). The Japanese prime minister's visit will mark more progressive bilateral relations between Japan and Indonesia, Director General for Media Relations of the Japanese Foreign Affairs Ministry Mitsuo Sakaba told Antara.

Consumer confidence in the country improved slightly in July from a month earlier, Bank Indonesia (BI) said Monday (13/8/07). The central bank said its consumer confidence index rose 0.5 point to 96.3 in July from 95.8 in June as respondents became less pessimistic about the availability of jobs and economic conditions over the next six months. However, "consumers remain optimistic over their income (prospects) over the next six months", the survey said, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

The economy expanded 6.28% on year in the second quarter, accelerating from 5.97% the previous quarter, the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) said Wednesday (15/8/07). On quarter, the economy grew 2.41%, quickening from 1.97% in the January-March period. The bureau said the main driver of growth was exports, which grew 3.82% on quarter and 9.79% on year.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced a budget for next year that will push funds into infrastructure development. The government is targeting growth of 6.8% next year, up from its projected 6.3% this year, on a deficit of 1.7% of gross domestic product, Dr. Yudhoyono announced Thursday (16/8/07) in his annual state-of-the-nation speech to mark Independence Day.

Boosting infrastructure development to help drive growth and create jobs, while improving education and public health services, will be the government's priority in next year's budget. As part of this plan, seven ministries will receive significant allocation increases in the 2008 draft budget. These are the public works, transportation, agriculture, energy and mineral resources, education, religious affairs and health ministries.

Singapore (ANTARA News) - Asia could feel the impact of turbulence that rocked global markets over the next three to six months but the region's foundations remained strong, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said. The region would be affected if the volatility, which saw stock markets around the world plummet from fears of a global credit crunch, starts to dent US consumer confidence, he was quoted by AFP as saying late Sunday.