The response to the most recent cabinet reshuffle is a good indicator of the national mood. "The cabinet reshuffle by the President was a positive step that will enhance the performance of the government," said 77 percent of the population. It is obvious that the President continues to enjoy a level of popular support much higher than the leaders of neighboring Australia and New Zealand. Of the 23 percent of the population who disagreed, 61 percent were male.

Aiming to increase labor competitiveness in the country's free trade zones, the government is formulating a mechanism for the establishment of local tripartite labor committees within each FTZ. It is expected that the committees, which will consist of representatives of the local government, employers and labor unions, will serve as local forums that can successfully address labor-relations problems. "We haven't come up with an exact formula for the tripartite committees as yet.

State electricity firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) signed an agreement with a consortium headed by Japan's Marubeni Corp to purchase power from a new power plant, Reuters quoted the energy minister as saying on Monday (20/8/07). Purnomo Yusgiantoro told reporters that the consortium would construct a $750 million power plant and supply electricity to PLN for 4.363 US cents per kilowatt hour for 30 years. Commercial operation is expected to start by August, 2011.

Publicly listed Bank Mega is optimistic lending will grow by 60% this year on the back of a surge in demand from corporate borrowers. The bank's outstanding loans grew by about 10% as of the end of June to Rp11.5 trillion ($1.21 billion) from the same month in 2006, president director Yungky Setiawan said Monday (20/8/07), according to The Jakarta Post.

PT Sinar Mas Telecommunications plans to become the 10th mobile-phone operator in the country, where competition has forced companies to slash call rates. The company plans to build a network capable of serving 1.4 million users by the end of the year, director Ubaidillah Fatah told Bloomberg News. Sinar Mas aims to attract 700,000 users this year, starting services next month.

The government plans to build a railway line linking Jakarta with the main Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in an effort to ease the city's traffic problems, the railroad operator's chief said on Wednesday (22/8/07).

The government looks set to develop Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in the Batam, Bintan and Karimun islands, after issuing regulations relating to implementation of the SEZs early last week. Coordinating Minister for the Economy Boediono said officials from Indonesia and Singapore will meet in Bali on August 29 to discuss progress of the SEZs and other pending issues.