"..funny that a champion karate coach could not dispose of 4 podgy malay policemen ..." ...yes, but you're talking about an Indonesian karate champion...

so, there you go. indonesia's problems have nothing to do with rampant corruption, incompetent bureacracy, murderous military, moronic politicians, manpower chaos, etc etc. no, no, no. it's the brand that's the problem!

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The creation of Country Branding (CB) or positive images about a country from the eyes of the world is crucial in determining its success in global competition. Unfortunately, Indonesia is regarded as failing to create CB due to a lack of the leaders’ consistency.

The government may raise the royalties on certain mineral ores under the new mining bill, a legislator involved in the deliberation of the bill says. Chairman of the House of Representatives' energy and mineral resources commission, Airlangga Hartarto, said Tuesday that the current royalties on valuable minerals, such as gold, silver and copper, would be raised. "With the current high commodity prices on the domestic market, royalties of 1 percent on gold, copper and silver are too low.

The Middle East's first publicly listed company in the oil and gas sector, Aabar Petroleum Investment Company, plans to invest US$500 million in the next three years on exploration and production work in Indonesia. CEO David Woodward said Tuesday that the company would use the money mostly for the development of its gas block in Sebuku in the Makassar Strait, offshore East Kalimantan.

State-owned miner PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) is set to team up with a Russian mining firm, Rusal, to conduct a feasibility study on the construction of an alumina smelter in Tayan, West Kalimantan, Aneka's senior executive says. President director Deddy Aditya Sumanegara said Tuesday the plant, which it is estimated would cost around US$1.5 billion, would have a production capacity of 1 to 1.2 million tons per year.

The government finally implemented an average 20 percent toll increase on 13 turnpikes Tuesday. This is consistent with a 2004 regulation that requires toll adjustments to be carried out every two years based on the average inflation rate in the relevant region. Despite criticism, the government has little choice but to hike tolls in order to assuage turnpike investors and attract new investors. The development of tollways has been an integral part of the government's agenda in recent years.

Indonesia, conservationists have different views of palm oil plantations Updated: 12:49 p.m. ET Sept. 4, 2007 TUMBANG KULING, Indonesia - Naingolan shunts the excavator into high gear and tears into a patch of smoldering forest on Borneo island, clearing the way for yet another palm oil plantation that Indonesia hopes will tap into a surge in global demand for biofuels.

PT Bakrie Telecom, whose cellular business trades under the Esia brand, is to sell handsets at relatively affordable prices, in cooperation with China-based vendor Huawei, so as to help boost the number of its subscribers to 3.6 million by the end of the year. Vice president Erik Meijer said Monday that the handsets, plus Rp 50,000-worth of Esia talktime, would be sold at Rp 199,000 (US$21), excluding tax. The handsets, he added, were locked and could only be used on the Esia network.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The North Sulawesi administration has set a target of obtaining investment transactions worth Rp2 trillion from an investment exhibition or North Sulawesi (Sulut) Expo which is being held here from September 1 to 5.