(REUTERS) Indonesia’s rust-bucket ferries are a symbol of the decrepit infrastructure which has plagued Southeast Asia’s biggest economy and prevented it from matching China’s meteoric growth rate. Delivering a truckload of goods across one of the biggest of the 17,000 islands in Indonesia’s archipelago can take a week, when a journey of the same distance might take a day in Europe or the United States.

Indonesia and Malaysia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the establishment of a joint committee as an effort to increase two-way trade and investment. Addressing at the MoU signing of the Joint Trade and Investment Committee (ITIC) on January 11, Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono stressed that the two countries can conduct economic cooperation in more efficient ways to achieve their set targets.

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia, with regulators more in control of land issues, is better positioned than Indonesia if the European Union bans certain biofuels derived from crops grown on forests, wetlands or grasslands, a research house said. Credit Suisse research said yesterday that Malaysia’s land matters came under the 13 state governments unlike in Indonesia, where land matters were under district governments, with about 440 district governments in Indonesia.

Publicly listed property company PT Ciputra Property plans to invest Rp 7 trillion (US$747.36 million) on an integrated shopping mall, hotel and apartment project in Jakarta. President director Candra Ciputra said Tuesday the project would underline the reputation of the Ciputra Group as one of the country's main property companies.

State oil and gas company Pertamina on Tuesday raised the price of industrial fuels following depreciation of the local currency against the U.S. dollar early this month. The company raised the price of gasoline for industrial use by 6.7 percent to Rp 7,833 (84 U.S. cents) per liter. The price of kerosene was raised by 3 percent to Rp 8,336 per liter, and fuel oil by 5.4 percent to Rp 5,795 per liter.

To curb the surging price of soybeans, legislators suggested Tuesday the government scrap its policy limiting the number of designated importers. The policy is considered a major factor for the skyrocketing prices. "About 70 percent of soybeans in the country are imported," said Hasto Kristianto, a member of the House of Representatives' commission VI for trade. "If the number of importers is increased, the price is expected to decrease due to tighter competition," Hasto said.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia plans to boost domestic soybean output to 900,000 tonnes this year to reduce dependence on imports as soaring prices have hurt the local food industry, Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyantono said on Tuesday. "We will distribute good-quality soybean seedlings for free to farmers and revive soybean producing-areas which have been neglected," Apriyantono was quoted by Reuters as telling reporters.