Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian Trade Ministry raised Friday the export reference price (HPE) of crude palm oil for February to US$944 per metric ton from US$869 per metric ton a month earlier after the CPO price in Rotterdam hit a record high of US$1,000 per metric ton. The ministry recorded the average CPO prices in Rotterdam this month which served as a reference to set the HPE for February was US$1,020 per metric ton, Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - All ASEAN member countries have expressed agreement to the Indonesian proposal to implement the ASEAN tourism joint promotion with a view to increasing the number of tourists visiting the region, a minister said. Jero Wacik, Culture and Tourism Minister said here on Friday that the agreement was reached in the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) held in Bangkok, Thailand, from January 18 to 22, 2008.

Denpasar, Bali (ANTARA News) - Indonesia`s balance of payments experienced a surplus of US$1.1 billion in the third quarter of 2007, or much higher than the previous prediction of US$0.4 billion, a central bank official said here on Friday. "The current account transactions positively contributed US$2.9 billion to the surplus in the balance of payments," Economic Research and Monetary Policy Affairs Director of Bank Indonesia (BI), Made Sukada, told a seminar here.