JAKARTA (JP): With soaring oil prices, which translate into higher revenues for oil producing firms, the government said it would attempt to renegotiate contracts with oil and gas operators in the country. Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro revealed on Monday his plan to change the terms and conditions in the existing production sharing contracts, as had been requested by the House of Representatives' Commission VII on energy and mineral resources.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his visitng Finnish counterpart, Tarja Halonen, have agreed to intensify bilateral cooperation in the trade and investment sectors which has so far remained low. "We have agreed to intensify trade and investment cooperation.

Monday, 18 February, 2008 | 17:25 WIB TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Several international financial institutions are predicting that Indonesia's economy this year will only grow 6.2 percent, much lower than the initial target in the 2008 state Budget of 6.8 percent. According to foreign institutions, economic growth will also still be lower than in the planned Revised 2008 Budget of 6.4 percent.

Jayapura (ANTARA News) - Japanese investors are interested in seaweed from Yapen Waropen district, Papua province, and expected to import the commodity to that country in the near future, a local official has said. Head of Yapen Waropen district, Daud Soleman Betawi, said here Monday he and the district administration officials had discussed the Japanese wish to import the commodity and would soon send the produce to Japan.

While the total value of credit card transactions in the country has significantly increased in the last two years, the amount of credit card nonperforming loans (NPLs) has also arisen, reports Bank Indonesia (BI). As of November 2007, credit card NPLs amounted to Rp 2.87 trillion (US$309.93 million), up about 67 percent from Rp 1.72 trillion in December 2006, BI deputy director for accounting and payment systems Sri Suparni told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta More than ten years after the financial crisis which led to costly restructuring and reform, Indonesia's economy is no better off, according to experts. In some cases, the economy is in even worse shape. In a public lecture, University of Indonesia economist Faisal H. Basri said Indonesia is rated one of the least competitive among 55 countries, down 5 points from number 49 in 2003.

The government is considering turning the country's state-owned pawnbroker into a limited company ahead of a possible partial privatization, the Financial Times reported Monday (11/2/08). Some 23 million Indonesians used Pegadaian last year to take out Rp23,300 billion ($2.5 billion) in loans ranging from Rp20,000 to billions of rupiah. The company reported pre-tax profits of Rp610 billion in 2007, up 22% on 2006, which in turn was up 52% on 2005.

The nation expanded at the fastest pace in 10 years as declining borrowing costs encouraged companies to invest and spurred consumer spending, Bloomberg reported Friday (15/2/08). Gross domestic product (GDP) of the $364 billion economy grew 6.25% in the three months ended December 31 from a year earlier, after expanding 6.5% in the third quarter, the Central Statistics Bureau (BPS) said. The economy grew 6.32% in the full year.

Members of the Gayo ethnic group in the highlands of Aceh say they are annoyed by the insistence of a Dutch company that they cannot use the name of their area and people for their coffee. According to a report inThe Sydney Morning Herald, thousands of former rebels and sympathizers are being encouraged to harvest small coffee plots supplying local co-operatives. The growing popularity of Gayo-grown coffee has created a conflict has erupted over the rights to the Gayo name.

Ambitious Road Project Part of a Giant Aceh to Eastern Indonesia Trans National Highway Project. Bali News: Building the Bali Nusa Raya Highway (2/16/2008) The National Road Building Agency for Indonesia's 8th District will soon begin realizing the construction and upgrading of 3,000 kilometers of majors road stretching from Bali's western port of Gilimanuk to Atambua in West Timor. The entire road project, scheduled to get underway in March 2008, will cost Rp.

Bagus Discovery Tour's Owner Says Lower Taxes Would Raise More Money for Island's Public Coffers. Bali News: Call for 50% Reduction in Hotel & Restaurant Tax. (2/17/2008) Commenting in a page-one article in BisnisBali, the Secretary General of the Bali Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI-Bali) and owner of Bagus Discovery Tours, Bagus Sudibya, has thrown his support behind a proposal to lower the current tax charged on hotel and restaurant bills from 10% to 5%.

Provincial Investment Board Gives Green Light to New Hotels Despite Objections by Tourism Board and Governor. Bisnis Bali estimates that the value of new investments in hotels and recreational facilities in Bali for the period January – November 2007 reached Rp. 1.4 trillion (US$152.2 million) comprised of 38 projects. 70% of the new investment in Bali is centered on the hotel and resort sector.

this has been the first peep out of the veep for quite a while. and the issue? it seems the balinese want to bypass the moribund KADIN and form their own little ginger group so they can lobby for handouts.

Sanur, Bali (ANTARA News) - Vice President Jusuf Kalla has told Balinese merchants that they must have pride without engaging themselves in a structural organization. "Dealing in any product could be the pride so long as it is accompanied with high spirit and creativeness, and just leave the structural organization to Kadin (the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry)," he said here Sunday.