Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The government has raised crude palm oil (CPO) export tax from 10 to 20 percent for April shipment because the CPO price in the world market in March has reached a record high, Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said. "The average price of CPO in March was 1,200 US dollars per ton so that its export tax has now been raised by 20 percent," the minister said on the sidelines of a cheap cooking oil selling operation in Jombang, East Java, on Tuesday.

Decentralizing power, by shifting control from the central government to smaller local governments, is the will of the local population and can only be deemed progressive in a new democracy like Indonesia. But it is a new system fraught with problems. In a special poll recently conducted across the country, Roy Morgan Research measured the response to the rollout of local governments.

The cash-strapped government plans to broaden categories of goods subject to excise duty in response to an expanding state budget deficit and an intense campaign to reduce environmental hazards. A proposal to expand the list of goods subject to excise is under discussion in the House of Representatives. The duty is currently applied to tobacco, alcohol and ethanol derivatives.

Agustina Wayansari, The Jakarta Post Leading cement manufacturers expect demand for cement to grow at least 6 percent on the back of an improving economy and many large construction projects in regions this year. PT Semen Gresik president director Dwi Soetjipto said Monday domestic demand could even increase more than 6 percent if the government manages to realize its planned infrastructure projects. Last year, the industry grew by 6.6 percent. "This is a conservative estimate.

Indonesia stands to lose out on benefits from the planned free trade agreement (FTA) between the EU and ASEAN unless it improves its negotiation capacity and coordination, an official says. The Trade Ministry's director general for regional trade cooperation, Iman Pambagyo, said the lack of coordination among ministries and among ASEAN countries was one of the challenges Indonesia faced in preparing for the agreement.

In a bid to expand the country's shipping industry, the government is set to wrap up a loan agreement worth around US$150 million from Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). "The funding is expected to be disbursed between 2008 and 2009," the Transportation Ministry's director general of sea transportation, Effendi Batubara, said Monday. Effendi said the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) was currently finalizing the agreement with JBIC.

The local shipping industry requested more bank loans Monday to support the anticipated rise in shipping demand caused by a government policy banning foreign vessels from transporting goods between local ports. Director general of sea transportation Effendi Batubara said the shipping sector needed a lot of funds following the enactment of the 2005 presidential decree on "cabotage principle", which will be fully applied after 2011.

you mean, he's like bakrie?? or worse?

May as well be, he is a well known rip-off merchant and also has (under the wings off his many companies) thousands of underpaid and ill treated Asian's working for him in the UAE. Not a nice man!

 Originally Posted By: Dilli Mohammed Ali Alabbar, dodgy bastard.... any relation to Ali Baba?

they seem to have enough problems supplying the busway with gas, much less the general public. and Rp12m for a conversion kit is clearly a rip off.

Mohammed Ali Alabbar, dodgy bastard....

I know it's a better, cleaner option, but... Who the fuck in Jakarta is going to shell out 12 Million for the conversion kit, and more to the point, are they aware that Petrol Stations will require complete "re-vamps" to handle the transfer of the LPG. I can see no future in this unless, as they have done in China, certain vehicles can only be purchased as "ready to run" on LPG and that Pertamina ensure that adequate facilities are equipped with the ability to supply the fuel.

State-run oil and gas firm Pertamina on Monday (17/3/08) introduced liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) fuel products for Rp3,600 ($0.39) per liter, Xinhua reported. Called Vigas, the fuel product is available at three Pertamina fuel outlets in Jakarta and the number will be increased to nine by the end of the year, said Pertamina deputy marketing director Hanung Budya.

Hong Kong's Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd said a majority-owned unit agreed to sell certain telecommunication assets in Indonesia in a deal worth $500 million, Thomson Financial reported Tuesday (18/3/08). Hutchison Telecommunications, a company controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li-Ka shing, said it expects to book a gain of $236 million from the sale of the assets to PT Profesional Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Protelindo).

The Agriculture Ministry wants to make Indonesia a leading prime coffee producer in the world by 2025, the ministry's plantation affairs director, Achmad Mangga Barani, said Wednesday (19/3/08), Antara reported. He said Indonesia now ranked fourth in the world as a coffee producer and exporter although its coffee plantation area was the second largest in the world.

Daimler AG, the world's largest maker of commercial vehicles, may raise its production capacity for buses in Indonesia as much as 15-fold, Bloomberg reported Tuesday (18/3/08). The company may invest 10 million euros ($16 million) to expand capacity at its factory in Bogor, West Java, Rudi Borgenheimer, president of Mercedes-Benz Indonesia, said in Jakarta. The company forecasts Indonesia sales of its buses and cars will double this year to 3,000 vehicles.

The South Korean Korindo Group said it plans to build a new pulp factory in the country, to cost $350 million in 2009, Asia Pulse reported Monday (17/3/08). The company already has three pulp plants with a total production capacity of 800,000 tons a year and a newsprint factory, which has exported newsprint to more than 20 countries. Korindo Group Director Kim Hoon said the new factory will increase the company's production capacity by 200,000 tons of pulp a year.

Approvals of foreign investment proposals rose 19.6% on year in January, Thomson Financial reported. They hit $1.40 billion from $1.17 billion a year earlier, data from the National Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) showed Wednesday (19/3/08). Domestic investment approvals in the month dropped sharply to Rp5.16 trillion from Rp61.56 trillion a year ago, according to the data.

Economic growth this year could be below the government's 6.4% target due to rising uncertainties in the global economy, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said Monday (17/3/08), Dow Jones reported. "The conditions of the US economy are very serious, and are affecting the global economy as well as Indonesian economy," Mulyani said.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono wound up his 10-day overseas trip with commitments of $3.5 billion in investment commitments from businessmen in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. President Yudhoyono returned to Indonesia on Friday (21/3/08), Antara reported, after a tour which took in Iran, where other investments were achieved, the Organization of Islamic Conference in Sengal and South Africa.