Jakarta (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - The Medco Group said it will invest at least US$1 billion to diversify its business. The group whose core business is in the oil and gas industry, has established new companies - PT Medco Mining, PT Medco Agro and PT Medco Papua. Medco Mining will start by acquiring coal and steel mining concessions in Sumatra and Kalimantan, Group President Hilmi Panigoro said Thursday.

Friday, 16 May, 2008 | 14:03 WIB TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Leighton International, sister company of Leighton Holdings Limited Group, an undertaking for project development and the biggest contractor in Australia, won the contract worth US$350 million from the PT Mahakam Sumber Jaya (MSJ) , mining company owned by Tanito Coal Group. The contract is for a coal mining expansion in Indonesia that will be for five years. It will be started soon and end by April 2013.

Semarang (ANTARA News) - Chairman of the Indonesian Demotratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) faction in the House of Representatives (DPR) Tjahjo Kumolo said his party rejected the government`s fuel oil price hike plan and was asking for the reform of state-owned oil company Pertamina for it lacked transparency in the production of oil in Indonesia.

Denpasar (ANTARA News) - The government through the Transportation Ministry allocated Rp20 billion in 2008 for the construction of Amuk Port in Karangasem district, Bali, for cruise ships. "The allocation of funds is the second phase after the Transportation Ministry disbursed Rp10 billion for the same project in the year before," chief of the Bali Transportation Office Putu Sujana Cahyanta said here on Thursday.

Software piracy in Indonesia dropped last year, but total estimated losses swelled due to market growth, a report says. The rate of piracy dropped one percentage point to 84 percent in 2007, although the gap was hardly closed to neighbors Malaysia, with 59 percent, and Singapore, with 37 percent.

With help from the Indonesian Ecolabelling Institute (IEI) and the European Union, the government is developing an executive body under the Forestry Ministry to be responsible for the certification of sustainable wood products and production system. "The executive body will be at the same level as a directorate general within a ministry," IEI executive director Taufik Alwi said on the sidelines of a seminar on wood legality in Yogyakarta on Wednesday.

The Electronics Marketers Club (EMC), which groups together top electronics distributors, is predicting a tough time ahead for the industry as a government-planned fuel price increase is set to hurt purchasing power and sales. EMC secretary general Handojo Soetanto said Wednesday the group predicted an average 20 percent rise in domestic fuel prices would stunt the industry into a 5 percent growth this year, down from a previous 20 percent estimate.

Thursday, 15 May, 2008 | 16:09 WIB TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Companies from India and China are seeking coal in Indonesia. They are National Thermal Power Corp (NTPC) (an electrical company from India); Power Trading Company (PTC); Larsen and Turbo; Reliance; Agrawal Coal; and Watien. The head of the Indonesian coal mining association Jeffrey Mulyono said India and China has been competitively searching for coal resources as Indonesia has a large supply.

Thursday, 15 May, 2008 | 16:35 WIB TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono met Director of the Intel Corporation, Craig R. Barret at the President's office at 2pm today. Information and Communication Minister, M. Nuh and Education Minister Bambang Sudibyo also attended the meeting. Barret wished to promote the education program of Digital Intel World Ahead in Indonesia. He signed the agreement with Education Minister for this program.

Denpasar (ANTARA News) - A modern and permanent port for foreign cruise ships will be built in the Indonesia`s island resort of Bali, chief of Bali Provincial Transportation Office Putu Sujana Cahyanta said here on Thursday. He expressed hope that after the completion of the port, foreign cruise ships passing by the Indonesian waters would take a few days of their time to make a port call in the Indonesian island of paradise.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian economy grew 6.28 percent in the first quarter compared with a year ago, driven by exports and investment, an official said Thursday. Exports grew 15.03 percent in the first three months of the calendar year while investment surged 13.3 percent compared to the same time last year, Central Bureau of Statistics deputy chairman Slamet Sutomo was quoted by AFP as saying.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian government hopes that China will increase its investment in Indonesia which so far only accounts for 0.3 percent of the total foreign investments in the country, a minister said. "We hope that China which has a high economic growth will increase its investment in Indonesia so that it will contribute to Indonesia`s economic growth," Industry Minister Fahmi Idris told an Indonesia-Chinese Business Forum here on Thursday.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Riau provincial administration will invite foreign businessmen to run some projects in the province, mainly in the plantation and fishery sectors, during the Indonesian Regional Investment Forum (IRIF) to be held here on May 26 and 27. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to open the event to be organized jointly by the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) and Global Initiatives.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia`s business tendency index (ITB) in the second quarter of 2008 is 108.1, meaning that the business situation over the period is better than in the previous quarter, the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) said. The index was based on the results of a survey conducted on 2,3600 large-and medium-sized companies, BPS Deputy Chief for Balance Sheet and Statistical Analyses Slamet Sutomo said on Thursday.