It was only four years ago that Sutiyoso launched construction of the "Jakarta Tower" in Kemayoran, announcing it would be the world's tallest tower at 558 meters. Then again, around that time he also launched construction of the city's monorail, which was to be up and running by 2006.

with the frequency of his visits to indonesia, one would be forgiven for thinking that bill was wanting to immigrate. but no. more like he's trying to lock in the indonesian government into using microsoft's crappy and expensive software. SBY, here's some free advice: open source.

Tuesday, 06 May, 2008 | 16:06 WIB TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, will come to Indonesia on Thursday this week. He is scheduled to give a speech at the annual Asia Pacific government leaders forum. “Bill Gates will speak at the forum in the Jakarta Convention Center,” Lalu Mara, spokesperson for the Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare, told Tempo on Tuesday (6/5).

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta Publicly listed PT Holcim Indonesia, the nation's third largest cement producer, plans to build a new plant worth US$400 million with an annual production capacity of 3.5 million tons in Tuban, East Java, by the end of 2009. Corporate communication manager Jeffry Sani said Monday the construction would take around three years to complete. "So we expect the site to start operations in 2011," he said. The firm currently has two plants.

Aditya Suharmoko, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta The economy grew at a lesser rate in the first quarter of 2008, compared to in last year's fourth quarter, on a slower growth in investment and consumption amid rising inflation and a global economic slowdown, Bank Indonesia (BI) said Monday. In its quarterly assessment, BI estimated the economy had grown 6.1 percent in the first three months of 2008, lower than the government's estimate of between 6.2 and 6.3 percent.

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta Dubai-based real estate giant Emaar Properties plans to build a landmark tower in Jakarta, which would be the tallest skyscraper in Southeast Asia, a presidential envoy says. Special envoy for the Middle East Alwi Shihab said Monday the Chairman of Emaar, Mohamed Ali Alabbar, had proposed the project to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during an informal meeting on Saturday.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Vice President Jusuf Kalla has signaled that the domestic fuel prices would rise by 30 percent. "The government twice raised the domestic fuel prices, namely by 30 percent in March 2005, and by 120 percent in 2006," the vice president said at the National Development Planning Meeting 2008 (Musrenbangnas 2008) here on Tuesday.

Australia's explorer APAC Coal Ltd is looking to raise $15 million through an initial public offering to fund the development of a thermal coal mine in Indonesia, Australian Associated Press reported. APAC Coal's flagship project is located in East Kalimantan, and contains a resource of 5.1 million tons of thermal coal, which is used to fuel power stations.

India’s Reliance Power Ltd. plans to invest $650 million to develop an Indonesian coal mine to ensure supplies as prices rise to a record, Bloomberg reported Tuesday. The cost includes the mine, a railway and a jetty to ship coal from the South Sumatra province to a power station being built in southern India, CEO Jayarama Chalasani said. The deposit may hold as much as 1.2 billion metric tons of coal, he said, equal to about 25% of Indonesia's known reserves.

The government is considering cutting coal royalty to be paid by coal contractors to the government from 13.5% to 7.5% Asia Pulse reported Tuesday. The policy is to encourage contractors to supply low grade coal for state electricity company PLN, which needs large supply to feed its coal-fired power plants, an official said.

German motorcycle maker Sachs Fahrzeug-und Motorentechnik Gmbh wants to grab a share in the Indonesia's fast growing but tightly competitive market, Asia Pulse reported. Sachs Germany, as the company is known, has established a joint venture with a local partner PT Minerva Motor Indonesia to produce motorcycles with the brand name of Minerva Sachs. Sachs will provide technical support especially in the manufacture of engines and production processes, Sachs director Hartmut Huhn said.

US Trade Representative Susan Schwab was to discuss ways to boost trade with Southeast Asia and wrap up long-running world trade talks in meetings beginning on Thursday in Bali, according to a statement reported by Reuters. "Southeast Asia is one of the most economically dynamic regions in the world," Schwab said in a statement before leaving for Bali.