Yes isn't it great that twenty of the most recently posted articles on any given day are along these lines? I wouldn't know what to chat about in the warung without these current affairs snippets.

My, that is interesting...

The Asian Agri Group said it will commission a new bio-diesel factory with a capacity of 400,000 tons a year next week, Asia Pulse reported. The Rp350 billion ($37 million) factory built in Dumai, Riau, will use crude palm oil (CPO) as the feedstock, company director Semion Tarigan said. Tarigan said with the high price of CPO, the selling price would be too high for domestic market. Therefore, the company plans to export its entire production.

The finance ministry has officially abolished the value added tax (VAT) on textile machine imports as part of the country's restructuring program in the textile industry, Asia Pulse reported. The abolition of the VAT was in reply to a request by the Indonesian textile association (API) late last year, The Jakarta Post said. API chairman Benny Soetrisno said he would seek further details on the announcement as he did not know whether the decision is retroactive.

In addition to accelerating its inspection process, the government is looking to reduce overloading and delays at Jakarta’s Tanjung Priok port by penalizing traders who fail to remove goods that clear customs, The Jakarta Post reported. A government-appointed team charged with assuring the smooth flow of export and import goods will arrange a series of meetings to provide solutions to the port's overloading problems, Trade Minister Mari Pangestu said.

The regional administration of Sumba Barat Daya and Quantum Petroleum signed an agreement to invest $350 million in bio-ethanol industry in the regency, Asia Pulse reported. The subsidiary of Australia's Quantum Group said it has completed studies of the area where it will grow cassava to supply feedstock of a bio-ethanol plant to be built in that area.

The government has questioned a new report from the World Bank's investment arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which says Indonesia has slipped two notches down its list for 2009 to 129 of 181 countries surveyed. The IFC official overseeing operation, business enabling and environment advisory services, Fararitri Widyadari, said the slip was mainly because the government had imposed a high minimum starting capital for business.

Investment in Indonesia should grow more than 10% this year despite global financial turmoil, Trade Minister Mari Pangestu said Wednesday, Agence France-Presse reported. "We are still optimistic that investment in Indonesia will grow more than 10% even though the condition of global markets is very bad," she told reporters. Total investment last year was Rp135 trillion ($14.3 billion), she said.

Consumer confidence improved in August as the impact of fuel price rises subsided, but consumers were still largely pessimistic, expecting costs to increase in the near term, two surveys showed, Reuters reported. A central bank survey of 4,600 households in 18 cities showed the consumer confidence index rose to 89.3 in August from 82.1 in July. A reading below 100 means consumers are pessimistic. The last time the index was above 100 was in November 2007.

Indonesian tax revenue in August, excluding the oil and gas sector, jumped 40.5% from a year ago, as tougher action by the authorities led to improved compliance, Director General for Tax Darmin Nasution said, Reuters reported. The government has taken a much tougher stance against individuals and companies over tax payments since 2006, when Nasution was appointed director general, in a bid to increase revenues.

Wednesday, 17 September, 2008 | 13:35 WIB TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Together with Malaysia, Indonesia is trying to get the European Union to accept Indonesian palm oil as biodiesel. “We are still trying,” said Agricultural Minister Anton Apriantono. Anton said the European Union's decision would have a significant effect on Indonesia and Malaysia as they supply 85 percent of world palm oil. Indonesia can produce 16.9 million tons and Malaysia 15.82 million tons.

Cash worth hundreds of millions of rupiah is being smuggled to Singapor daily, the Indonesian Navy said during a raid in Batam on Wednesday. Based on the confession of the two perpetratos detained Wednesday, Batam naval base commander Col. Muhammad Faisal said, cash smuggling to Singapore had been carried out daily over the past three years. The two, identified as Yong Peng and Toni, were caught red- handed carrying a combined of Rp 686 million (US$72,800) on board a ferry headed for Singapore.

Mustaqim Adamrah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Indonesia may see robust growth in exports to India following the conclusion of negotiations on a free trade agreement between India and members of ASEAN. The new pact, scheduled for signing in December, should benefit Indonesia as India has promised to cut its import duties on palm oil, said Gusmardi Bustami, the Trade Ministry's director general for International Trade Cooperation. Indonesia is the world's largest crude palm oil (CPO) producer.

Desy Nurhayati, The Jakarta Post, Depok, West Java Indonesia has the potential to emerge as one of the world's leading destinations for meetings, incentive events, conventions and exhibitions (MICE), but must address lingering problems of security and accessibility to do so, a discussion heard.

Cyrillus Harinowo, Jakarta The Grand Indonesia Shopping Town is likely to be the latest addition to the string of Indonesian shopping malls. But this is not just an ordinary addition. The Grand Indonesia is currently the largest and most luxurious shopping mall in the country, if not in Southeast Asia. The complex, which includes the BCA Tower, named after Indonesia's second largest bank, Kempinsky Hotel and high rise Kempinsky Residence occupies a total space of 650,000 square meters.

Mon, 09/15/2008 10:14 AM | Opinion Even though the government might have some legitimate questions to raise about the accuracy of the latest business climate survey of the International Finance Corporation, the blunt fact remains: our business climate is really poor and worse than that of most ASEAN countries.

Alfian, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta State power utility company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) plans to build a gas-receiving terminal worth US$500 million in a bid to secure gas fuel for its power plants. PLN president director Fahmi Mochtar said the company would cooperate with state oil and gas company PT Pertamina and state-controlled gas utility company PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGN). "We have agreed to form a consortium to finance and build the terminal.

Alfian, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta State power utility company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) plans to build a gas-receiving terminal worth US$500 million in a bid to secure gas fuel for its power plants. PLN president director Fahmi Mochtar said the company would cooperate with state oil and gas company PT Pertamina and state-controlled gas utility company PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGN). "We have agreed to form a consortium to finance and build the terminal.

Andry Asmoro, Analyst Interestingly, with the third quarter of 2008 almost out of the way we have seen some major highlights in macroeconomic indicators but only little attention in the way of the government's national program: Visit Indonesia Year 2008. Let's face it, the tourism sector is simply unloved by the government who are preferring to focus on politics in the lead up to the 2009 elections.

Additional goods and services should be exempted in the upcoming amendment to the luxury and value-added tax (VAT) law, a trade association says. Among the services proposed by the group are food catering, money transfers via the post office, parking fees and public phones, while goods included agricultural and foresty-based products, as well as fishery, livestock and plantation commodities.

Bali's Burgeoning Tourism Industry is Playing a Role in the Loss of the Island's Agricultural Roots. (9/15/2008) The Indonesian Daily Kompas recently carried a report relating the plight of women in Bali trying to eek out a living working as coolies at local markets and the role tourism is playing in the island-wide scurry to find employment. A 32-year-old woman Nyoman Reni wipes the sweat from her face.

Growing Controversy Over Villa Projects on Bali's North Coast Underlines the Vagaries Awaiting Foreigners Buying Land in Bali. (9/15/2008) Bali Post reports that Bali's northern coast, stretching some 144 kilometers, is under threat of submerging below a continuous strip of commercial and private villas.

Our Correspondent 16 September 2008 Infrastructure development, always a concern, can’t keep up with economic growth Indonesia, with its economy growing at its healthiest pace since the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, is starting to burst at the seams from a serious lack of infrastructure development.

Seoul (ANTARA News) - South Korea has signed a deal with Indonesia to lease 25,000 hectares of coastal waters to cultivate seaweed that can be processed to produce bio-ethanol fuel, the government said Wednesday. The letter of intent (LOI) signed between the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and its Indonesia counterpart permits local companies to lease the waters free of charge.