* World Bank Approves $110 Million New Financing to Help Boost Tax Revenues * Project for Indonesian Tax Administration Reform (PINTAR) The World Bank is set to support Indonesia in its ongoing effort to improve its tax administration system through the Project for Indonesian Tax Administration Reform (PINTAR).

Indonesia is facing a gloomy outlook in its condominium business as some property companies defer their apartment projects and return their customers’ money as demand slows, a property analyst said on Monday.

The European Union’s increasing demand for crude palm oil, or CPO, is evidence of its inconsistent stance on climate change, an environmentalist said on Monday. “[The developed world] has criticized Indonesia for destroying its forests, but its increasing demand for Indonesian CPO sends a different message,” said Elfian Effendi, the executive director of Greenomics Indonesia.

The Indonesian Bakery Association (APEBI) demanded Friday the government scrap 10 percent value-added tax (VAT) on imported wheat to help revive the country's bakery and pastry businesses as global economic slump undermined people's purchasing power. "We want the government to participate in helping out the bakery sector, especially the small-scale ones," APEBI chairman Chris Hardijaya said. The government has slapped back VAT on imported wheat as of Jan.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has officially launched the much-delayed free trade zone for Batam, Bintan and Karimun in Riau Islands. The launching, ending five years of legal uncertainty for businesses, was marked Monday with the issue of government regulations on customs, tax and duties for goods entering the three islands.

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:Indonesia will host the fifth World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) in March 2 - 3, 2009. The forum will be held at the Ritz-Carlton Pacific Place Hotel in Jakarta. The two-day conference will be attended by world leaders and multinational company CEOs. US president-elect Barack Obama is also invited. "We don't know whether he will come or not," said WIEF Organizing Committee deputy-chairman, Tanri Abeng at a press conference in Jakarta last Friday.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Indonesia has delayed releasing complete regulations on using carbon credits to protect rainforests, preferring to fine-tune rules that could earn the country billions of dollars and curb the pace of climate change. A report sponsored by the World Bank and Britain's Department for International Development says up to 84 percent of Indonesia's carbon emissions come from deforestation, forest fires and peatland degradation.

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta The World Bank, one of the country's major donors, has approved a US$110 million loan to the Indonesian government to help it improve taxation systems. The soft loan was approved and announced from Washington last week, a media statement said.