“There will be no layoffs of Makro workers,” Lotte Shopping operational director Jusuf Halim said. Well that's a lie ... they have been laying people off for a good few months and the employees know the axe is hovering above their heads.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or Asean, is planning to set up a legal advisory institution to oversee the increasing number of disputes in bilateral trade relations among its 10 members and other nonmember countries.

Ika Krismantari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Well worth it!: An exhibition participant walks past a booth in a gas industry exhibition at Indogas 2009 at the Jakarta Convention Center, on Tuesday. Local and international gas companies fl ock to the event to tap growing business opportunities in the one of the world’s largest gas producing countries.

Lotte Group, a South Korean retail giant, will invest Rp 9 trillion (around US$870 million) in the next four years, aiming to become the leader in the country’s lucrative retail market. Through a subsidiary PT Lotte Shopping Indonesia - which took over hypermarket chain PT Makro Indonesia last year, the Group plans to build 26 new outlets up until 2013, under the brand ‘Lotte Mart’ to replace the previous ‘Makro’ brand.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will ink a free trade deal with Australia and New Zealand next month The deal will allow a freer flow of goods between the ASEAN region and both countries, with a combined market of more than 600 million people. Indonesian Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said recently the free trade agreement (FTA) would be signed on Feb. 27 during the ASEAN summit in Thailand. “Our negotiations with (Australia and New Zealand) have been completed.

Implementing regulations for a 2007 law opening more coastal areas across Indonesia to maritime industries, like pearl farming and seaweed cultivation, are expected to be issued during the first half of the year, a senior maritime affairs and fisheries official said on Tuesday. The government says the law would increase investment and improve economic prospects for development that would benefit coastal communities, but critics fear it would result in residents losing control of their lands.

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta According to a survey by HSBC, the small and medium-sized businesses (UKM) in Indonesia are quite optimistic about the current economic situation in Indonesia this year. Up to 13 percent of UKM is planning to increase their workforce, some by more than 20 percent On the other hand, only 7 percent of UKM have said that they will make cut backs, while 80 percent are planning to keep their staff.

Tanjungpinang, (ANTARA News) - The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) called on the government of Riau islands province to curtail the sale of alcoholic drinks in the free trade zones (FTZ) of Batam, Bintan and Karimun. "We are worried about the distribution of alcoholic drinks from other countries will be out of control after the declaration of the three islands as free trade zones," PKS for the Riau Island Provincial Chapter Wildan Hadi Purnama said here Tuesday.