State-owned bank PT Bank Mandiri hosted Papua Investment day on Thursday as part of efforts to persuade businessmen to invest in Papua and West Papua provinces. The two-day-event, which will conclude on Friday, is attended by 60 investors, 11 state enterprises, and Papua and West Papua governments. "We try to facilitate this event so that our consumers and Papua authorities can meet each other. Our data show that China and Saudi Arabia have invested in Papua.

Stainless steel producer Dingxin Group of China and nickel mining company PT. Bintangdelapan Mineral of Indonesia have agreed to form a joint venture company in Central Sulawesi to mine and process nickel. The company, PT Sulawesi Mining Investment (SMI), will begin producing ferro nickel after next year, Bintangdelapan president director Halim Mina said Wednesday. SMI will be 55 percent owned by Dingxin and 45 percent by Bintangdelapan.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) said that businesses which wanted to invest in Papua should be given incentives such as tax holidays in order to accelerate growth in the region. "It is urgent for investors willing to do business in Papua to be given incentives. If not, there will be no change in the province in the coming 10 years," Kadin chairman MS Hidayat said here on Thursday.

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Entrepreneurs are being asked to play an active role in eradicating corruption. According to Transparency International, the funds found in corruption cases come from the private sector. “We tend to ignore the private sector while it also apply practices of corruption,” said head of executive board of Transparency International Indonesia, Todung Mulya Lubis, during the launching of the global corruption report at Menara Kadin in Jakarta, yesterday (7/10).

Eco-labeling and better quality control have put Indonesian furniture makers in position to grab some of China’s share of the European Union market, the industry association said on Wednesday. All members of the Indonesian Furniture Industry and Handicrafts Association (Asmindo) that export to Europe had passed EU eco-labeling requirements, Asmindo chairman Ambar Tjahyono said.

The Agriculture Ministry is considering a plan to issue restrictions affecting commercial farms, including a provision that could limit crop exports, a senior official said on Wednesday. The move is to protect domestic food security. “We plan to tighten up the regulations governing commercial farms,” Sutarto Alimoeso, the ministry’s director general of food crops, said on Wednesday in Jakarta.

Giant Norwegian aluminium producer Hydro could invest up to $4 billion in a proposed alumina plant with state miner PT Aneka Tambang in Tayan, West Kalimantan, if Russia’s United Company Rusal decides to pull out of an earlier partnership agreement, a senior government official said on Wednesday. “Hydro has been talking to Antam about a preliminary study on Tayan,” said Muhammad Lutfi, chairman of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM).

Indonesia's economy may expand more than 5.9 percent next year if the government pushes efforts to support the tradable sector that produces goods, economist Faisal Basri said Wednesday. "The economy may expand 5.9 percent without the government doing anything (significant). It can be more if the government wants to push more efforts," he said after the launching of his book titled "Lanskap Ekonomi Indonesia" (The Landscape of Indonesian Economy).

Most business players in the country tend to pay bribes to public officers, including government officials, to smooth their business, a survey conducted by the Transparency International (TI) reveals. TI found in its latest survey that corruption remained unchecked in Indonesia, involving up to 60 percent of businesspeople in the country.

Alfian, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Indonesia’s mining sector could expect investment of up to US$6 billion in the 2010-2012 period, in part because of a greater degree of certainty following the enactment of the mining law, the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) says. “The investment will come from all activities in mining including smelting,” BKPM chief M. Lutfi said, adding that the lion’s share would come from several large mining projects.

Mustaqim Adamrah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta The government has imposed a safeguard measure to protect local producers of nails and wire against a spike in imports from China and Malaysia, by introducing additional fees on imported goods of this type. The measure will remain effective for three years, from Oct. 1 this year to Sept. 30, 2012.

Two days before the end of its five-year tenure on Sept. 30, the House of Representatives took a final shot at foreign oil companies, urging the government to submit a new bill to replace Law No. 22/2001 on oil and gas, arguing the present law is far too loaded in favor of foreign contractors.

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: An economist from the University of Indonesia, Faisal Basri, is recommending five strategic targets to the next government in order to achieve the acceleration of equal and fair economic growth. The targets are revealed on Faisal's new book entitled 'Lanskap Ekonomi Indonesia' (The landscape of Indonesian economy) explaining the formation of robust, independent, and competitive economic structures that will not be sensitive to external influences.

Jakarta (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Indonesia's petrochemical industry needs an additional investment of U$22.6 billion in the upstream sector in the next five years to support the downstream sector of the industry, PT Tuban Petrochemical Industries said. Development of the upstream sector is needed to provide feedstock in olefin and aromatic products for the country's plastic industry, the company added.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to officially launch the physical construction of the Palapa Ring project on October 12, 2009. Communication and Information Ministry spokesman Gatot S. Dewa Broto said here on Wednesday the president would declare the commencement of the project through a video conference between Jakarta and Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara.