JAKARTA -- Indonesia's pace of growth accelerated in the third quarter, indicating a sustained recovery for Southeast Asia's largest economy due to a rebound in household spending, and investment by companies and industries. [Indonesia GDP chart] Indonesia's economy grew 3.9% quarter-to-quarter compared with 2.3% growth in the second quarter.

Pontianak (ANTARA) - Dozens of Chinese businessmen visited a number of regencies and cities in West Kalimantan exploring investment possibilities and prospects, West Kalimantan Deputy Governor Christiandy Sanjaya said here Tuesday. The Chinese businessmen had been visiting Pontianak city, Landak, Sanggau and Kubu Raya regencies. He said the West Kalimantan capital investment agency had already briefed the Chinese businesspeople on the economic potentials of the regencies and cities.

The government is considering issuing a regulation requiring state-owned enterprises to allocate 30 percent to 50 percent of their spending on locally made goods to help push the country’s economic growth. The announcement was made on Tuesday by MS Hidayat, the new industry minister. Key industry players immediately questioned the move, saying this could endanger trade negotiations with other countries.

Minister for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Fadel Muhammad said Tuesday that his ministry would set the ambitious goal of tripling aquaculture production next year if its proposed 50 percent budget increase is approved by the Finance Ministry and the House of Representatives. Increased production of seaweed, and nile and silver catfish will be targeted to meet the goal. Fadel said aquaculture output had increased by an average of 20 percent a year over the past five years.

Indonesia is the favorite investment destination for Hong Kong companies, an official with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) told Xinhua on Tuesday. "Indonesia remains the favorite investment destination for us. And, according to the UN's data, Hong Kong's investment ranked seventh in Indonesia in 2007 with total investment 259 million U.S.

Residents of Batu Aji district in Batam, Riau Islands, rallied Monday at the Batam Industrial Development Authority (BIDA) office to protest the protected forest status recently conferred on their land. The protesters claim the new status has made it difficult for them to sell their land or put up their homes for mortgage. Monday's rally involved 1,200 people from 28 neighborhood units in 20 housing complexes in Batu Aji, who began arriving at the BIDA office from 9 a.m. local time.

After three consecutive quarters of slowing growth, Indonesia’s economy started to improve in the third quarter, growing 4.21 percent compared with the same period last year. However, with the agriculture and manufacturing sectors still growing more slowly than other sectors, the outlook for the employment market remained gloomy, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) said on Tuesday. The economy expanded 3.87 percent in the third quarter from the previous three months to June 30.