What an ironic name given that Jakartan drivers of the "Freed" will instead be trapping themselves in a little metal tin for up to a fifth of their waking lives.

Hmm -- I wonder what they will price this little beast at? I wonder if it will be around the same price as the APV? If it is then I may think about a little swap

Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s biggest oil importer, is searching for ways to persuade investors to build oil refineries to process the country’s crude supplies, including cutting taxes to zero on construction inputs and income, Energy Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said on Wednesday. Domestic demand for imported oil products, now at 300,000 barrels per day and rising at 5 percent per year, has heightened the need to expand the country’s capacity to refine oil.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian government will soon make it obligatory for civil servants, military and police personnel to use domestic products in an effort to improve the performance of national industries. The director general of small and medium-sized industries, Fauzi Aziz, said here on Wednesday Administrative Reform Minister Taufik Effendi would soon issue a circular for distribution to all government offices on the requirement to use domestic products.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said Indonesia`s automotive exports had been hit by the current global economic crisis. "Exposure of the electronic industry is not too big. Automotive exports will likely be hit the hardest. However our automotive exports are not too big, and reached only US$1.4 billion. Shoe exports are also hit. Those hit are vulnerable to lower demand," she said.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono asked all sides to let the dark times of taxation in the past be bygones and to enter an era where taxation is managed through a modern administration system. "In the past, taxation was managed in a way full of uncertainties, reticence and personal deals. We have left that era," the president said when inaugurating a tax service office here on Wednesday.

Japan’s second-largest automaker Honda Motor will make and sell the Freed minivan in Indonesia from June, the model’s first overseas foray, Bloomberg reported. The company also plans to export the Freed from Indonesia to other countries in Southeast Asia by the end of this year, Honda said Thursday. The company declined to elaborate on its sales goal for the model. The Freed, powered by a 1.5-liter engine, is now made and sold only in Japan.

PT Hutchison CP Telecom (HCPT) Indonesia plans to build 3,000 new units of base transceiver station (BTS) bringing the number of its BTS to 9,000 units by the end of this year, Investor Daily reported Saturday. Suresh Reddy, HCPT chief executive officer, refused to provide a cost estimate but said the company has set aside $1 billion for capital spending until 2010.

you can just imagine the conversation can't you? SBY: Well we are a poor country and need lots of money to ensure we can continue to be a "moderate" muslim nation. Obama: How much do you need SBY: How much have you got?

An internet service provider and operator of fiber optic networks Biznet Network said it will invest up to Rp300 billion to build new fiber optic networks in the country this year. Biznet President Adi Kusma said the company will build a total of 500 km of fiber optic networks in Jakarta, Surabaya and Bali. The market is still wide open for fiber optic networks in the country, Adi told Investor Daily.

Sinar Mas Group said it will have a new cooking oil factory to start operation in Bekasi in July this year with a capacity to produce 1,000 tons per day, Bisnis Indonesia reported Friday. The new factory will increase the daily production capacity of Sinar Mas to 3,200 tons of cooking oil with crude palm oil as the basic material, assistant Vice President Octovianus Geuther said. He provided no estimate for the investment involved.

Cement producer PT Semen Tonasa will start construction of its fifth production facility with an annual production capacity of 2.3 million tons in April, Investor Daily reported on Tuesday. The subsidiary of state cement producer PT Semen Gresik now has four factories. The other three plants have a total annual capacity of 3.48 million tons, Director General of Downstream Chemical Industry Tony Tanduk said.

US President Barack Obama on Friday spoke to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono about the global economic crisis, underscoring warming relations between the two countries. Few details of the telephone call were released but Indonesia recently asked US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for stand-by facility to further underpin the country’s safeguards. Indonesia already has a $5.5 billion stand-by guarantee from a consortium of the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, Japan and Australia.