Indonesia’s mining industry has the geological potential to reap benefits for another one hundred to 150 years, but the country needs to be more aggressive with its exploration, a mining consultant said this week. “The best place to hunt elephants is in an elephant country, and there are elephant mines here,” said consultant Bob Parsons.

Household consumption - the main engine of Indonesia’s economy - needs to grow at about 3.5 percent this year to compensate for negative growth of non-oil and gas exports and slowing investment, a official from the National Development Planning Board, or Bappenas said. Bambang Priambodo, director of macro economics planning at Bappenas, said such a level of household consumption growth was vital if Indonesia wanted to achieve about 4 percent economic growth.

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Mon, 03/23/2009 1:22 PM | Business The deepening global financial crisis may provide an opportunity for the online advertising industry in Indonesia to expand, Yahoo says.

Johannes Simbolon , JAKARTA After being criticized for being slow to develop the local biofuel industry, the Indonesian government has finally issued two important policies; first, a decree issued last year obliging industries and the transportation sector to use biofuels; and second, its recent decision to provide subsidies for sales of the fuel. Both are expected to provide a strong impetus for growth in the country’s nascent biofuel industry.

Aditya Suharmoko , THE JAKARTA POST , JAKARTA Indonesia is unlikely to follow the path taken by regional peers to allow the local currency to fall against the dollar to make exports more competitive amid slumping global demand: BI official says. Bank Indonesia (BI) deputy governor Hartadi A. Sarwono said last Friday that such a move, usually evident when a central bank stops defending its currency against depreciation, carries risks as well.

Indian Ambassador to Indonesia, Biren Nanda, met with South Sulawesi governor Syahrul Yasin Limpo to explore investment opportunities between the two countries in Makassar on Monday. "South Sulawesi holds a very important role in Indonesia. Currently, the province has exported various goods to India, such as pine sap, " Nanda said, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com. Nanda added that his trip to South Sulawesi was part of a means to tap into Indonesia's massive natural reserves.