''It is the domestic market, not the export market, that currently offers the most viable opportunities,'' says President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in his state of the nation address Friday. "The economic growth (principle) we uphold is that of growth and equality to bring justice along with it," he said in his speech at the House of Representatives building.

The Banten Provincial Government is optimistic that the bridge over Sunda Strait will raise economic growth by between 2 and 8 percent. The Banten Governor, Ratu Atut Chosiyah, said that the bridge would have an important role in improving economic growth in Banten and Lampung. She explained that for Lampung, the bridge would increase its economy by between 4 and 11 percent.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono stressed here Friday that Indonesia should strengthen its domestic economy and domestic market. "In the future we have to strengthen the domestic economy, the domestic market and we should never become dependent on potential exports as the source of our growth," the President said in his state-of-the nation address in a plenary session of the House of Representatives (DPR) in the parliament building here.

Over 90 percent of the 350,000 workers employed in Batam, Bintan and Karimun Special Economic Zones (SEZ) in the Riau Islands province have no access to adequate housing and live in slum areas. Head of the provincial manpower agency Azman Taufik said most workers could not afford to rent apartments, as the rent would take up their entire monthly income. “They live in boarding houses or rental places in slum areas, as the monthly rent for adequate housing in Riau Islands is beyond their reach.

Mustaqim Adamrah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Smuggled electronics have continually increased their grip on the domestic market in the last five years and may continue to beat local manufacturers due to “minimum effort in law enforcement”.

for the uninitiated, KADIN and the Dept of Trade are using SNI ("Indonesian National Standards") as a protectionist measure.

Mustaqim Adamrah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) is calling on the government to extend a regulation on the terms and conditions of particular imported products and impose the mandatory implementation of Indonesian National Standards (SNI) on them to fight smuggling.

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency awarded a $320,924 grant to PT Medco Downstream Indonesia on Wednesday to fund a feasibility study for a sweet sorghum-based ethanol production facility in Papua Province. The USTDA said the proposed facility would provide an energy source to meet Indonesia’s increasing transportation fuel demand and improve infrastructure related to the industry, such as roads, irrigation systems, power generation and public facilities.