In the second announcement on major coal-railway projects in as many days, Central Kalimantan’s top official said on Friday that the proposed 185-kilometer rail line linking Puruk Cahu and Bangkuang - expected to cost $1.5 billion - will be put out to tender before the end of the year.

A senior official at the Energy Ministry said the global economic crisis and political pressure over oil companies’ costs were the reasons for the lukewarm response from investors toward exploring new oil and gas blocks. Only five out of the 16 blocks offered by the government in December attracted successful tender offers.

JAKARTA, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Indonesia's Bank Mandiri (BMRI.JK) will open a new unit in Kuala Lumpur dedicated to collecting remittances from the millions of Indonesians working in Malaysia, a senior executive said late on Thursday. Thomas Arifin, Director for International Banking, said the new unit would help Mandiri, Indonesia's biggest bank, increase its fee-based income.

Indonesia failed to attract enough investors to develop all the oil and gas blocks offered in the first quarter of this year due to the global economic slowdown and concerns over revisions to the cost recovery mechanism. Of 16 oil and gas blocks offered between December and April this year, only five blocks won developers, according to the final results of the bidding process announced in Jakarta on Friday.

The JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton Bombings in Jakarta last July may have caused a setback for the Bali tourism market that has performed relatively very well despite the global financial crisis and the threat of a global H1N1 pandemic. The growth of the Bali tourism market has been fueled by regional and international Meeting Incentive Conference and Exhibition (MICE) events and depends not only on the global economy but also on the safety and security aspects of the island.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Vice President Jusuf Kalla said he had no knowledge about imported sugar which had reportedly entered the country through Batam. "I don`t know about it (the sugar import)," the vice president told reporters after Friday prayers here. The government had quietly issued a license for the importation of 3,000 tons of sugar through the Island of Batam.

An irate business community on Friday slammed a recently issued Manpower Ministry directive ordering firms to pay a one-month Idul Fitri holiday bonus to nonpermanent contract workers, saying it was unexpected and had serious financial implications. The directive, issued on Aug. 28, means employers will have to find additional money within the next few days to pay holiday bonuses not only to their permanent workers, but also nonpermanent ones. This year, Idul Fitri falls on Sept. 21 and 22.