A dozen foreign companies have expressed interest in making more than US$5 billion in investments in Indonesia over the next three to five years, an official says. "Their interests include coal, railways, ports and bauxite smelting," Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) chairman Gita Wirjawan Gita said on Monday after the European Union-Indonesia Business Dialogue in Jakarta. In the case of bauxite, a planned smelter would process the ore into aluminum, he said.

The government says no foreign contractors will be involved in building the planned 26-kilometer-long Sunda Strait bridge between Java and Sumatra. “The bridge will be an icon of our nation’s rebirth. We will do this project by ourselves,” Coordinating Minister for the Economy Hatta Rajasa told reporters in Jakarta on Monday afternoon. He said that the bridge would also be earthquake-resistant. “We will build a bridge that can survive a magnitude 9 earthquake,” Hatta said.

Sarinah department store says it will open five branches next year to raise its revenue 20 percent. Three branches would be opened locally and two overseas, Sarinah president director Jimmy Gani said on Tuesday as reported by kontan.co.id business newsportal. Jimmy said Sarinah would also open a branch in Pejaten Village mall in South Jakarta, in December. Sarinah currently operates five department stores in Indonesia: two in Jakarta and one each in Batam, Yogyakarta, and Semarang.

Indonesia. The State Enterprises Ministry is facing regulatory hurdles in making unlisted state oil and gas company Pertamina more transparent by requiring it to issue financial reports on the national bourse like a publicly trading company.

Jakarta. India’s foreign direct investment may surge to $5 billion in the next three to five years as its companies invest in coal production and power plants in Indonesia. “The investment value could reach about $5 billion,” Gita Wirjawan, head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), said on the sidelines of the European Union-Indonesia Business Dialog on Monday.

VIVAnews - The Indonesian government has outlined a plan to build the longest bridge in the world on the Sunda Strait, West Java. The final phase of the designing has reportedly been in place. Yesterday evening, Nov 29, the government held talks with the Governor of Banten, West Java, on the issue. "A presidential decree is what we'll be needing the most now," said Minister for the Economy Hatta Rajasa. According to Hatta, every element required for the future bridge development is ready.

VIVAnews - Lotte Group, largest retailer in South Korea, will make a final offer to PT Matahari Putra Prima Tbk in its attempt to buy Hypermart. Through the buy plan, Lotte is more than ready to deal with its future competitor Carrefour SA in Indonesia. "We're making our final offer," said Lotte Group Executive Vice President on International Trade and New Businesses, Hwang Kag Gyu, in an interview with Bloomberg yesterday, Nov 29. "Fund is not the issue," he said.

TEMPO Interactive, Surakarta:Furniture entrepreneurs in Surakarta can relax. Before the year has ended, furniture orders from abroad have been flooding in, especially for the Christmas and New Year celebration. The Head of the Surakarta Branch of the Indonesia Furniture Association (Asmindo) David Wijaya, told journalists that furniture orders have increased since October. “Before December, orders must be sent to destination countries,” he said yesterday.

Muntok, Bangka Island (ANTARA News) - The administration of Bangka Barat district in Bangka-Belitung (Babel) province is planning to develop Batu Rakit beach into a family tourism area. "Batu Rakit beach will be developed into a resort for family outings," local Culture and Tourism Office spokesman Khairul Amri said here on Monday.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The government will not impose limits on foreign capital flows into the country but channel them so as to spread them evenly over different sectors, a spokesman said. "We will not in any way put limits on foreign capital inflows but we intend to spread the flows over various sectors of the economy," Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Hatta Rajasa said at a discussion themed "Indonesian Economic Outlook 2011" here Monday.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia as a developing country which has been integrated with the rapidly growing international trade in East Asia, with China as its main driving force, World Bank senior economist Sjamsu Rahardja said. He said that Indonesia as a developing country is playing an important role in this regional trade, as it has many potentials and is located in a stragetically geographical region.

every couple of sundays they close jalan thamrin-sudirman to traffic. the middle class drive their kijang to a side-road, get out their expensive road-racers, and proceed to parade up and down the empty jalan protokol. every time this happens, there is a large crowd outside of starbucks (opposite sarinah) where these sweating, beer-gutted status riders can be seen sipping their latte ... and smoking cigarettes! what a recipe for a coronary!