Dairy Farm International Holdings, Hong Kong’s second-biggest retailer, will increase spending on hypermarkets in Southeast Asia and its health and beauty chain in China. Capital spending may rise about 4 percent to at least $300 million as the company builds hypermarkets in Indonesia, Malaysia and possibly Vietnam, Howard Mowlem, Dairy Farm’s group financial director said last week.

With Singapore’s economy expected to rebound this year, manufacturers there are gearing up to invest more in Indonesia to capitalize on the archipelago’s large labor pool and robust growth, the head of the Singapore Manufacturers’ Federation said on Friday. “Indonesia is becoming a more and more attractive place for us to invest in,” Renny Yeo said.

Indonesia and Malaysian palm oil producers have agreed to jointly tackle challenging environmental and labor issues which threaten to hinder the development of the industry in both countries. Producers have lately come under attack on a number of fronts. Environmentalists complain the growth of palm oil plantations contributes to deforestation, threatens wildlife and increases greenhouse gas emissions, while there has also been criticism of the industry’s use of underage labor.

PT Bakrieland Development said on Friday that it had granted investor Limitless Holdings, a unit of debt-laden Dubai World, an extension on the expired $110 million Rasuna Epicentrum deal to the end of the month. “We’ve decided to extend the new proposal from Limitless from February to the end of March,” Hiramsyah Thaib, Bakrieland’s president director, said in a phone interview.

In a move likely to enrage lawmakers and the Ministry of Energy, state electricity utility PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara said on Sunday that it had resumed charging wealthy customers higher power rates because it needed an additional Rp 2 trillion ($216 million) in revenue to maintain operations.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - In Indonesia, the demand for cars has continued to increase over the past two months and it is expected to increase with a sales projection of 55,000 - 60,000 units this month, a businessman said. "The domestic car market continues to improve. In January sales reached 52,000 units and in February 55,000 units," associate chairman of the Indonesian Motor Vehicle Industries Association (Gaikindo), Johnny Darmawan said here on Sunday.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The number of foreign tourists arrivals in Indonesia increased 4.20 percent to 493 thousand in January 2010 from 473.2 thousand in the same period a year earlier, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS). However, if it is compared with their arrivals in December 2009, the number of arrivals in January dropped by 21.17 percent, because January is not a peak season for foreign tourists to come to Indonesia.

meanwhile, back in the real world, Gita "Propellor Head" Wirjawan continues to be oblivious to the complete breakdown of systems within the office he heads (BKPM). the latest farce: due to ill-thought out changes he made to the investment permit system in January, the Manpower Dept is now refusing to issue work permits for new companies using the new documents. as of today, nearly 100 new companies are affected, and are dead in the water until their foreign principals can obtain work permits.

It’s a well known fact by now that, in order to achieve the growth it seeks, the current administration has set a target of Rp. 2,000 trillion per year in investment. Around 55 percent of this sum is expected to come from private capital, while the balance is expected to come from household spending (25 percent), government spending (14-15 percent), and financial institutions (7 percent).