The dominance in Indonesia of Nokia's mobile phones is under threat as a more demanding public dumps old models for sleeker, Internet-capable handsets, which in many cases means a BlackBerry. Across Indonesia, southeast Asia's largest economy, the "BlackBerry phenomenon" is taking hold, with fan clubs meeting every month at coffee shops to swap tips and show off new models of the Research in Motion brand.

Judging from the amount of money involved, the corruption case implicating the Directorate General of Taxation in the Finance Ministry can be regarded as a slap in the face of Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati. The finance minister has just experienced a tough time in connection with the bailout of Bank Century and demand for her resignation can still be heard from some sections of parliament.

The government is preparing an industrial concept to turn Indonesia into one of Asia’s automotive production hubs, Industry Minister M.S. Hidayat says. Hidayat said in Jakarta on Tuesday the concept was being formulated and would propose the provision of fiscal incentives to support automotive component production.

The Indonesian government’s failure to renegotiate the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA) this week was seen by many as a major threat to many Indonesian producers. China’s refusal to renegotiate the 228 tariff posts proposed by Indonesia raised concern among not only producers but among bureaucrats as well.

WASHINGTON, April 13 (Reuters) - The United States and Indonesia signed an agreement on Tuesday paving the way for increased U.S. investment in Southeast Asia's largest economy and the world's fourth most populous country. The agreement establishes a framework that "will allow a lot more capital to be deployed in Indonesia when the U.S. is ready" to take that step, Gita Wirjawan, Indonesia's chief investment coordinator, told Reuters. "This will be important. It signifies that the U.S.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Rising private consumption and investment will allow the Indonesian economy to grow by 5.5 percent in 2010 from 4.5 percent last year, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)`s annual flagship economic publication. The global economic recession had only had a moderate impact on the Indonesian economy, ADB in its Asian Development Outlook 2010 (ADO 2010) released Tuesday, said.

Makassar, S Sumatra (ANTARA News) - Agriculture Minister Suswono has promised to evaluate a finance ministerial decree which imposes a 15 percent tax on cocoa exports. "Basically, this policy will fully be supported if it has the aim of improving farmers` income and competitiveness but we will evaluate it if it proves to disadvantage them," the minister said here on Tuesday. The finance minister has issued Decree No. 67 / 2010 on Cocoa Export Tax which reaches 15 percent effective April 1, 2010.

Indonesia has the geographic, economic and social potential to become a gateway not only between Europe and Asia but also between the rest of the world and the Middle East, according to Juan Jose Daboub, managing director of the World Bank. Daboub is in Jakarta to support the Infrastructure Asia 2010 Conference and Exhibition, during which thousands of private-sector representatives are expected to attend from today through Saturday at the Jakarta International Expo in Kemayoran.