April 15 (Bloomberg) -- 3i Group Plc, Europe’s largest publicly traded private-equity firm, said it is seeking its first investment in Indonesia because the nation offers the biggest growth potential in Southeast Asia. The London-based firm plans to close a deal in the world’s fourth-most populous nation in the next one to two years, said Mark Thornton, its head of Southeast Asia. 3i joins private-equity firms including U.K.’s CVC Capital Partners Ltd.

The demand for office space in Jakarta continues to expand, as companies begin to carry out expansion programs and resume delayed projects, property consulting company Jones Lang LaSalle says. The Chicago-based property consulting firm on Wednesday said the demand for rented office space in the capital had jumped 40 percent in the first quarter of this year to 30,000 sq meters, from the level in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Indonesia’s economy entered 2010 with a very bright outlook, seeing it hoping to become one of the best performing countries in the region, together with China and India. This optimism led the government to target to reduce unemployment to 7.6 percent from 7.9 percent in 2009, which meant it would push the 2010 economy to absorb at least an additional 0.3 percent employment this year.

PT Bajaj Indonesia is seeking to double its Pulsar sport motorcycle sales from 11,954 units in 2009 to around 24,000 this year, with the launch of its new sport motorcycle called the Bajaj Pulsar 135 Light Sport (LS). So far, a large portion of the sport motorcycles market in Indonesia has been focused on larger engine capacities, high performance and high costs, president director of Bajaj Indonesia KS Grihapathy said after the launching ceremony on Wednesday.

Mounting market pressure on Indonesia’s palm oil industry has forced producers to unite and consolidate efforts to combat what they deem an incomplete assessment by environmentalists. Government representatives, members of the Association of Indonesian Palm Oil Producers (Gapki) and company CEOs gathered in Jakarta on Wednesday to draft guidelines on how to convince global consumers of the sustainability of palm oil development in Indonesia.

Newly released report, Indonesia Business Forecast Report Q2 2010, provides detailed company analysis (Companiesandmarkets.com and OfficialWire) LONDON, ENGLAND Political Bickering A Drag On Strong Economic Fundamentals. Indonesia's economy continued to outperform strongly in Q409, registering real GDP growth of 5.4% y-o-y, taking full-year growth to a robust 4.5% for 2009.

April 14 (Bloomberg) -- A visit by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to Indonesia later this month may lead to increased investment in the infrastructure Southeast Asia’s biggest economy needs to sustain growth. Wen and Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will sign a bilateral infrastructure agreement that will be a framework for Chinese investment, Indonesia’s Trade Minister Mari Pangestu said.

Fuel cell company IdaTech announced Wednesday an expanded partnership with technology services company Cascadiant and a deal to ship 108 of its backup power fuel-cell systems to Indonesia. Bend-based IdaTech, which did $4.5 million in sales last year, specializes in providing hydrogen-powered fuel cells to the telecommunications industry. This new deployment is on the Indonesian island of Sumatra where IdaTech is working with Cascadiant and Hutchison Telecom.

Past economic crises have served as a constant reminder that observance of modern corporate governance principles continues to be a clear reflection of corporate commitment to responsible citizenship. Both corporate governance and responsible citizenship draw inspiration from the fundamental principles of fairness, transparency and accountability.

China has defended that it should not be the one “to blame” over Indonesian manufacturers’ concerns that they will suffer from the full implementation of a free trade agreement between ASEAN and China. Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Zhang Qiyue said Indonesian manufacturers should discuss how to take the advantage of the ACFTA (ASEAN-China Free Trade Area) rather than focus on the negative impact of the free trade agreement on Indonesian goods.

The construction of a 50,000 kilometer fiber optic cable that will crisscross the entire archipelago, delivering better and cheaper data and voice services, should be finished by 2012, Minister of Communications and Information Technology Tifatul Sembiring said on Wednesday. So far 40,000 km of the cable, stretching across Java, Sumatra and Kalimantan, has been built, Tifatul said.

JAKARTA, April 14 (Reuters) - China is shopping for ways to invest its sovereign wealth fund in Indonesia's infrastructure, resources and manufacturing sectors, the Indonesian trade minister said on Wednesday. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will visit Indonesia next week, just two months before U.S.

JAKARTA, April 14 (Xinhua) -- U.S. investment bank JP Morgan considers raising its stakes in Indonesia by investing in mining company PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (NTT) and several banks, a paper said here Wednesday. Indonesian State-Owned-Enterprises Minister Mustafa Abubakar quoted by the Jakarta globe as saying that JP Morgan representatives has visited him this week to discuss possible investments. But, the bank did not, however, reveal how much it was looking to spend, he said.

Jakarta (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Japan's electronic giant Panasonic Corp. (TSE: 6752) plans to move its audio digital factory from China to Indonesia this year. Labor costs in China are no longer competitive, says Rinaldi Sjarif, the vice president of Panasonic's Indonesian unit, PT Panasonic Gobel Indonesia. The principal has decided to move its production operation from China to Indonesia as production costs are cheaper in the country, Rinaldi said.

Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu has urged foreign investors to invest in Indonesia now or risk “missing the boat.” Speaking at a forum held by the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club on Wednesday, Mari said international investors should take advantage of the country’s growth prospects while they still can. “If investors are not investing now, they’ll miss the boat,” Mari said, pointing out that Indonesia has one of the fastest-growing emerging economies in the world.