The government needs to speed up its approval process and introduce measures to limit investor risk if it wants to accelerate the development of Indonesia’s massive geothermal energy reserves, power producers said. In Bali for the World Geothermal Conference, energy company senior executives said it takes too long to receive approval from central and local government to develop geothermal energy projects.

Visit any of Indonesia’s islands, and chances are a day trip to one of this massive archipelago’s volcanoes will be on your itinerary. Many of them are still active, beguiling you with their surreal landscapes, with guides enticing you to smear the steamy, grey volcanic mud on your face for a quick facial. Eventually the smell of the sulphur will lead you to hike back down the mountain or to run back to your tourist bus.

Indians apologize over Batam riot through banners The Jakarta Post, Batam Two banners stating an Indians’ apology over last week’s clash at shipbuilding company PT Drydock World Graha dockyard in Tanjung Uncang, Batam, Riau Island, were placed Sunday along a road leading to the dockyard.

The Directorate General of Taxation has handed down sanctions, ranging from reprimand to dismissal, to 290 of its officers in the first semester of the year for violating internal regulations. Tax office chief Mochammad Tjiptardjo said Wednesday the directorate general took the punitive measures to show commitment to its internal reform.

The country’s telecommunication industry is worth up to Rp 30 trillion (US$3.6 billion) in investment within the next two years, a minister says. Communication and Information Technology Minister Tifatul Sembiring said Wednesday undersea cable and cellular phone manufacturing would emerge as the biggest fields for foreign investment. “We have asked Nokia to build a factory here, as they did in China and India,” Tifatul was quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

The government’s reduction of its proposed electricity price hike from 15 percent to 10 percent was not enough to satisfy business leaders, who on Wednesday said that lower-income consumers should not be shielded from the tariff hike. Lower-income consumers should also be forced to carry a share of the responsibility for financing the revitalization of the country’s sagging power network, they said. “We think that it will still burden industry.

Sumber (ANTARA News) - Rattan handicraft articles still dominated Cirebon`s export commodities, although many of the raw materials of the products had been replaced with wood and plastic, an official of the local industry and trade agency said. "Cirebon regency`s exports comprise 700 to 800 containers each month. Most of the 10 different export commodities are 500 to 600 containers of rattan," head of Cirebon regency industry and trade agency Maman Suparman said in Sumber Wednesday.

VIVAnews - Compared to such neighboring countries as Malaysia, Vietnam, and Singapore, Indonesia is considered late in adopting the inverter technology on air conditioners. The inverter-planted AC is able to save power in considerable percentage during usage. The utilization of the circuit enables air conditioners to convert alternation-current into direct current, which cause compressors to work stabler.