MATARAM, West Nusa Tenggara: Lack of road access may delay the opening of the new Lombok International Airport in Central Lombok, an official has said. Head of management at PT Angkasa Pura I Selaparang International Airport in Mataram, I Ketut Erdy Nuka, said construction had not been completed on a new road linking the airport to provincial capital Mataram. "*Lack of* a main access road will certainly hamper the new airport's operation," he told The Jakarta Post.

French companies have expressed their interest to double investment up to US$ 2 billion over the next five years in Indonesia, an employer says. “Seeing your country’s capability in rapid development has assured us to double the investment for the next five years,” director of the Movement of French Enterprises [MEDEF] employers union Thierry Courtaigne told a press conference on Monday as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono promises the government will protect sectors that might be harmed by the full implementation of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA). The President told a press conference here Wednesday the government was paying considerable attention to Indonesian public concerns over the full implementation of ACFTA and promised it would seek solutions for any problems possibly emerging from the agreement.

Malaysian state oil and gas company Petronas plans to expand its investments in Indonesia, including in the upstream sector, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Hatta Rajasa said on Wednesday. “They expressed a commitment to expand investment in the upstream and downstream sectors of the oil and gas industry,” he told reporters following a meeting with the president of PT Petronas Niaga Indonesia, M. Ibrahimnuddin M. Yunus, and Malaysian Ambassador Zainal Abidin M. Zain.

PT Unilever Indonesia said on Wednesday it would consider resuming purchases of crude palm oil from the Sinar Mas Group after reviewing the conclusions of two studies of the producer’s environmental practices.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Vice President Boediono said the Indonesian government was not discriminating in accepting foreign investment as capital from any country was welcome provided it complied with Indonesian rules. "There is no discrimination. We give investors from any country a chance to operate in Indonesia," vice presidential spokesman Yopie Hidayat quoted Boediono as telling a 30-strong French trade mission here on Wednesday.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia and China have agreed to cooperate in the verification of certificates of origin of exports (SKA) from the two sides to minimize smuggling. "To prevent smuggling or illegal imports the two sides have agreed to cross-check the SKA of every export from Indonesia or China," Deputy Trade Minister Mahendra Siregar told newsmen here on Wednesday.

Mamuju (ANTARA News) - A Chinese investor will develop an international container port in Belang-Belang, Mamuju, West Sulawesi, in 2011, governor Anwar Adnan Saleh said here on Wednesday . He said the Chinese investor`s plan was the result of cooperation between the Indonesian and Chinese governments. "The two countries` cooperation has been followed up with the signing of a memorandum of understanding in Beijing some time ago," he said.