Quote: MOTTRAM: The demand for imports last year reached 1.1 million cattle, and we imported about 600,000, when the real need is only 400,000, the minister said. so, indonesia imported 200,000 more cattle "than it needed" just for the fun of it, at at least USD500 per head.

Australia's lucrative live cattle exports to Indonesia is under question, after a shipment of more than two-thousand Australian cattle was last weekend declared to have an invalid import permit. Australia denies there was a permit problem but Indonesia's agriculture ministry has warned Australia not to treat Indonesia's customs laws lightly.

"Energy is the defining issue of our time. It is the one issue, more than any other, that will shape the fate of our planet, our economies and our nations," said Gary Locke, US Secretary of Commerce U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke called his trade mission to Indonesia, an advance team for President Barack Obama's upcoming visit. The commerce secretary is in Jakarta with a U.S. business delegation to promote clean energy related investment and export opportunities. U.S.

PT Adaro Energy, the nation’s second-biggest coal producer, will team up with PT United Tractors and Komatsu to build a biodiesel plant. Fuel from the plant will power some of Komatsu’s dump trucks operating at Adaro mines, said Cameron Tough, head of investor relations at Adaro. United Tractors sells Komatsu heavy equipment. In Jakarta trading, Adaro shares headed for the biggest jump since Jan. 8. United Tractors also climbed.

Indonesian officials acknowledged on Wednesday that much work remained to be done to reduce obstacles to investment in the country’s clean-energy sector, but also touted recent efforts to support development, especially of geothermal energy, and affirmed the government’s commitment to the use of clean energy in the future.

Red tape, conflicting regulations and legal uncertainties keep US companies from investing in clean-energy projects in Indonesia that could help reduce carbon emissions and fight global warming, US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said during his visit on Wednesday. Locke said US companies were eager to invest in Indonesia, but a lack of government transparency was a huge obstacle, making it difficult for businesspeople to under­stand the country’s regulations.

JAKARTA, May 26 (Reuters) - Indonesia's largest automotive distributor, PT Astra International Tbk (ASII.JK), said on Wednesday it expects record high 2010 car and motorcycle sales as consumer demand increases, driving its shares up 10 percent. Consumer demand for cars and motorbikes picked up in the first quarter of 2010, industry data showed, as Indonesia's central bank held interest rates at a record low and economic growth picked up.

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: US Trade Minister Gary Locke told reporters in Jakarta day that the US government is currently venturing different types of alternative energy projects powered by renewable sources like the solar and wind. In the second day of his visit in Indonesia, Locke said his counrtry is also seeking similar cooperation with China, Hong Kong and other states.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Economic Coordinating Minister Hatta Rajasa said Indonesia and the United States are discussing investment cooperation in renewable energy replacing alternative energy in the years ahead. "We discussed renewable energy and investment. America said it was interested in technology cooperation in energy efficiency," he said at his office here Tuesday.