Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) intends to attract five billion US dollar in investment from Singapore this year. "We have targeted the Singaporean investments will grow 10-15 percent from 4.340,96 billion last year," Iwan D.

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Small and traditional vendors in West Java have challenged huge chain retailers in Bandung by pressing the regional government to regulate the operation of modern retailers to protect small businesses. In a hearing with West Java Provincial House of Representatives today (7/6) chairman of West Java Traditional Traders Association Usep Iskandar Wijaya said the regional authority have to limit operating hours of chain retailers which now open 24 hours.

Property Developers Suffer a Setback in Efforts to Allow Foreigners to Own Land in Bali and the Rest of Indonesia. Both the New York Times and Jakarta Globe have stories announcing that the hopes of real estate developers for a significant liberalization of rules for foreign property ownership in Bali have been dashed by the failure of the government to deliver a promised massive revamp of the rules.

June 7 (Bloomberg) -- Indonesia President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will this week sign a decree easing restrictions on foreign investment, said Gita Wirjawan, chairman of the country’s investment coordinating board. “I guarantee you it will be out this coming week,” Wirjawan said in an interview today at the World Economic Forum in Ho Chi Minh City. “I was with the president. It was on top of the deck on his table.

June 7 (Bloomberg) -- Indonesia is “optimistic” the country can achieve or exceed export growth of 7 percent to 8.5 percent this year, even as Europe’s debt crisis threatens demand for the region’s goods, Trade Minister Mari Pangestu said today. The increase in exports in the first four months of 2010 suggests the government’s target for the year can be met, Pangestu said in an interview in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam today.

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Regional representatives (senate) supported the regional administration of South Sulawesi to evaluate mining contract of Brazilian Vale-Inco unit in the province in a meeting between the representatives and regional administration in the provincial seat of Makassar Makassar today (7/6).

Indonesia has overtaken the Philippines in seaweed production. "We are not just threatened by Indonesia they have already overtaken us," according to Dr. Danilo B. Largo, director, Office of Research of University of San Carlos in Cebu City . "Seaweed farming in the Philippines is mature, with simple but more innovative culture techniques," he said. "We have been overtaken because we shared with them our technology." Not only that.

I’ve written several posts about the innovation, entrepreneurship and promising Web audience I’ve found over several weeks of reporting in Indonesia. As such, friends in the venture capital business are peppering my inbox asking round-about-questions that all go back to the same central query: Should we be investing in Indonesia? The seatback pocket on my flight from Jakarta to Surabaya seemed to think so.