JAKARTA (Reuters) - Part of a $1 billion credit facility backed by the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Exim Bank) for Indonesia should be used to help develop clean energy projects such as geothermal power, a senior U.S. official said on Monday. The U.S. Exim Bank announced in late June it had pre-approved 11 Indonesian banks to receive funds under the scheme, which aims to make credit available to public and private sector businesses under low or fixed-interest rates.

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:Indonesia is determined to become the world’s biggest seaweed producer with a production projected at 10 million tons by 2014. According to the Indonesian Seaweed Commission chairman, Farid Ma'ruf, seaweed has the potential to become a select commodity. One of the advantages is Indonesia’s long coastal line that facilitates seaweed cultivation and the relatively short period of harvest time of 45 days.

Palu, C Sulawesi (ANTARA News) - Immigration authorities will summon the sponsor of seven problematic expatriates arrested in a raid in the Central Sulawesi provincial capital of Palu last Sunday. "Their fate will largely depend on the sponsor," Head of the Palu Immigration Quarantine Office Yusuf Sadu said here on Tuesday. He said his office had summoned the companies employing the seven expatriates.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The government is of the opinion that the target of 5.8 percent economic growth is realistic, although several parties say it can be higher. "We set it at 5.8 percent as realistic figure because in the first quarter of this year realization reached 5.7 percent," Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Hatta Rajasa said here on Monday.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Hatta Rajasa said all public-private partnership (PPP) invesment projects would be handled by the Capital Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM). "Later PPP investments in all ministries will be referred to BKPM," he said here on Monday. He said various ministry projects requiring private participation were at present processed at the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas).

Washington DC, July 8, 2010 – The World Bank is set to help Indonesia meet its growing electricity demand and make electricity supplies in Java and south-central Sumatra more reliable, through a newly approved financing package worth US$ 225 million. The project entails direct cooperation with Indonesia’s state electric company, PLN, and once successfully implemented, is expected to benefit over 56 million people in Java and Sumatra.

South Korean electronics giant LG Electronics is considering making Indonesia its manufacturing hub for Southeast Asia, according to Gita Wirjawan, chairman of the Investment Coordinating Board. In an interview late on Sunday after meeting LG executives in Seoul, Gita told the Jakarta Globe that such a move would involve more than quadrupling the value of LG’s production here.

Manufacturers are up in arms over the recent electricity rate hikes, with some saying their rates have doubled and accusing the Energy Ministry and state utility PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara of deceiving them about the true extent of the increase. Franky Sibarani, secretary general of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo), told the Jakarta Globe that some industries faced a doubling of their rates and others of at least 55 percent.