Indonesia is the sleeping giant of South East Asia. With a population of 288 million, a land mass the size of Mexico and territorial waters that could fill half of China, it’s an immense country and a regional power within the geopolitical organization known as ASEAN (the Association of South East Asian Nations). Indonesia takes up almost half the area occupied by the ASEAN countries and accounts for one third of its GDP.

This is a great move on behave of the energy minister, but a 5 percent tax cut over 6 years alone will not defeat the big dirty oil and coal industries. And if indonesia decides to exhaust all its remaining oil and coal, while shifting to cleaner renewables, there will still be disastrous impacts on the environment. Heavy taxing of carbon based energy sources must form an integral part of any green energy program as this will guarantee investors get returns as the risks will be reduced. Jakarta.

Jakarta. The value of major manufactured exports jumped dramatically in the first half of the year, and the full-year totals could equal those seen in 2008, before the global financial crisis sent the world economy into a tailspin, a senior government trade official said on Thursday. The Trade Ministry said the value of exports of automotive products, electronics, footwear and textiles all soared during the first half, and were expected to keep climbing.

Mataram, W Nusa Tenggara (ANTARA News) - Indonesia`s foreign exchange reserves rose significantly in recent months, suggesting that the domestic economy continued to expand at a robust pace, a central bank official said on Thursday. "Our foreign exchange reserves have of late increased sharply and now they reach more than US$80 billion," Bank Indonesia Deputy Governor Muliaman D.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia`s textile and textile product exports grew by 17.4 percent in the first semester of this year, Deputy Trade Minister Mahendra Siregar said here on Thursday. He said the country`s exports of textile and textile products reached US$4.95 billion in the period. If the trend could be maintained, he believed exports of the products could by the end of the year exceed US$10 billion like in 2008.