Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The government is ready to open two million hectares of farm land in anticipation of declining food production due to global climate change and extreme climate, a minister said. Agriculture Minister Suswono said here on Friday food-producing countries had of late seen a shortfall in their production due to the uncertain climate, leading to a steady decline in global food stocks.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Vice President Boediono has expressed optimism that the Indonesian economy would get better in 2011 than in the previous years. "In spite of the global economic turmoil, I am certain that national economic development this year will get even better than before," the vice president said at a function to observe the 59th anniversary of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) here on Monday.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Vice President Boediono said the case of former tax official Gayus Tambunan should become an eye opener for all officials and businessmen on the importance of abiding by existing rules. "As of now we must really abide by the rules and should never make wrong compromises," he said at the commemoration of the 59th anniversary of the Association of Indonesian businessmen (APINDO) here on Monday.

Zurich (ANTARA News) - Businessmen are still unfamiliar with Indonesian products, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said here Saturday (29/1) evening, before leaving Zurich International Airport for Jakarta. "I met members of the international business community this morning, and most of them said they didn`t know much about Indonesian products, but knew more about Indian and Chinese goods.

Denpasar (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian island resort of Bali has been able to produce 150,000 tons of seaweed in 2010 or increased by 42.8 percent from 105,000 tons in the previous year.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The government is ready to open two million hectares of farm land in anticipation of declining food production due to global climate change and extreme climate, a minister said. Agriculture Minister Suswono said here on Friday food-producing countries had of late seen a shortfall in their production due to the uncertain climate, leading to a steady decline in global food stocks.

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:The Transparency International Indonesia (TII) said that the Indonesian business licensing system is still prone to corruption. “The method used includes bribes, special connections ,” said TII researcher, Putut Ariyo Saputro, in his presentation in Jakarta yesterday. TII data showed that the procedures investors must go through to start business in Indonesia are the most excessive in East Asia and Pacific.

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:Agriculture Minister Suswono is confident that Indonesia can face the food security crisis by creating food-resilence, assuring the availability, accessibility and equitability of distribution. The Agriculture Ministry is certain that Indonesia’s food stockpile will be sufficient because the country has abundant natural resources and it has a huge potential to create new rice fields.

A state plantation company says it has allocated Rp 120 billion (US$ 12.9 billion) to build two factories to process crude palm oil (CPO) in Modang and Petangis districts, East Kalimantan. The construction of the two factories will start this year and next year, and is expected to be complete within two or three years, Perkebunan Nusantara (PTPN) XIII general manager Anang Chaerul said Tuesday as reported by tempointeraktif.com. PTPN XIII currently owns seven CPO processing plants in Kalimantan.

The year 2011 in the Chinese calendar is the Year of the Rabbit, which begins on Feb. 3, 2011, and concludes on Jan. 22, 2012. Understanding the yearly horoscope, with its wide span of predictions related to economic and socio-political affairs, is typical, not only in Chinese society, but also in East Asian and Southeast Asian cultures.

Feb. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Indonesia’s inflation accelerated in January, putting pressure on policy makers to consider raising the benchmark interest rate from a record low in coming months even as they may avoid an increase when they meet on Feb. 4. Consumer prices in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy rose 7.02 percent last month from a year earlier, after a 6.96 percent gain reported earlier for December, Central Bureau of Statistics data showed in Jakarta today.