Bogor. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono conceded on Monday that the country’s development program had failed at the national and regional levels, outlining five reasons for the deficiency. Speaking prior to a meeting at the Bogor Palace to draw up a master plan for the acceleration and extension of the country’s economic development, Yudhoyono said that after evaluating his time in office, he found certain “illnesses” had caused the development program to fail.

Rising food prices and a government drive to develop Indonesia’s commodity processing sector will lure more firms to invest in palm oil products in the world’s top maker of the oil, despite erratic power, bad roads and aging ports that complicate the task of processing and moving goods. Record food prices may have hurt many emerging market nations, but Indonesian producers of the edible oil have seen margins rise and are giving the green light to more investments.

Indonesia has ordered state-owned utility PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara to buy power from the country’s geothermal plants to support investment in the alternative energy source. Jakarta-based Listrik Negara is required to buy geothermal power at a maximum of 9.7 U.S. cents per kilowatt hour from new plants, according to a ministerial decree effective on Feb. 16 and obtained by Bloomberg News today.

VIVAnews - New economic hub is underway in Indonesia as the government plans to accelerate and expand the national development. Coordinating Minister for the Economy Hatta Rajasa will address the Working Meeting on the Acceleration and Expansion of National Economic Development about the masterplan on February 21-22.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - United States businessmen appreciate the improved investment climate and the removal of many investment barriers in Indonesia. The appreciation was expressed by members of a US-ASEAN Economic Cooperation Council delegation at a meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at his office here on Friday.

Bogor, West Java (ANTARA News) - Indonesia plans to reduce exports of raw materials through efforts to process the materials at home to increase the value of its exports. Chief economic minister Hatta Rajasa made the statement at a press conference held on the sidelines of the government`s working meeting here on Monday on acceleration of Indonesian economic development opened by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Taipei (ANTARA News) - Taiwan continues to encourage its business people to invest in Indonesia as the economic power has been moving from the West to the East including to Indonesia, an official at the Council for the Economic Planning and Development (CEPD), Taiwan, said here recently. "Since the financial crisis in the world, the economic power have been moving from the West to the East.