The government is planning to tighten regulations on meat imports because of varying demand for different kinds of meat. "There have only been increases in demand on meat of certain kinds," Deputy Agriculture Minister Bayu Krisnamurthi said on the weekend, as quoted by kontan.co.id. Oxtail saw the highest increase -- up to 30 percent a year, while tenderloin imports had increased up to 12 percent a year, Bayu said.

The government is planning to make Riau Islands the main supplier of vegetables and fruits to Singapore. “Singapore needs thousands of tons of vegetables, fruits and other goods. Why not supply them from this place, which is only 45 minutes away from Singapore?” President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Sunday while addressing a Cabinet meeting in Riau Islands capital of Tanjungpinang.

The government issued six initiatives on Monday aimed at bolstering the purchasing power of low- income citizens and improving business competitiveness, Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo said. The initiatives, he said, are effective immediately. The first incentive addresses tax breaks for housing purchases, Agus said. The government has increased the tax break threshold for home purchases to Rp 70 million ($8,000) from the previous limit of Rp 55 million.

Golden Agri-Resources, the world’s second-largest palm oil producer, said fourth-quarter profits more than doubled as prices for its main product jumped to record highs and its assets gained in value. Net income increased to $1.17 billion for the quarter ending on Dec. 31, compared with $473 million a year earlier, the Singapore-listed Indonesian company said on Monday. Profit, excluding gains from asset value upgrades and currency exchange gains, jumped 124 percent to $146 million.

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:State-run electricity company PT PLN has offered a 20-percent discount to industries if they use electricity outside peak hours between 23.00 – 07.00. The electricity rate for off-peak usage will be Rp550 per kilowatt per hour (kWh) from the previous Rp730 per kWh. According to CEO Dahlan Iskan, PLN is having difficulty supplying electricity between 17.00 and 22.00, or during peak hour. Households and industries are “competing” to use the electricity.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - France has confirmed its intention to invest 175 million US dollars in Bandung`s Metropolitan Railway project that will connect Padalarang and Cicalengka districts, West Java, a minister said.

Tanjungpinang, Riau Islands (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has warned the Riau Islands provincial government against building a gambling den in the region. "Don`t ever think of building, don`t ever have any intention and don`t ever have any plan to build such a place," the president said when handing assistance to Tanjungpinang residents on Friday evening. The President said he learnt a report on the mass media that a gambling den would be built in Riau Islands.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar said only around 5 percent of the country`s university graduates want to be entrepreneurs. "The results of a survey conducted by our office show only 5 percent of university graduates want to be entrepreneurs and 95 percent want to be employees by receiving salaries or wages," he said at a function marking the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on entrepreneurship training program here on Saturday.

Palu, Central Sulawesi (ANTARA News) - Indonesia`s seaweed production is still around 3.082 million tons while world demand reaches 10 million tons a year, Marine Resources and Fisheries Minister Fadel Muhammad said. "We have been overwhelmed by seaweed demand from many places. Now demand has reached 10 million tons a year," he said when dedicating a seaweed depot in Parigi Moutong, Central Sulawesi, on Saturday.

Anyer, Banten (ANTARA News) - The Ministry of Industry has set itself a target of U$80 billion foreign and domestic investment in the manufacturing sector for the coming the five years, a ministry official said. "We are optimistic that the figure would be achieved owning to the fact there have been several large scale investment projects in this sector that haven been running well," Industry Ministry Secretary General Anshari Bukhari said here on Sunday.

Tanjungpinang, Riau Islands (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono believed that Riau Islands province will some day become a new economic center competing with Singapore. "This place of ours is a satellite of Singapore, and will become a new economic center," the President said when opening a working meeting at the Raja Haji Fisabillillah airport, Tanjungpinang, Riau Islands, on Sunday. The President said that to realize target, all the relevant parties need to work very hard.

Semitau, W Kalimantan (ANTARA News) - PT Sinar Mas Group plans to build two crude palm oil processing plants in West Kalimantan with a combined capacity of 50 tons per hour. The construction of the two plants scheduled for completion in October 2011 was aimed at anticipating the maiden harvest of the company`s oil palm plantations in early 2012, PT Sinar Mas Group West Kalimantan district manager Susanto Yang said here on Sunday.

St. Louis (ANTARA/PRNewswire-AsiaNet) - Peabody Energy today said it has entered into an agreement with Indonesia`s PT Cahaya Energi Mandiri (CEM) to source 2 million tons of coal for Asian export through Peabody COALTRADE`s international trading hub in Singapore. The contract marks the third term agreement Peabody has secured in recent months, which together account for 5.5 million tons of Indonesian coal.