Taxation revenue comprises only around 13 per cent of Indonesia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and only 14 per cent of Indonesians are registered to pay tax. In comparison, Australian tax revenue runs at 30 per cent of GDP and in Sweden it is 48 per cent; nearly all adults are registered taxpayers in both countries. Though Indonesia’s low figures can be partly attributed to its very large informal economy, significant revenue is lost through tax evasion by the rich.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar is committed to tighten and restrict outsourcing or the contract system of Indonesian laborers. "Outsourcing will be tightened and restricted and may eventually be revoked," said Muhaimin when accompanying President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in a visit to a ceramics firm, PT Keramik Kemenangan Jaya in Bogor, West Java, on Sunday (May 1).

London (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian government signed a tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) with the Guernsey and Jersey governments in Guernsey early this week. Indonesian Ambassador to Britain Yuri Octavian Thamrin on behalf of the Indonesian government signed the accord with Chief Minister Lyndon Trott representing the Guernsey government and Chief Minister Terry Le Sueur representing the Jersey government, Ambassador Thamrin told an Antara correspondent based in London on Friday.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - China has pledged US$8 billion in commercial funds for Indonesia to support infrastructure and industrial development in the country. Visiting Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said at a joint press conference with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono here on Friday the funds would be given along with soft loans worth US$1 billion to increase Indonesia`s exports to China.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia and China have agreed to increase the volume of their economic cooperation to up to US$80 billion through a series of programs in various sectors until 2015. "Thanks to the two countries` efforts it could be US$80 billion until 2015," visiting Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said in a joint press conference with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the Presidential Palace here on Friday evening.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia has offered China investment opportunities in the development of six economic corridors over the next 15 years.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Noted businessman Sukamdani Sahid Gitosardjono has called on the Chinese government to encourage its business players to relocate their industries to Indonesia to tap the latter`s economic potentials for the benefit of both nations and other ASEAN nations.

When Standard & Poor’s upgraded Indonesia’s sovereign credit rating to BB+ in April, it meant all three mainstream ratings agencies had the country at just one notch below investment-grade level. And the country’s rating outlook is “positive,” according to both S&P and Fitch, increasing market optimism that an investment grade rating will be reached by 2012 or even as early as this year. Sovereign credit ratings evaluate a country’s ability and willingness to repay debt.

Vice President Boediono has called on Chinese businesses to open factories in Indonesia to benefit from the country’s wealth of natural resources, favorable labor conditions and growing domestic market. “This is the right moment for Chinese entrepreneurs to increase investment in Indonesia, as we have huge potential,” the vice president said on Saturday during a business dialogue at Hotel Grand Sahid Jaya in Central Jakarta, as part of Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao’s visit.