Archive for October 2010

Indonesia ready to rival Thailand as automotive production base

Saturday, October 23, 2010 · Posted in

Indonesia is ready to rival Thailand as an automotive production base, the president director of PT Astra Internasional (ASI), Prijono Sugiarto, said here on Saturday.

"This year is the year of automotive for Indonesia as a number of supporting indicators grow positively," he said.

Compared to Thailand, Indonesia was now better in terms of social, political and economic conditions, he said.

He said the Bank Indonesia reference rate could be categorized as conducive for the automotive sector, set at 6.5 percent.

He said why more companies had chosen Thailand so far was because the social and political situation in that country was relatively more stable compared to other Southeast Asian countries including Indonesia.

"Now conditions are different. Indonesia is more stable in social, political and economic terms," he said.

He said Indonesia was now one of the countries in the world with the lowest productio costs.

"We believe we are capable and right now is the right time to prove to the market that Indonesia is good especially its automotive sector," he said.

He said with its economy growing six percent Indonesia had more opportunities to become a foreign automotive production base.
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Indonesia expecting more chinese investment

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Indonesia hopes investment from China will increase and more of its products can be sold in that country following President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono`s upcoming meeting with Chinese businessmen.

"The meeting with the Chinese businessmen in Shanghai is expected to be able to boost Chinese investment in Indonesia and expand the country`s products` market," presidential special staff Teuku Faizasyah said in a written statement received here on Saturday.

"The visit is in concurrence with the 60th anniversary of the bilateral relations between Indonesia and China that have recently been strengthened by strategic partnership," he said.

President Yudhoyono, flanked by First Lady Ani Yudhoyono, will be in Shanghai to attend the Shanghai World Expo 2010 where he will also visit the Indonesian Pavillion that exhibits various natural and cultural richness of the country.

Since the opening of the expo in May 1, 2010 more than 7.5 million people or around 10 percent of the total expo visitors had visited the Indonesian Pavillion.

President Yudhoyono would also become the main speaker at the business forum which would be attended by around 300 leading businessmen from China and Indonesia.

He would also witness the signing of several memorandum of understanding between Indonesian and Chinese businessmen to develop various cooperation in the fields of mining, energy, agriculture and creative economy.

President Yudhoyono visits China before attending the 17th summit in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Hanoi, Vietnam, on October 27-30.
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G20 finance ministers resist US pressure over trade

Friday, October 22, 2010 · Posted in

US proposals that countries set targets to reduce trade imbalances appeared to be running into opposition at the G20 meeting of leading economies.

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner wrote to G20 members on Friday suggesting limiting surpluses and deficits to a percentage of output.

But Japan, Germany and Russia expressed opposition to what one delegate called "planned economy" thinking.

The proposal is seen as mainly directed at China, which had yet to comment.

Washington has for months been pressing China - without success - to let its currency appreciate.

Getting Beijing to tackle its large trade surplus would be an indirect way of forcing the yuan to rising in value.

In his letter to G20 colleagues on the opening day of a meeting of finance ministers in South Korea, Mr Geithner said countries should aim to reduce surpluses or deficits to a targeted share of gross domestic product.

US officials said the target would be 4% of GDP by 2015. China's current account surplus was 4.9% of GDP in the first half.

Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda summed up the mood among other big exporters, including Germany, saying Mr Geithner's proposal was "not realistic".

Australian Treasury Secretary Wayne Swan said he was not sure a "one-size-fits-all" approach could work.

Tensions over exchange rates are like to dominate the meeting, being held ahead of a summit by heads of state next month.

Common approach

The G20 finance ministers are trying to find a co-ordinated path out of the financial crisis and avert what some leaders have called "currency wars".

Many countries have been happy to see the value of their currencies fall, as it boosts their export competitiveness.

The US has accused Beijing of resisting upward pressure on the yuan by buying dollars, thereby making America's exports to China more expensive.

However, China has expressed unhappiness at what it sees as foreign interference in what it believes is an internal matter.

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Cuba details taxes for the self-employed

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The Cuban government has outlined the taxes that will have to be paid by the country's growing number of self-employed workers.

It is the latest stage of President Raul Castro's reforms to move Cuba away from a solely state-run economy.

Self-employed workers will have to pay 10% income tax, while those who take on staff will pay more.

It comes after the government announced last month that it was laying off half a million state workers.

Cuba's new tax code is detailed in the latest edition of the country's Communist Party newspaper - Granma.

The article includes an explanation that no government can provide services without gaining tax revenues.

In addition to the 10% income tax, workers will pay another 25% into a social security account from which they will in time draw a pension.

The coverage in Granma adds that successful businesses will see their tax burden rise as they take on more staff.

The government is reducing the once all-encompasing role of the state in the hope that it will boost a stagnant economy.

However, people setting up their own firms will be limited to just 178 professions, including car maintenance and rabbit farming.

(bbcnews)

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Vietnamese investors explore opportunities in Babel

Thursday, October 21, 2010 · Posted in

Investors from Vietnam have explored a location in Bangka Selatan district in Bangka-Belitung (Babel) province to invest in the fisheries sector.

"The investors from Vietnam intended to invest in the fisheries sector and have visited Bangka Selatan district to obtain first hand information about suitable locations for their investment," Babel Governor Eko Maulana Ali said here on Thursday.

He said the investors had visited several locations, among others the Sadai area in Bangka Selatan where they would like to invest in the fisheries sector.

"We welcome the good intention of the Vietnamese investors to invest here and we hope a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Indonesian government and Vietnamese minister for maritime affairs and fisheries on the investment will be signed at the end of October this year," the governor said.

He expressed hope that all stakeholders in Babel province, as well as in Bangka Selatan district would facilitate the Vietnamese investors and give them wider opportunity to invest in the province.

"I hope all stakeholders in the province and other districts will facilitate the investors from Vietnam concerning the business permit and other things regarding with the investment," Governor Eko Maulana said.

The governor specifically requested the head of Regional Investment Coordinating Board (BKPMD) to remain keeping in touch with the investors through internet and convince them to invest in Babel.(*)

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Indonesia included in big three projector market

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Indonesia is one of the big three projector market in Asia Pacific after China and India, a senior sales manager of PT NEC Indonesia said.

"This indicates the big chance for businesses to tap projector market in Indonesia," Ferry Faried Badjeber, senior sales manager and business development division of PT NEC Indonesia, said in a NEC Media Gathering event here on Thursday.

He said that the growth of projector market in Indonesia was quite promising. "In 2010 Indonesia`s market has absorbed 130,000 projectors with an average growth of 25 percent compared to that last year," he said.

He said that the increase in the projector market share in Indonesia was boosted by the increase in the education budget which in the end also generated increase in the demand for projectors.

Badjeber said that the development was promising so that his firm was targeting two market segment, namely the education and corporation sectors.

He said that his company was focusing on producing and releasing to the market power-efficient and environment-friendly projectors.

"This two types are high on demand in the Indonesian market," he said.
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Commodity price hikes raise PT Antam`s revenue

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State-owned PT Aneka Tambang`s revenue grew above 10 percent until September this year from Rp6.26 trillion recorded in September 2009.

"The revenue growth is driven by mining commodity price hikes in the market," the company`s president director Alwinsyah Loebis said here on Thursday.

He said the net profit was still being audited. "It is all still being audited. What is clear is our income has risen double-digit or above 10 percent from September last year," he said.

Based upon the revenue in September 2009 the company`s revenue in the third quarter this year would be around Rp7 trillion.

The company`s ferronickel production meanwhile reached 14,045 tons or 76 percent of this year`s target. Nickel ore production meanwhile reached 4.96 million metric tons or around 81 percent of the target.

Gold production reached 1,884 kilograms or around 60 percent of the target, silver 14,058 kilograms (60 percent of the target), bauxit 162,307 metric tons (27 percent of the target).

Alwinsyah said in 2010 the company allocated Rp2.35 trillion for capital expenditures.
Of the total, Rp435.53 billion would be for new investments, Rp1.7 trillion for development and Rp208.3 billion for postponed investments.

He said the company would also allocate US$30 million for financing the acquisition of gold and coal mines.

"We are still calculating the capital expenditures that have been absorbed until September 2010," he said.

Regarding capital expenditures for 2011 he said they would be bigger than for 2010, without giving numbers.(*)

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