Indonesia scraps proposal to limit takeovers to 80%

Gulf Times, Sunday, 29 June, 2008, 01:45 AM Doha Time

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s capital markets regulator will allow investors to buy all the shares of a company during a mandatory general offer, scrapping a proposal to limit purchases to 80%.

Under the new proposal, investors will have to sell a 20% stake in the takeover target to the public at a later date, Ahmad Fuad Rahmany, chairman of the Capital Market and Financial Institutions Supervisory Agency, said.

The regulator raised the threshold that will trigger a mandatory offer to 50% from 25%, Rahmany said. The new rules would allow Qatar Telecom to abandon its general offer for PT Indosat, Indonesia’s second-largest phone company.

“Qatar Telecom is not obligated to do a tender offer,” Rahmany said in a mobile-phone text message on Friday.

On June 7, Qtel agreed to pay $1.76bn to buy a 40.8% stake in Indosat. The Doha- based company said on Friday it would complete a general offer in 30 days, at a price of 7,388 rupiah a share.

“If they voluntarily want to buy public shares, then they might be limited by other regulations,” Rahmany said.

Under government rules, an overseas investor is limited to a 65% stake in an Indonesian mobile-phone operator and a 49% stake in a fixed-line phone company. Indosat made 77% of its sales from its mobile-phone units.

Malayan Banking, Malaysia’s biggest bank that’s buying 56% of PT Bank Internasional Indonesia, may have to offer to buy all the shares of the Indonesian bank. Bank Internasional’s shares rose 5.8% to 460 rupiah at the Jakarta close, a two-week high.

Still, investors said the requirement to ensure 20% of the stock is owned by the public at a later date may deter some companies from purchasing rivals.

“Selling shares at a later stage can be problematic because share prices may decline over time,” said Finny Fauzana, who helps manage about $347mn in assets at PT PNM Investment Management in Jakarta. “That’s bad for the company making the acquisition.” – Bloomberg

RI among Asia-Pacific's top expansion destinations

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 06/26/2008 10:39 AM

Indonesia remains attractive to expansion-minded multi-national firms despite global fallout from the U.S.' sub-prime crisis, a survey reveals.

According to a report by global real estate management firm Jones Lang LaSalle, of 15 nations surveyed in the Asia-Pacific region, Indonesia ranks sixth in a list of top destinations for business expansions -- ahead of Malaysia, Australia, Cambodia, Japan, Korea, Thailand and Hong Kong.

China topped the list, followed by India, Vietnam, the Philippines and Singapore.

Eighty-three percent of the multi-nationals said they would increase or maintain their current growth rates in the region, while 28 percent accelerated the growth of their operations in the region in this year's second quarter, the report shows. 

The survey company's CEO for regional business lines and corporate solutions John Forrest said emerging markets in Asia were the world's bright spots for growth at the moment. 

Asian countries were less affected by the sub-prime turmoil, with the property sector remaining bright, he said. 

"We're still seeing strong demand for space. However, an uncertain economic environment is forcing corporations to find smarter ways to manage their growth," Forrest said. 

Demands for commercial office spaces in Jakarta's commercial business district continued to grow, with the occupancy rate in the first quarter of this year rising 24 percent, the report shows. 

The growth was due mostly to tenant expansions, the company said. 

New office buildings in Sudirman and Kuningan in South Jakarta accounted for the bulk of leasing activity, mainly involving banking, oil-and-gas and services companies. 

Jones Lang LaSalle surveyed 30 senior corporate real-estate executives from leading multi-nationals in Asia-Pacific in the second quarter of this year. 

The survey covered three sectors -- financial services, technology and consumer goods. 

Among the three, the financial services sector was predicted to be the most aggressive this year based on data showing that 44 percent of the companies added growth plans in the first quarter of this year, and 33 percent predicted higher growth by the end of this year. 

The consumer goods sector, on the other hand, showed mixed responses, with one third of the companies saying they would expand their growth plans, another third saying they would downsize their businesses and the rest expecting to maintain their current expansion rates. 

Companies in this sector will likely look to initiate operations in the region to take advantage of promising new markets or shift current operations within it to search for lower-cost destinations. (dia)

RI ranks high in attracting trade

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 06/20/2008 10:34 AM

Indonesia is good at attracting international trade with its relatively competitive tariff barriers, but our border controls and distribution channels create major obstacles, a report says.

The Enabling Trade Index in the 2008 Global Trade Report published Wednesday by the World Economic Forum compares 118 countries' openness and international trade capabilities.

Overall, Indonesia ranked 47th among the 118 countries. Hong Kong topped the list, followed by Singapore, Sweden, Norway and Canada. Malaysia ranked 29th, China 48, Thailand 52 and Vietnam 91. 

The index sums up countries' market access, border administration, transport and communications infrastructure, and business environments. 

Indonesia's trade has been well supported by regulatory openness and a competitive business environment, but has been stalled by poor infrastructure and difficult processes at its borders. 

The country's trade policies allow relatively open market access for foreign goods. Indonesia has low non-tariff barriers and moderate tariff barriers. It is cheap to import, although goods may be held up with customs and domestic transport problems, meaning there are more procedural steps to clear along the way. 

In terms of trade policies, Indonesia was ranked in the top 22 countries, ahead of Britain, Australia, Italy, Singapore, and Malaysia. 

The index also showed a very good regulatory environment including the ease of hiring foreign labor, ease of foreign ownership, and regulations encouraging foreign investment. Indonesia was ranked 34th in this category. 

On top of that, Indonesia has competitive liners connectivity, perhaps due to its location, competitive shipping costs and logistics companies. 

However, as soon as the goods arrive in Indonesia, they are welcomed with inefficient customs administration, irregular payments and corruption at the border. 

According to the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), exporters and importers must set aside between 5 and 15 percent in additional costs to cover bureaucracy at the customs office. 

The challenges bubble up as distribution is held up by low quality roads, ports and airports -- all of which are ranked among the bottom 20. 

As of March, Jakarta's traffic management center recorded 120 sites where roads were damaged in Jakarta, causing traffic congestion and putting road users at risk. 

In infrastructure, Indonesia scored much lower than Malaysia, China, Thailand and India, although it was comparable to Vietnam. Indonesia came in at 74th in transport and communications infrastructure, and 63rd in the border administration section. 

"Transportation costs have often been more important than trade barriers in inhibiting trade. These costs are not simply a factor of distance, but also the quality of the infrastructure," the report says. 

Of Indonesia's 350,000 km of roads, around 6 percent (21,000 km) are damaged, the Public Works Ministry reported last month. This was an improvement from 10 percent in 2005. (mri)