VP calls for improvement of agriculture produce

Kendari (ANTARA News) - Vice President Jusuf Kalla has called on all elements of the public in Southeast Sulawesi province to increase their agricultural and plantation production in a bid to achieve greater welfare.

"Don`t live from regional election (Pilkada) activity but till the vast and fertile areas of land to step up agricultural and plantation produce so that our nation can be respected," Kalla said at an Idul Fitri gathereing here on Tuesday.

On the occasion the vice president was accompanied by Justice and Human Rights Minister Andi Matallata, Democrats Party chairman Hadi Utomo, Golkar Party Secretary General Soemarsono, Wirabuana military commander and a number of legislators.

Kalla also called on the Southeast Sulawesi provincial administration and the local people to keep up the production of the province`s main commodities such as cocoa, cashew, corn and teak.

"Show pictures of cashew, cocoa and teak instead of displaying pictures of governor and district head candidates at the street corners," Kalla said.

The vice president added that in the regional election, the people in the province should elect the new governor and district head who have the capability to improve agricultural and plantation produce such as cocoa, cashew, corn and teak.

He said all elements of the public in Southeast Sulawesi should not waste their time and energy to talk only about politics but to think about positive programs to improve the people`s welfare.

Kalla added that it would be illogical if any people in the province lived in poverty because the province had more promising natural resources than other rgions in the country.

Kala arrived in Kendari on an Idul Fitri tour which will also take him to Palu in Central Sulawesi, Gorontalo and Manado in North Sulawesi.

Meanwhile, Southeast Sulawesi Governor Ali Mazi said on the occasion the province was enjoying a conducive security situation and religious harmony, as well as provincial economic growth of 7.68 percent in 2006.

Govt easing procedures of doing business in densely-industrialized areas

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian government is trying to loosen six procedures for doing businesses in the country`s eight densely-industrialized regions to raise its investment privilege rating to 75th in 2008 from 135th in 2006, an official said.

"We will launch the project in eight densely-industrialized regions first," Head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Mohammad Lufti said following a limited coordination meeting with Vice President Jusuf Kalla at the Office of the Administrative Reforms Minister here on Friday.

The meeting also agreed on the formation of a small team with Administrative Reforms Minister Taufiq Effendy as its chief and the BKPM chief Mohammad Lufti as executive chief to relax the procedures for doing businesses in the regions.

The eight regions are Jakarta, Banten, West Java, Central Java, East Java, Sumatra and Sulawesi.

The six procedures cover exports and imports, enforcing contracts, paying taxes, applying for building permits, and starting a business.

"Under the current circumstances, we will be able to improve our rating to 56th from 135th on condition that other countries do nothing to improve their investment privileges," Lufti said.

Under the present procedure, a foreign investor needed 97 days to start a business in the country and the government had been trying to reduce the period to 23 days, he said.

"God willing, a foreign investor can start doing business within 23 days," he said.

President dedicates projects worth Rp12.9 billion in Tomohon

Tomohon, North Sulawesi (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono symbolically dedicated five projects worth more than Rp12.9 billion in Tomohon, North Sulawesi province on Sunday.

The head of state was accompanied by Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Aburizal Bakrie and North Sulawesi Governor Sarundajang when dedicating the projects.

The function was attended by First Lady Ani Yudhoyono, Dutch Ambassador to Indonesia Nicolaus Van Dam, Agriculture Minister Anton Apriantono, Tomohon Mayor Jefferson Rumajar and Minahasa district head Vreeke Runtu.

Indonesia was still facing fundamental problems of poverty, unemployment and foreign debts, the president said, adding that in efforts to overcome poverty, the government has allocated a budget of Rp51 trillion to help poor families in 2007.

Thus, the head of state called on all layers of the people, including the governors, mayors and district heads, to make concerted efforts to deal with poverty and unemployment.

The president pointed out that the government would increase rice production by two million tons to 54 million tons through an agricultural revitalization program in 2007.

The projects dedicated by the president included a palm sugar factory in Tomohon with an investment of more than Rp8.6 billion employing 38 workers, and a TV5D television studio in the same town with an investment of Rp3 billion employing 51 people.

The other newly dedicated projects include a logistics depot in Pulau Miangas, Sangihe district, with an investment of more than Rp666 million, and a logistics depot in Pulau Marore, Talaud district with an investment of more than Rp663 million.

On the occasion, the head of state also led a ceremony marking the first export of 12.5 tons of palm sugar, and had a meeting with about 4,000 palm sugar farmers.

Telkomsel to invest $1.5 billion this year to enhance network

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The country's largest mobile phone operator, PT Telkomsel, plans to expand its network by building 5,000 new Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) this year at a cost of about US$1.5 billion.

With the new stations, Telkomsel hopes to penetrate every subdistrict in Kalimantan and up to 70 percent of all subdistricts in Sulawesi, according to media statement released by the company over the weekend.

Telkomsel currently has 15,000 cellular stations throughout the country, with a third of them being installed in 2006.

With the number of cellular phone users expected to increase by 25 percent from 64 million last year to about 80 million this year, Telkomsel is optimistic it will be able to pick up between 7.5 and nine million new users, or half of all new subscribers in the country.

About 63 percent of the country's total population of 240 million is between the ages of 15 and 50, Telkomsel corporate communications manager Suryo Hadiyanto said.

"These people have an acute sense for technology and a great deal of enthusiasm for technological developments," he said, in explaining the growth of the cellular industry in the country.

According to Telkomsel, the country's cellular penetration now stands at just 25 percent of the total population. However, the penetration rate grew at an average of 67 percent per year from 2001 through 2006.

Telkomsel invested about $1.5 billion last year in expanding its network and added 10.6 million new users, giving the company a total of 34.9 million customers. Its net profit in 2006 as of September increased by 43 percent year-on-year, from Rp 14.59 trillion to Rp 20.92 trillion.

Telkomsel is one of three cellular operators in the country that introduced third generation, or 3G, services last year. So far it has 1.5 million 3G customers nationwide, with services available in 25 cities.

Excelcomindo (XL) had some 130,000 3G customers as of December, while Indosat, which just launched its 3G services in late November, has no precise customer numbers yet, but has targeted 320,000 subscribers by early 2007.

Govt to maximize 'local potentials' in building power plants

JAKARTA (Antara): The government will maximize the use of local resources in building coal-fired power plants outside Java currently in bidding process, a senior official at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources said Tuesday.

"The local potentials include goods, manpower as well as funding," said the ministry's director general of electricity and energy utilization J Purwono.

"We will ask the contractors to use local resources including machineries, construction materials and manpower although the funding come from foreign sources, which usually are binding ones," he added.

Purwono pointed to the construction of a foreign-funded 7 megawatts (MW) coal-fired power plant which could use up to 30 percent of local content.

He also called local financial institutions to be proactive in funding power plant projects saying it could be a market for local lenders.

"Indonesian banks should also compete to finance power projects. Don't be passive," he said.

The government has announced on Dec. 19 a tender for the construction of 25 coal-fired power plants outside Java.

Four power plants will have the capacity of 100 to 200 MW to be built in Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra and Lampung provinces.

Another four power plants with 50-65 MW of capacity slated for West Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan and South Sulawesi provinces.

There are also 17 plants with smaller capacities of 7 to 25 MW scattered nation wide in Bangka Belitung, Riau, Riau Islands, West Kalimantan, Maluku, North Maluku, Papua, East Nusa Tenggara,West Nusa Tenggara, Gorontalo, Southeast Sulawesi and North Sulawesi provinces.

These power plants are part of the government's plan to generate additional 10,000 MW of electricity by 2009.

As for Java island, the government has started bidding process for 10 power plants. Seven power plants will the capacity of 300 to 400 MW while the remaining three with 600 to 700 MW of capacity.

European Commission happy with Indonesian projects

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Juan Casla, the program manager for European Union-Indonesian economic cooperation, said Friday that the EU-Indonesia Small Projects Facility Program, which was initiated in 2003, has been so successful to date that several more projects were planned for 2007.

"We have received continuous responses for a number of proposals and an increase in approvals for projects, which is very good and in line with our hopes," he said during the wrap-up session on projects selected under the 2004 third call for proposals.

A total of nine projects worth 907,023 euros (about US$1.1 million) were completed in the fourth quarter of 2005. They included the University of Indonesia (UI)'s "Economic Impact Study on Counterfeiting in Indonesia"; an Indonesia-Netherlands Association (INA)'s program titled "Promotional Website and Management Support for Export Design Handicraft and Interior Decoration Products"; and the Indonesian-French Chambers of Commerce and Industry's program titled "Capacity-Building in Indonesian Water Utilities".

The projects covered areas such as investment and the business climate, export marketing and promotion, and infrastructural development.

The UI study received a positive response from the government, and resulted in the establishment of the National Intellectual Property Rights Task Force, and more frequent raids on counterfeit products by the National Police and the Food and Drug Surveillance Agency.

The INA's website for handicraft producers resulted in the total volume of exports to Europe in this sector rising to 400,000 euros, while the IFCCI's water management training, workshops and pilot projects in four local-government water utilities -- in Makasar, Banjarmasin, Manado and Palembang -- resulted in a reduction in water leakage

The EU-Indonesia Small Projects Facility Program has provided grants amounting to 5.77 million euros and has approved 40 projects over the course of three years.

Thirteen projects from the fourth and fifth calls for proposals worth 2.32 million euros are still underway.

Six more projects, valued at 845,233 euros, were approved this month and are ready to start in January 2007. In line with policy, these projects will also receive initial funding of 80 percent of the total amount allocated, with the rest being disbursed at the end of the projects.

Jean Breteche, the EU's Ambassador here, said that after the completion of the 19 projects, new proposals would be announced by the end of 2007.

He added, "These projects are not huge but they are very efficient and to the point in helping economic development in Indonesia."

N Sulawesi exports coconut powder to Poland, Austria

Manado, N Sulawesi (ANTARA News) - North Sulawesi province exported US$56.07 thousand worth of coconut powder to Poland and Austria early this month, an official said.

Poland and Austria had been the market for the province`s coconut powder over the past two years with demand continuing to increase, chief of the export-import section at the North Sulawesi Trade Office Johny Rumagit said on Friday.

Coconut powder is one of the province`s main foreign exchange earners this month besides nutmeg.

North Sulawesi is one of the main coconut producers in Indonesia.

Four Asian nations agree "open skies" deal - report

Reuters / Yahoo Asia News - 2006-12-07 10:38

KUALA LUMPUR, December 6, (Reuters) - Four southeast Asian nations have agreed to permit unlimited flights among each other as the region heads towards an "open skies" policy by 2008. Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines will sign a pact to free up air links at a meeting of southeast Asian nations in the Philippines next week, Malaysian state news agency Bernama reported on Wednesday.

"It marks a milestone development towards aviation liberation within ASEAN countries," it quoted Malaysian Transport Minister Chan Kong Choy as saying, and added that the pact would allow unlimited flights among 13 cities in the four countries.

Only airlines designated by the respective governments can participate, however.

The cities involved are Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of Brunei; the cities of Balikpapan, Manado, Pontianak and Tarakan in Indonesia; the towns of Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Labuan and Miri in Malaysia; and Davao City, General Santos, Puerto Princesa and Zamboanga in the Philippines, Bernama said.

ASEAN, which includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, hopes that liberalisation of passenger and air cargo services by the end of 2008 will help promote the group's goal of creating an economic community in Southeast Asia.