Retail News CRM

Blog

  • Peruri to build currency paper factory in 2017

    Peruri to build currency paper factory in 2017

    The state-owned money printing company, Peruri, has set a target to build a currency paper factory in 2017, according to the companys President Director, Prasetio.

    Such a currency printing firm is badly needed because Indonesia does not have one so far, Prasetio pointed out here on Monday.

    “God willing, we will be able to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with our partners, so that it can be realized next year,” Prasetio explained, adding that the venture is open to both domestic and foreign investors to be partners.

    Prasetio further said that the currency paper plant will be built on Peuris own land in the West Java Provincial District of Karawang.

    Prasetio did not elaborate how much investment would be required for the project.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Citilink to serve international flights China-Morotai

    Citilink to serve international flights China-Morotai

    Citilink plans to open a new international flight route between China and the Morotai island in North Maluku to support development of the island into one of ten main tourist destinations in the country.

    Head of the North Maluku Telecommunications and Informatics Service Burhan Mansyur said the management of the airline has signed a memorandum of understanding with the district administration of Morotai on the plan to open the international flight route.

    The Morotai island was one of military bases of the Alliance Forces during the World War II facing Japan in the Pacific war.

    The plan is Citilink, a subsidiary of the nations flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, would open the route between China and Morotai via Manado in North Sulawesi.

    Realization of the plan, however, would depends on the completion of project to modernize the Leo Wattimena airport of Morotai, Burhan said here on Tuesday.

    He said the runway of the airport already meets the conditions to serve international flights but it needs renovation in its passenger terminal.

    He said as one of ten main tourist destinations, modernization of the the airport would be given a priority with fund from the state budget.

    Head of the North Maluku Tourism and Cultural Service Anwar Husen said the opening the international flight route would bring more foreign tourists to the Pacific rim island.

    Not many foreign tourists are interested to visit Morotia on problem in air transport, Anawar said.

    Even domestic tourists from the western part of the country could visit Morotai only via Manado and Ternate.

    Apart from its historical background as former main military base of the Allied Force, Ternate has wide sparkling sand beach and under sea panoramic scene attracting many surfers to that location.

    Lees ook:

  • Garuda to strengthen fleet with 17 new units of aircraft

    Garuda to strengthen fleet with 17 new units of aircraft

    Garuda Indonesia Group said it will strengthen its fleet with 17 new units of aircraft this year. The 17 units of aircraft will include a Boeing 777-300 ER, four units of Airbus A 330-300, and four units of ATR 72-600 for Garuda Indonesia and 8 units of Airbus A 320 aircraft for its subsidiary Citilink,a Garuda vice president for Corporate Communications Benny Siga Butarbutar said here on Tuesday.

    With the addition of new units, the Garuda Indonesia Group will operate 197 units of aircraft, Benny said on the sideline of commissioning a new route between Medans Kualanamu airport and Singapore.

    “The total number is 197 units including 53 units operated by Citilink,” he said.

    Citilink is a budget airline serving mainly domestic flights, with Garuda, the nations flag carrier serving international as well as domestic flights.

    From Kualanamu Garuda Indonesia Group serves direct flights to Jakarta, Banda Aceh, Lhokseumawe, Sabang, Batam, Lampung, Palembang, Denpasar, Sibolga, and Gunung Sitoli on the islanf of Nias off western coast of North Sumatra.

    Garuda Indonesia President M Arif Wibowo said the airline will also increase service for short distance flights.

  • Garuda Indonesia launches re-operations of Singapore-Medan flight

    Garuda Indonesia launches re-operations of Singapore-Medan flight

    Indonesia’s national airline, Garuda Indonesia, today launched the re-operation of a daily flight between Singapore and Medan. The flight reopening is in line with the airline’s future expansion plan, and the continuously commitment as the flag-carrier to help boost Indonesia’s economic, business, and tourism growth, as well as part of its effort to further strengthen the backbone of its connectivity in Southeast Asia region in line with the Open Sky policy.

    The relaunches ceremony was located at the Changi International Airport, and proudly unveiled by Indonesian Minister of Tourism Mr Arief Yahya, President & CEO Garuda Indonesia M. Arif Wibowo, Indonesian Ambassador for Singapore H.E. Ngurah Swanjaya, VP Airline Development Changi Airport Group Damon Wong, along with other officials of Garuda Indonesia Board of Director and Tourism Ministry of Indonesia.

    President & CEO Garuda Indonesia M. Arif Wibowo stated that aside from the airline’s expansion program, the reoperation of the flight is also a commitment to support Indonesian government program in boosting the Top 10 Priority Destinations in which one of them is Lake Toba.

    “We believe this new service will stimulate growth of business and trade in the region, more so as Medan is strategically located as the gateway to Sumatera and the rest of Indonesia’s western regions. The new service will offer passengers a wider choice of destinations as well as greater flexibility and convenience when travelling between Singapore and cities in Sumatera, such as Palembang, Banda Aceh, Sabang, Lheuksmawe, Gunung Sitoli, and Pinangsori,” he added.

    Apart from business and leisure travel, many visitors from Singapore come to Medan as the city is quite well known for its vibrant mix of cultures and reputation as a culinary paradise as well as popular tourism attractions.

    Commenting on the airline’s strategic initiative, Indonesian Minister of Tourism Arief Yahya explained that Singapore is considered as an international transportation hub, as well as the tourism hub for Indonesia. Furthermore, the Minister also promotes Lake Toba, one of the Top 10 Priority Destinations in Indonesia.

    “Toba is the largest and deepest volcanic lake in the world. Lake Toba is a giant caldera, with crater formed by the eruption of a super volcano 74,000 years ago. Experts believe that huge explosion of Toba volcano was the largest in the last 2 million years, and had triggered a dramatic volcanic storm. As an attraction, Lake Toba is a very distinctive, world-class natural landscape,” he added.

    The Medan-bound service will run daily and will be operated by Garuda’s Boeing 738 aircraft with a two-class cabin configuration featuring its globally praised Business Class service concept and the World’s Best Economy Class (Skytrax Global Airline Awards 2013).

    The service will depart from Changi Airport at 11.15am and arrive at Kualanamu International Airport at 11.45am local time. The return flights to Singapore will depart Kualanamu International Airport at 13.30pm and arrive at Changi Airport at 16.00pm local time.

    Garuda Indonesia had also launched the Wonderful Indonesia Travel Pass last January in an effort to promote Indonesia’s tourist destinations beyond its main hub, as well as to boost travel, by making travelling within Indonesia a truly affordable and seamless experience.

    The launch of this service is part of Garuda Indonesia’s 50th Anniversary in Singapore. The airline’s presence in Singapore, for over 50 years, marks Singapore not only as one of the airline’s most important markets, but also as a symbol of an even better relationship between the two countries in the next fifty years. Ever since the first day of its consecutive operations in Singapore 50 years ago, the airline has grown considerably and transformed into one of Asia’s most successful airlines.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Cloud computing can help firms cut costs

    Cloud computing can help firms cut costs

    With the rise of cloud computing in business practices worldwide, Microsoft is encouraging Indonesian industries and businesses to take advantage of this technology in their day-to-day operations, mainly due to the cost-cutting advantages that it offers.

    Microsoft Indonesia’s national technology officer Tony Seno Hartono explained that by using public cloud services, such as the ones Microsoft offers through its Azure service, Indonesia’s businesses could significantly increase their operational efficiency, by 25 to 50 percent.

    This is due to the fact that cloud services provide many streamlined features such as server management, data storage and even the electricity to keep the data-storing servers alive. “It can help businesses decrease their operational costs, because using cloud services is basically like outsourcing. Microsoft has a huge data center, capable of storing data and managing it for you. Why not utilize our services?” he said on Monday.

    Microsoft, he continued, is in talks with an unspecified telecom operator to build a data center in Indonesia, but says the negotiations are still ongoing. Indonesian users of Azure currently have their data stored in Microsoft’s data centers abroad, such as in Singapore and the US.

    Adding to the virtues of cloud computing, Tony elaborated that the local creative industry could also harness the benefits of Microsoft’s multiple data centers for creating works of art. One example is in the animation industry, where higher quality animations require massive amounts of time and data to be rendered.

    During the making of James Cameron’s blockbuster film Avatar, Cameron collaborated with Microsoft to render the CGI animations using their public cloud services, thus saving the film production time and costs.

    Tony said that if Cameron had not utilized Microsoft’s multiple data centers, the animations from Avatar would have taken many years to render properly due to the film’s scale and size.

    Within the film industry in Indonesia, many have expressed interest in using Microsoft servers but none have used them so far, because the industry still remains small, and large-scale animation jobs in Indonesia tend to be taken to foreign animation studios to be worked on, Tony added.

    From the perspective of Winastwan Gora, chief operating officer of tech education start-up Kelase, the usage of Azure cloud services has benefitted his company’s operations and has helped cut costs.

    Kelase signed up for Microsoft’s BizSpark service, for three years of Azure usage with a usage cost limit of US$150 per month. The move guaranteed them space on Microsoft’s data centers abroad for storing and processing their information.

    “By utilizing the Azure cloud, we were able to improve our communications and marketing efforts and also, our analytical and source control mechanisms became easier to carry out compared with other means. In other words, it’s now easier for the company to be run digitally,” Gora said.

  • Charoen welcomes Salim Group into poultry feed business

    Charoen welcomes Salim Group into poultry feed business

    Salim Group’s decision to enter the poultry feed business in Indonesia in a bid to expand has yet to deter publicly listed poultry firm Charoen Pokphand Indonesia — whom currently holds 34 percent of the market share.

    Charoen Indonesia voiced optimism that its parent company, Charoen Pokhand Group will support the company, especially in terms of technology. The Thailand-based conglomerate is currently one of the biggest poultry business players in the world.

    “We have not prepared any special strategy to anticipate their entrance into the market. We welcome newcomers in the competition,” said Charoen Pokphand Indonesia president Director Tjiu Thomas Effendy on Wednesday.

    In December 2015, Salim Group purchased a controlling stake in Malaysia-based poultry firm CAB Cakaran Bhd. The conglomerate, through its shell company Plant Wealth Holdings Ltd, took 11.05 percent of shares in Cakaran.

    It plans to form a joint-venture in Indonesia this year. “Our Malaysian partner will do the technology transfer, while Indofood will support the operations,” Salim Group Chairman Anthoni Salim told thejakartapost.com recently.

    While Charoen is strong in poultry feed and day-old chicks, its poultry-based food business is low. This opens a door for Salim, as the big player in food industry, to enter especially as Salim has 35.8 percent shares in Fast Food Indonesia, the license-holder for the Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise in Indonesia.

    Lees ook:

  • Garuda re-exploring plans for flights to US in 2017

    Garuda re-exploring plans for flights to US in 2017

    Garuda Indonesia plans to re-explore the feasibility of starting flights to the United States in 2017 if the national flag carrier passes Category 1 test of safety and security standards as mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

    “Next year, we will try and clear this test as it is part of our five year plan, or this may be achieved even earlier,” the Garuda Indonesia President Director, M Arif Wibowo, said here on Wednesday.

    He noted that 400 thousand passengers travel from the US to Indonesia every year.

    The cities which receive maximum visitors are Los Angeles and New York, he added.

    “The number of potential passengers departing from Los Angeles is 120 thousand, while many more depart from New York,” Arif said.

    The flights will transit through Narita, Japan and will use two units of Boeing 777.

    “Actually, we want to start direct flights but that is not possible as of now. The option is to fly via Narita, Japan,” he said.

    Meanwhile, the Director General of Air Transportation at the Transportation Ministry, Suprasetyo, said the audit result of the FAA will be declared by July 2016 at the latest.

    “We have completed and reported all the documents and are optimistic that we can achieve our target,” he added.

    The Director of Airworthiness and Aircraft Operation at the Transportation Ministry, Mohammad Alwi, said the last seven documents related to flight inspection have been reported online to the FAA auditors.

    “All the documents have been accepted. God willing, this July we will receive the good news as Ramadan and Eid gift,” he said.

    According to him, if Garuda is awarded Category 1 status, then its aviation safety standards and security aspects must conform to international standards, in line with the flag carriers in the same category.

    Lees ook:

  • Indonesia’s Lion Air removed from EU air safety blacklist

    Indonesia’s Lion Air removed from EU air safety blacklist

    Indonesia’s Lion Air, a major buyer of Airbus and Boeing jets, was removed from the European Union’s air safety blacklist, the European Commission said in a statement on Thursday.

    That means Lion Air is no longer banned from flying in the 28-nation EU.

  • Bank Indonesia cuts benchmark interest rate to 6.50 per cent

    Bank Indonesia cuts benchmark interest rate to 6.50 per cent

    Indonesia’s central bank cut its benchmark interest rate again by a quarter point to 6.50 per cent Thursday amid slow and uneven recovery of the global economy.Bank Indonesia spokesman Tirta Segara said the cut, the fourth this year, was decided at a two-day meeting of the Board of Governors.The key interest rate was lowered in January after staying at 7.5 per cent since February 2015. Cuts of another quarter point followed in February and March.Segara said the central bank will continue monitoring global economic developments that will have an impact in Indonesia.

    He noted that the country is expected to feel effects from the U.S. economy, which is not in solid recovery as indicated by weakening of consumption and employment as well as low inflation.The central bank believes that the easing of monetary and macro-prudential policies will strengthen the government’s attempts to boost sustainable economic growth through acceleration of structural reforms.Domestic economic growth in the second quarter of 2016 is expected to improve although not as strong as previously expected, the central bank said in a statement.

    It sees that various steps are still needed to boost domestic demand to continue to strengthen the momentum of economic growth, and with these developments, the overall economic growth for 2016 is estimated to be in the range of 5 per cent to 5.4 per cent.

    Lees ook:

  • Xiaomi teams up with China Unicom to boost offline sales

    Xiaomi teams up with China Unicom to boost offline sales

    Chinese smartphone vendor Xiaomi Corp has teamed up with the country’s second-largesttelecom carrier, China United Network Communications Group Co, to expand its offlineretailing channels.

    The move came as the country’s online smartphone sales has hit a ceiling and as Xiaomigrapples with declining shipments and mounting competition from rivals such as OppoElectronics Corp.

    Xiaomi launched a custom-made smartphone Redmi 3X on Wednesday. Equipped with alarge battery and a 13-megapixel rear-camera, the new phone will go on sale for 899 yuan($136) through China Unicom’s 30,000 offline stores and more than 230,000 bricks-and-mortar retailing partners.

    Lei Jun, CEO and founder of Xiaomi, said so far more than two-thirds of the company’ssmartphones have been sold through e-commerce platforms and the company’s officialwebsite.

    “The proportion of online sales is too big,” Lei said. “To maintain the rapid growth we haveseen in the past four years, expanding offline retailing channels becomes the key.”

    eca86bd9ddb418cc27c10c

    Xiaomi and China Unicom will also expand their cooperation beyond handsets to a widerange of products, such as Xiaomi TV, routers and air purifiers.

    “All of these Xiaomi electronic products will be available at our nationwide offline retail stores,”said Xiong Yu, deputy general manager at China Unicom.

    The move fits into China Unicom’s broad efforts to transform its abundant bricks-and-mortarassets into a big retailing platform of various electronic products, Xiong added.

    As China’s smartphone market is reaching saturation point, a number of vendors are bankingon bricks-and-mortar retailers to spur their growth.

    Xiaomi said earlier this year it will open 200 to 300 retail stores to bolster sales. Its major rivalLenovo Group Ltd also pledged more efforts to expand its offline retailing presence, which itssenior Vice-President Chen Xudong called the key to surviving intense competition.

    CK Lu, principal analyst at consulting firm Gartner Inc, said China Unicom’s sprawling offlineresources gave Xiaomi a ticket to enter into low-tier cities, which are dominated by its rivalsOppo Electronics Corp and vivo Mobile Communication Technology Co Ltd.

    In the first quarter of this year, Oppo and vivo made their way into the world’s top-five rankingof smartphone vendors for the first time, pushing out Xiaomi and Lenovo.

    “Xiaomi is an expert in online marketing, but lacks experience and talent to run offline stores.So it makes tons of sense to partner with China Unicom,” Lu said.

    According to Counterpoint Technology Market Research, telecom operators’ retail channelsaccount for 30 percent of China’s total smartphone sales, while e-commerce sites contributeanother 30 percent, with the rest managed by professional electronic retail stores.

    James Yan, a Beijing-based analyst at Counterpoint, said partnering with China Unicom willhelp Xiaomi quickly boost smartphone sales, but won’t necessarily deliver good profits.

  • Ministop closing up shop in Indonesia for now

    Ministop closing up shop in Indonesia for now

    Japanese convenience store operator Ministop is pulling out of the Indonesian market, at least for the time being.

    The company announced Friday that it is terminating a franchise agreement with local retailer Bahagia Niaga Lestari, which wants to concentrate resources in other areas.

    The retailer is Ministop’s sole franchisee in Indonesia. So when the six franchise stores it operates there are closed, the country will have no Ministops.

    Ministop said it will search for a new partner and plan a return to Indonesia, since the convenience store market there has growth potential.

    Ministop had inked the franchise agreement with Bahagia Niaga Lestari in 2012 because Indonesia bars foreign companies from investing in retail stores with less than 400 sq. meters of floor space. The first Ministop in that country opened in June 2013.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • ASDP Launches Mobile E-Ticketing

    ASDP Launches Mobile E-Ticketing

    State-owned ferry operator PT ASDP Indonesia Ferry has launched a mobile e-ticketing service to facilitate passengers when buying ferry tickets during Eid holiday.

    “We launch this mobile e-ticketing service to anticipate the surge in the number of vehicles heading to Merak seaport,” said PT. ASDP President Director Danang S on Friday (17/6).

    He added that the e-ticketing service is applied at di km 43 and km 68 of the rest area on Tangerang-Merak toll road.

    The government also provides the same service during the returning season after Ied Day at Hotel 56 Kalianda, Lampung.

    Danang went on to say that the mobile e-ticketing services gives a one-stop service for the passengers by stopping at rest areas.

    He also predicted that the number of passengers crossing through Merak seaport this year would increase by 8 percent compared to that of the previous year.

    Lees ook:

  • Japan to invest in fire extinction technology in Indonesia

    Japan to invest in fire extinction technology in Indonesia

    The Investment Coordinating Board said a Japanese company engaged in fire extinction technology is interested in investing Rp600 billion in Indonesia.

    The Head of the Board, Franky Sibarani, in a press release received by Antara here on Monday, said the potential investors will build a forest fire prevention system and develop this technology in Indonesia.

    “This business will deal with ways to prevent forest and land fires by applying such technology,” he added.

    Sibarani informed that the company already has a local partner, a fact that will help them realize the investment.

    The Japanese company is currently reviewing two locations that could be used to set up its operations here. These sites are in Sei Mangke Industrial Area, North Sumatra and Tanjung Api-Api Industrial Area, South Sumatra.

    Sibarani explained that the raw material used in fire fighting technology can be procured from within Indonesia.

    “The Indonesian workers who will operate the technology would be first trained in Japan for at least six months,” he disclosed.

    An Indonesian official of the Investment Promotion Office in Tokyo (IIPC), Saribua Siahaan, remarked that this investment plan was quite interesting, considering that the Japanese investment in the country is largely in the automotive sector and its supporting components.

    “We are ready to help the company to realize its investment in Indonesia. This investment is also expected to contribute positively to the governments efforts to prevent forest fires,” he noted.

    Data obtained from the Investment Coordinating Board shows that in the second quarter of 2016, the realization of Japan investment in Indonesia had reached US$1.58 billion and covered 427 projects, providing jobs for 28,377 people.

    In 2015, the realization of Japanese investment amounted to US$2.87 billion with 2,030 projects and had absorbed 115,400 workers.

    Lees ook:

  • Indonesian coffee introduced in Southeast European market

    Indonesian coffee introduced in Southeast European market

    Indonesian coffee was introduced in Zagreb, Croatia, on June 8-10 during an event titled “Indonesian Specialty Coffee: From Cup to Cup” organized by the Indonesian Embassy in Zagreb in cooperation with local entity, Tanamera Coffee.

    During the program held in two locations — the Indonesian Embassy in Zagreb and a coffee shop in the Croatian capital — a representative from Indonesia introduced a variety of Indonesian coffee beans, including Gayo Aceh, Solok Sumatera, Toraja Sulawesi, Flores, and Malabar.

    “The last day of promotion in the cafe was open for the public, and some 600 people had the opportunity to sample the single origin coffee that our team had brought,” Dini Criddle, Tanamera Coffee owner, noted in a press release received on Monday.

    Tanamera Coffee, as the governments partner in promoting Indonesian coffee in the global market, also presented the process of coffee production, from the enhancement of farmers harvest results and the process of coffee production to the simulation of roasting techniques as well as brewing methods using filters or espresso machines.

    The Indonesian Embassy in Zagrebs Economic Functions Executive Widjoseno Sastroamidjojo remarked that the promotion efforts had drawn the interest of several coffee roasters, industry makers, and Croatian coffee importer to buy Indonesian coffee products and coffee beans that are deemed high in quality.

    This interest will boost the entry of Indonesian coffee into the Croatian market, as well as other European countries, he emphasized.

    “Not a lot of Croatians are familiar with Indonesian coffee. Seeing the high demand for Indonesian coffee and the potential to attract Croatian tourists that reached 12 million in 2015, we are confident that Indonesian coffee products can be successful in the southeast European market,” stated Sastroamidjojo.

    Coffee consumption in Croatia is high as its people prefer spending time in coffee shops in addition to the rapid growth in the number of such outlets in the southeastern Europe country.

    Despite having a total population of only 4.2 million, the coffee consumption rate in Croatia is rather high, reaching 15.9 tons, or 2.8 kilograms per capita in 2013.

    Based on the data retrieved from Euromonitor, Croatia was ranked 14th on the worlds coffee consumption index.

    Meanwhile, other Southeast European countries, such as Slovenia, Serbia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina, are also listed among the 15 countries, with the highest per capita coffee consumption rate, with each reaching 6.1, 5.4, and 4.3 kilograms.

    Lees ook:

  • Philippines to Market Fashion Products in Indonesia

    Philippines to Market Fashion Products in Indonesia

    The Philippines has expressed its intention to market branded retail products in Indonesia, particularly fashion products.

    To support the intention, the Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC) in Jakarta has held an expo, Lifestyle Philippines, in Shangri-La Hotel on June 10, 2016, said the Philippines Embassy in Jakarta, Monday, June 13, 2016.

    According the Philippine Ambassador to Indonesia Maria Lumen B. Isleta, the expo is expected to strengthen the relationships between the Philippine and Indonesian people.

    “It is an effort to introduce the various Philippine products and services, which may interest many Indonesian consumers once they know more about it,” Amabassador Isleta said.

    Alma Argayoso, the Philippine trade representative in Jakarta, said Lifestyale Philippines is aimed at promoting and introducing products made in the Philippines.

    The expo was enliven by fashion shows that featured designs of iconic brands, such as Karimadon, Rusty Lopez, Plains and Prints, and Cruzzini Barong Tagalog.

    The trade volume of both countries reached US$3.6 billion last year with a significant surplus for Indonesia, having an export volume of US$2.93 billion. Whereas the Philippine trade to Indonesia merely amounted to US$628.27 million.