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Tag: Indonesia

  • BlackBerry still exceedingly popular in Indonesia

    BlackBerry still exceedingly popular in Indonesia

    BlackBerry may have decided to stop designing its iconic handsets in-house, but that doesn’t mean the gadgets will disappear, especially in places where they’re still popular.

    A case in point is the Indonesian wireless company that is already hatching plans to introduce its own version of the keyboard-equipped smartphone for those who can’t live without the device.

    PT Tiphone Mobile Indonesia Tbk, an affiliate of operator PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Persero Tbk, has struck the first deal with BlackBerry to form a local joint venture called PT BB Merah Putih to make its devices in Indonesia.

    While the BlackBerry is shifting its focus to software, Indonesia remains one of the Waterloo company’s biggest markets. BlackBerry in the past launched dedicated phones and apps for the Indonesian market, home to 240 million people.

    Under the preliminary deal, BlackBerry phones will be manufactured at a factory owned by a subsidiary of Tiphone Mobile for domestic sales, said Tan Lie Pin, Tiphone’s chief executive officer. Another local company is in talks to join the venture and details are being negotiated, she said.

    “More than six million people still use BlackBerry in Indonesia and we believe that BlackBerry can still grow in the Indonesian market,” Tan said. “We are very optimistic and excited.”

    BlackBerry CEO John Chen said Wednesday that the company would stop designing phones and focus its attention on the more profitable and growing software business.

    The company plans to negotiate manufacturing agreements with multiple overseas partners. While Tan said Tiphone will manufacture phones for the Indonesian market, discussions on the venture are continuing with BlackBerry.

    BlackBerry’s popularity in Indonesia stems from its hugely popular instant-messaging app, BlackBerry Messenger, known as BBM. Many Indonesians still stick to BBM in order to connect with their curated groups of friends and family, even though some of them no longer use BlackBerry devices.

    BBM for iOS and Android devices ranked No. 1 in terms of downloads among chat apps in Indonesia in August, ahead of rival WhatsApp and Line, according to market researcher App Annie.

    Emtek Group, one of Indonesia’s biggest media and technology companies, signed a licensing agreement with BlackBerry in June in order to bring video content onto BBM and begin developing new applications and services for the messaging app.

  • IDX Suspends Bumi Citra Permai

    IDX Suspends Bumi Citra Permai

    The Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) has suspended the Bumi Citra Permai (BCIP) from trading because of significant, cumulative stock price declines.

    BCIP opened at Rp478 per share before plunging 46 bps (9.62%) to Rp432.

    “With regards to BCIP’s significant, cumulative price drops, the IDX deems it necessary to suspend the stock from being traded,” IDX head for transaction supervision Irvan Susandy said in an exposure on Friday, October 7.

    BCIP is not only suspended from trading in the regular market but also in the secondary market, starting today, October 7. The suspension is aimed at giving investors enough time to make thoughtful considerations in deciding what to do with their BCIP stocks.

    BCIP is an issuer engaged in the field of real estate, construction, trading, mining, services, transportation, publishing, and agriculture. The company’s main businesses are real-estate and water management, operated by subsidiary Milwater Pratama Mandiri.

    BCIP also has two real estate subsidiaries Millenium Power and Citra Permai Pesona.

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  • Surge in Coal Prices Buoys Miners’ Shares

    Surge in Coal Prices Buoys Miners’ Shares

    A recovery in coal prices in recent months has buoyed shares of local coal companies and returned confidence to a sector that has long struggled with low demand.

    Indonesia’s thermal coal benchmark price rose to $63.93 per metric ton in September — its highest in 17 months — continuing a five-month rally after bottoming out in May, according to the latest data compiled by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.

    China, traditionally Indonesia’s main coal market, has capped its domestic coal mining output, forcing electricity producers to start importing coal once more. Limited stocks from the main exporters, such as Australia and Indonesia — due to a prolonged wet season — also stoked the commodity’s price in the global market.

    Against that setting, shares of Bumi Resources, Indonesia’s largest coal producer, surged by as much as 23 percent this week after the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) lifted a suspension on the company’s shares on Wednesday. The suspension began on June 30 after Bumi failed to submit its first-quarter financial report.

    NH Korindo Securities head research analyst Reza Priyambada said positive sentiment from the commodity’s price has buoyed even a debt-ridden company such as Bumi.

    Shares of state-controlled miner Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam, have risen 70 percent in the past five months. Indo Tambangraya Megah, the local coal mining unit of Thailand’s Banpu, rose 47 percent in the same period.

    However, Reza warned that in the longer term, miners’ share prices would depend on their own fundamental performance.

    “It all depends on how the coal miners are making their next moves. For example, extending or renewing their coal contracts, or diversifying their businesses,” Reza said.

    Indonesia’s coal production fell 14 percent to 241.1 million tons of oil equivalent last year compared to a year earlier, as demand from China and other markets decreased, according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2016.

    For coal producers, the power sector is another business alternative to mitigate their losses from last year’s weak coal prices. The power sector is attracting several coal producers because the government wants to add 35,000 megawatts to the national power grid to boost investment.

    Adaro Energy, whose shares surged 164 percent so far this year, diversified its business from coal production to power generation. Construction of the company’s 2,000-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Batang, Central Java, has finally started and it is expected to generate $80 million per month for the consortium that built and operates it, when it starts operations in 2020.

    Coal will remain the main supply for power plants, which will eventually boost domestic consumption of the resource and provide long-term benefits to miners and producers.

    Oil and gas giant British Petroleum also noted that coal consumption in Indonesia — now the eight-largest coal user in the world — will continue to grow as most of the country’s power under President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s 35,000-megawatt program would come from coal.

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  • Nusantara Batik Week expected to see sales of Rp6 billion

    Nusantara Batik Week expected to see sales of Rp6 billion

    The ongoing Nusantara Batik Week is expected to record sales of Rp6 billion, a local official said.

    The target increased from Rp4.5 billion last year, said Supriono, head of the Pekalongan industry, trade and cooperatives and SMEs office, speaking on Tuesday.

    The Eighth Nusantara Batik Week, held Oct. 4-9, offers various kinds of batik and traditional culinary from Pekalongan and other regions.

    The batik expo is organized to celebrate National Batik Day, which falls on Oct. 2.

    Pekalongan is dubbed as “the city of batik” because it is one of the countrys centers of batik production.

    Indonesias batik, along with the Tango of Argentina and Uruguay, the traditional Ainu dance of Japan, and Frances aubusson tapestries, were among the 76 representatives included in UNESCOs Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity published ,on September 30, 2009.

    “The techniques, symbolism, and culture surrounding hand-dyed cotton and silk garments, known as Indonesian batik, permeate the lives of Indonesians from beginning to end. Infants are carried in batik slings decorated with symbols designed to bring the child luck, and the dead are shrouded in funerary batik,” is how Indonesian batik has been described by UNESCO.

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  • No Solution yet to Google Tax Issues

    No Solution yet to Google Tax Issues

    The Communications and Informatics Ministry said that it has not come up with the best solution in relation to the endeavor of collecting taxes from giant tech company Google, as the regulation on foreign app companies (over the top or OTT) has not been realized yet.

    “No solution yet, and I’m still coordinating with the Finance Ministry. But I keep on pushing to have a playing field level between the national OTT and the International OTT,” Communications and Informatics Minister Rudiantara said in Jakarta on Friday, October 7, 2016.

    Earlier, Rudiantara said that Google Indonesia was not running an advertising business. In addition, Google has not set up a permanent local entity (BUT) in Indonesia, making it difficult for the government to collect taxes from Google.

    Rudiantara called on Google to show its good will to discuss the issue.

    “However, the amount of taxes to be paid by Google remains Finance Ministry’s jurisdiction,” he said.

    Rudiantara had also set a target to finalize regulations on OTT companies in the third quarter of 2016. However, the realization remains sluggish since the Ministry cannot issue a regulation that is not applicable and enforceable.

    Google Singapore, as Google Indonesia’s holding company, refused to be audited by the Tax Directorate General, following a finding that Google gains income from Indonesia, although it has not yet established a permanent local entity in the country. The Tax DG found an indication of criminal offenses and conducted investigation into the company.

    Finance Minister Sri Mulyani has not provided details about steps to be taken to collect taxes from Google. However, Sri said that the government would continue to demand Google to fulfill its tax obligations.

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  • Governement expects food self-sufficiency in 2018

    Governement expects food self-sufficiency in 2018

    Food self-sufficiency is expected to be realized in 2018, and there will be no imports in 2016, Vice President Jusuf Kalla asserted.

    “Food-sufficiency is expected to be realized within three years for which the efforts have started a year ago,” Kalla said here Friday.

    In order to reach the target several steps have been implemented, including improvement of irrigation methods, and seedling and fertilizer preparation, he added.

    Food security and resilience have been an issue for Indonesia for some time now. It was once a major rice exporter in Asia but is now relying quite heavily on rice imports to meet peoples staple food requirements.

    Food security is also an important social objective.

    Therefore, relying on food markets outside the country in order to meet the needs of Indonesias growing population is critical.

  • Indonesia offers Japan Jakarta-Surabaya rail project

    Indonesia offers Japan Jakarta-Surabaya rail project

    Indonesia has officially offered Japan the opportunity to take part in the semi high-speed rail construction project connecting Jakarta to Surabaya in East Java, a senior minister said.

    Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan delivered the official letter offering the project to the Japanese government during his working visit to Tokyo on Friday, according to a statement released by the ministry’s office.

    “Personally, I am sure Japanese technology is suitable for this project,” he said in the statement released on Friday. The semi high-speed railway would have trains running between 180 and 200 kilometers per hour and would shorten the travel time between Jakarta and Surabaya to 3.5 hours, Luhut added.

    The government planned a double track railway so that it could be utilized to support the transfer of containers in dry port between Jakarta, Semarang and Surabaya.

    Should Tokyo accept the offer to work on the project, Luhut further said he hoped that Japan would implement technology transfers with Indonesia and comply with the country’s regulations that prioritized the use of Indonesian-made products.

  • Halal zone to appear in Pulogadung Industrial Area

    Halal zone to appear in Pulogadung Industrial Area

    Halal Zone will soon arrive in Pulogadung Industrial Area, East Jakarta, serving as a showcase for Indonesias halal industrial products, officials said.

    “Halal Zone will have facilities that support halal management and halal product distribution,” Financial and Supporting Director of PT Jakarta Industrial Estate Pulogadung (JIEP) Sitta Izza Rosdaniah stated here on Friday.

    The zone will feature Moslem Fashion Hub, MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Events), Halal Warehouse, Halal Laboratory, Shariah Finance Centre, National Creative Industry and Training Centre, Halal Lifestyle Showcases, National Logistics Centre, Halal Culinary Centre, and Organic Urban Farming.

    “We want establish a halal laboratory in the industrial area,” Sitta noted, adding that the facilitys management will prioritize small and medium enterprises to help them develop their businesses.

    According to her, these enterprises need support to meet halal standards for their products.

    “This is the meaning of a halal zone, where people can get assistance and the opportunity to consult with experts,” Sitta remarked.

    JIEP also provides special facilities for all business sectors in the industrial area.

    On August 2016, in Jakarta, JIEP signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the Indonesian Port Corporation (IPC) on the Study of Development and Operation Cooperation in the Pulogadung Industrial Area.

    The agreement was for the preparation of a study of an Integrated Logistics Area for an International Halal Hub in the JIEP area.

    The MoA is aimed at establishing a partnership and synergy between JIEP and Pelindo to develop the International Halal Hub and Halal Port.

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  • Foodpanda Indonesia shut down

    Foodpanda Indonesia shut down

    No one wants Foodpanda Indonesia.

    Not enough consumers ordered its delivery service and after as long as a year trying to sell the business as a going concern, Foodpanda’s parent Rocket simply shut it down.

    The last order was taken  at 10pm on Monday October 3, after which the business disappeared from online.

    It’s the latest chapter in a tale of woe for the delivery company in Southeast Asia. It sold its Vietnam business last year and is currently trying to raise $50 million to keep its Indian operations running, as it struggles to gain market share off more successful local rivals. In Hong Kong it closed down an upmarket Foodpanda spin-off last year just weeks after its launch, disguising it as a merger.

    In a statement sent to staff obtained by DealStreet Asia, Foodpanda Indonesia management said the company had ceased all food ordering activities on a permanent basis. “In particular, the company will close its website and mobile application in Indonesia, and terminate cooperation with all restaurant partners.”

    The closure of the business comes as no surprise, despite misleading statements on its future by Foodpanda management earlier this year..

    In August, Techcrunch correspondent said multiple sources had confirmed the business was for sale – for less than US$1 million. Yet a Foodpanda spokesperson said somewhat enigmatically: “Foodpanda has grown very fast in Southeast Asia over the last couple of months and strengthened its market leading position in the region. Driven by our increased dominance in the region we have experienced interest from a variety of different parties to partner or to invest which we are evaluating now.”

    But no one wanted the business, despite Indonesia being the world’s fourth most populous nation.

    Foodpanda Indonesia debuted in 2012 and had built a virtual menu from thousands of local restaurants. Consumers, however, appeared to prefer app-based ride-hailing services offering delivery, such as Grab Bike and Go-Jek.

    Foodpanda CEO Ralf Wenzel says the company will continue to focus on “core markets” such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia and Taiwan.

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  • FMCG, fashion spur Lazada Indonesia growth

    FMCG, fashion spur Lazada Indonesia growth

    eCommerce group Lazada Indonesia says its current volume growth has accelerated to more than 150 per cent than at the same time last year.

    Key contributing categories are FMCG and fashion, which are both growing more than three times as much as last year. Also, about 80 per cent of the orders are via mobile devices.

    “Our rapidly growing orders in categories such as FMCG and fashion, being shipped all across the country, further demonstrates that Lazada has truly become the one-stop shopping destination of choice,” says Lazada Indonesia co-CEO Florian Holm.

    This success is also helping SMEs, which can now sell on Lazada free of commission – an initiative that will ultimately also benefit consumers through more competitive pricing, says Lazada. The initiative has helped SMEs achieve up to 10 times growth in sales since the beginning of the year.

    Brands are also benefiting from the growth through partnerships with Lazada Indonesia to offer exclusive products.

    In a recent Lazada collaboration with L’Oreal Paris, the My Superstar Look campaign – endorsed by celebrities Maudy Ayunda and Dian Sastrowardoyo – resulted in a 10-times increase in sales as well as engaging thousands of new customers for the cosmetics giant.

    Levi’s is now working with Lazada to create an onsite experience including product story videos, and fit and size guides to help consumers find the right jeans. This season the companies will run joint marketing campaigns for the Levi’s 511 Slim Fit Jean for men and Levi’s 711 Asia Skinny Jean for women.

    Free shipping

    Meanwhile, Lazada Indonesia has launched a free shipping service, enabled by its last-mile logistics arm and network of reliable delivery partners. The company has also extended its cash-on-delivery option to more products.

    Lazada Indonesia’s strong growth comes on the back of Alibaba Group’s investment, announced in April. To reduce lead-time to the consumer, Lazada has started using Cainiao, a logistics network 47 per cent owned by Alibaba which allows parcels to be picked up from Lazada merchants in China. Lazada has also entered into a partnership with Alibaba subsidiary UCWeb to drive more traffic to the platform.

    For the fourth quarter, Lazada Indonesia is planning more initiatives and preparing for the Online Revolution, an online event involving sellers and consumers. From November 11 to December 12, Indonesian consumers will be offered flash sales, special promotions, attractive deals and engaging activities.

    “Since we created the Online Revolution in 2012 to introduce consumers to online shopping, it has sparked a shopping frenzy that breaks records year after year. No other eCommerce player in Southeast Asia can claim a similar achievement,” says Holm.

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  • Barry Callebaut Opens First Chocolate Factory in Indonesia

    Barry Callebaut Opens First Chocolate Factory in Indonesia

    Swiss chocolate producer Barry Callebaut has expanded its operations in Indonesia with the grand opening of its first chocolate factory in the country.

    Through a long-term outsourcing agreement with GarudaFood Group, one of the largest food and beverage companies in Indonesia, Barry Callebaut built its three-story, 43,000-sq.-ft. factory on the premises of GarudaFood’s biscuit plant in Gresik. Barry Callebaut will also supply GarudaFood with 10,000 tons of chocolate per year.

    Antoine de Saint-Affrique, Barry Callebaut’s ceo, said the new factory, which will employ 50 people, is a “cornerstone” in its strategy to strengthen its position in Asian Pacific markets.

    “It also enables us to grow our already significant presence in Indonesia — an important emerging market with about 260 million people that offers above-average growth opportunities,” he says. “We are truly excited that our strong relationship with GarudaFood and this new factory will provide GarudaFood with the means to differentiate themselves in an increasingly competitive market.”

    GarudaFood CEO Hardianto Atmadja said the partnership will give GarudaFood the opportunity to put emphasis on biscuit production, including its Gery brand.

    “The chocolate production lines at the Barry Callebaut factory allow us to focus our manufacturing facilities in Indonesia on biscuits and strengthen the factory as a key competence center for our biscuits products in Indonesia,” he says. “This move will help us to further develop our successful biscuit brands.”

    Barry Callebaut also operates chocolate grinding facilities in Bandung and Makassar, Indonesia, employing more than 500 people. The company also has chocolate factories in China, India, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia.

  • Bali Airport Sees Passengers Traffic Increase

    Bali Airport Sees Passengers Traffic Increase

    Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport recorded an increase in the number of passengers coming and going through the airport. In September, the airport has seen 14.8 million passengers flying from and to the airport, an increase of 16 percent from the same month last year.

    The airport’s General Manager Yanus Suprayogi said on Thursday that both domestic and international passengers’ traffics are relatively the same with 7.4 million passengers each.

    “In the last four years, the traffic growth in 2016 is the highest. In addition to the number of passengers, we also see an increase in the number of inbound or outbound cargos, as well as aircraft movement,” he said in a press release, October 6.

    Meanwhile, the airport’s cargo volume reached more than 30,000 tons, or up by 39 percent compared to September 2015’s volume. The number of aircraft movements also increased by 10 percent on a year-on-year basis.

    “We are optimistic that the number of passengers, aircraft, and cargo will continue to increase until the end of this year,” Yanus said.

    Meanwhile, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) of Bali recorded 438,135 foreign tourists’ visits to Bali in August 2016, of which 437,929 came in through the airport.

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  • Susi Promises Banking Access for Fishermen

    Susi Promises Banking Access for Fishermen

    Marine and Fisheries Affairs Minister Susi Pudjiastuti will facilitate fishermen or ship owners who owns ships with a capacity of less than 10 gross tonnage to have access to banking services. Minister Susi said that ship owners would only need came to the Marine and Fisheries Affairs Ministry office.

    “I will establish an outpost at the Ministry’s licensing office. We will meet [fishermen] with banking institutions,” Susi said on Wednesday, October 5, 2016.

    Susi promised to help fishermen to be able to access credit facilities to get funds to replace their trawls. Susi targeted fishermen to be able to get at least Rp 200 million loan. The Minister also offered to provide a debt restructuring program for fishermen.

    Susi hoped that ship owners will take the opportunity to replace their trawls and fish with more environmentally friendly method. The Minister added that she had recently managed to help a fisherman to get a fresh loan from the bank.

    Susi said that she had contacted two state-owned banks, Bank Rakyat Indonesia, and Bank BNI, to help with the program. The Minister also expected other banks to take part in the program, which is supported by the Financial Services Authority.

    In addition, the Marine and Fisheries Affairs Ministry had asked fishermen to re-measure their ships, while Minister Susi guaranteed that there will be no illegal levy in the process.

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  • Jakarta tax amnesty has little impact on banks here

    Jakarta tax amnesty has little impact on banks here

    The tax amnesty scheme in Indonesia has had a much smaller impact on funds flowing out of Singapore’s private banking industry than feared, an RHB report suggested on Tuesday.

    The funds flowing out of Singapore likely made up only 1-2 per cent of assets under management (AUM) of the private banking industry. Some 79 trillion rupiah (S$8.3 billion) was repatriated in the first nine-month phase of Jakarta’s tax amnesty programme.

    The scheme allows Indonesians to declare assets that were previously undeclared to tax authorities. In return, they paid a sharply reduced tax rate on those assets – just 2 per cent – in the first phase, which ended on Sept 30.

    The 79 trillion rupiah was 12 per cent of the assets of wealthy Indonesian clients that were declared to be kept in Singapore, according to data from the Indonesian government. Singapore has been a big draw for rich Indonesians. All in, the assets held here and declared to the Indonesian authorities made up 70 per cent of all overseas funds that had been declared.

    RHB calculated that the total assets of the three Singapore banks’ private banking segment stood at about S$321 billion. This means the amount repatriated to Indonesia from Singapore accounts for only 2.6 per cent of the three banks’ total AUM. These already exclude the asset base of the top private banks in Singapore, such as UBS, Citi, and Credit Suisse. So, all in, the impact on Singapore’s private banking industry should be about 1-2 per cent of all assets held here, RHB noted.

    “There is likely to be more repatriation of funds from Singapore to Indonesia going forward, but the experience of Phase 1 suggests that the amount repatriated is unlikely to be a large percentage of Singapore banks’ assets under management,” it said.

    This comes as the tax rate for those who repatriate their assets in Phase 2 rises to 3 per cent, one percentage point more than in Phase 1. The tax rate will be increased yet again in the third phase, Jakarta has said.

    Indonesian taxpayers had declared more than 3,600 trillion rupiahs in assets both domestically and overseas. An Indonesian tax authority quoted by The Straits Times said the country had set a 4,000 trillion rupiah target for the first phase.

    The tax amnesty scheme comes amid heightened scrutiny of tax evasion. Banks here had to file a suspicious transaction report on clients taking part in the programme, with the Singapore authorities later having to state publicly that participation in a tax amnesty scheme alone would not attract criminal investigation in Singapore. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said that the use of suspicious transaction reports is a practice across other jurisdictions when handling tax amnesty cases.

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  • BI to Introduce Coin Deposit Machine

    BI to Introduce Coin Deposit Machine

    Deputy Director of the BI Financial Management Department Asral Mashuri in Jakarta, Tuesday 4, 2016, said that Bank Indonesia (BI) is planning on implementing a coin deposit machine to ease people in saving the form of money.

    “The machine would look like an ATM, but this one is for coins, and the machine can sort out the money; which is one thousand and one hundred. It would be easy for people to use,”  he said.

    According to Asral, nowadays, many people keep the coins and left it uncirculated. The uncirculated coins have forced BI to reprint it, although coins have a longer lifespan than paper money.

    A coin deposit machine is hoped to help banking institutions in retracting the coins. “This also accelerates the money circulation, and later on, banking institutions can retrieve money from people’s savings,” Asral said.

    He added that it will be implemented as soon as possible. The study is still ongoing; it will be realized but not in the coming months. “The machine will be available for the public to use soon as possible,” Asral said.

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