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Tag: Indonesia

  • AirAsia seeks governement support to explore more Indonesian destinations

    AirAsia seeks governement support to explore more Indonesian destinations

    AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes shares his views on his company’s Indonesian unit and his business strategy.Once an ailing airline struggling with debt, Malaysia-based budget carrier AirAsia has successfully transformed itself to become one of the most successful airlines in the region while working to achieve its noble vision: democratising air travel by offering low fares and high quality service. Despite a market slowdown, AirAsia has so far become the world’s best-performing airline stock this year.

    In Indonesia, the company manages two units – Indonesia AirAsia (IAA), which operates a fleet of 29 Airbus A320s, and Indonesia AirAsia X, the country’s first long-haul, low-cost carrier – and has become a serious competitor for major local low-cost airlines, including Lion Air and Citilink. Last week, AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes invited The Jakarta Post’s Farida Susanty to his office in Kuala Lumpur to discuss the company’s business strategy, his vision for the company’s Indonesian units and his response to the recent launch of the world’s biggest alliance of low-cost airlines to challenge the company’s stronghold in the business. The following are excerpts of the interview.

    You keep saying that Indonesia is more than just Bali. How do you envision the country’s aviation industry in the next few years?

    Tony Fernandes: We want to invest more in Indonesia. That’s why we’re after a change in Indonesian regulations. We think that domestic flights are already well-covered as Citilink, Lion Air and Sriwijaya Air are doing a good job. We also contribute a little. However, our strength is in international flights and this is the reason why our international flight to Bandung West Java, Indonesia’s fourth most-populous city is always full. No one flew to Bandung before us. So we want to do more Bandung [flights]. We have 55 million international passengers that we can bring to Indonesia. So, what do we need? Well, we need the regulations on ownership to change. We would like taxes for leasing and fuel to be more market-driven. We would like the Indonesian government to look at smaller airports. I said to the Indonesian government, for small airports that have no international flights, why don’t they bring down the charges for airlines, so at least we can try some direct flights from Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore or even China?

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  • Indonesia promotes specialty coffee in the Netherlands

    Indonesia promotes specialty coffee in the Netherlands

    Indonesia has again promoted its specialty coffee in the Netherlands to draw the attention of several people in The Hague.

    The promotional activity, being conducted through the Indonesia Coffee Festival, complied with the Indonesian governments policy to conduct economic diplomacy in the Netherlands.

    The promotion at the New Babylon Meeting Center was organized by the Indonesian Embassy in The Hague along with the Indonesian Students Association (PPI) in the Netherlands and PPI in The Hague, Minister Counsellor of Information, Social, and Cultural Affairs for the Indonesian Embassy in The Hague Azis Nurwahyudi informed Antara here on Monday.

    In his remarks, Indonesian Ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands Wesaka Puja stated that coffee was one of Indonesias leading export commodities as the country was the fourth-largest coffee producer in the world.

    The Indonesian government has continued to expand its overseas markets, especially in Europe, he remarked.

    Chairman of the Committee on The Hagues PPI Priska Astasari stated that the joint activity was also aimed at promoting economic development in Indonesia.

    Some seven companies from Indonesia were invited to participate in the festival: Adena Coffee, Javanusa, De Ngokow Coffee, Ephraim Coffee, Asasta Power, Mr O, and Blanco Coffee and Book.

    During the festival, some talk shows were organized to hold discussions on the various traits of Indonesian coffee.

    For instance, Charis Christian Julianto from the Ephraim Coffee Company disseminated information on coffee farming in Indonesia, including the history of the emergence of coffee beans in Indonesia and the concept of sustainable coffee production adopted by the Indonesian coffee farmers and entrepreneurs.

    Thereafter, Sara Datuk from the Javanusa Company provided information on the different flavors of coffee from various regions in Indonesia, such as the provinces of Aceh, West Java, and Papua.

    Aki Baihaki noted that fair trade in coffee should be profitable for entrepreneurs and the coffee farmers.

    Barista Yakup Aydin also demonstrated the ways of making espresso and latte art.

    Bimo Pramana from the Blanco Coffee and Book Company in Yogyakarta Province stated that by attending the Indonesia Coffee Festival in The Hague, he had gained a new experience and had increase his knowledge regarding the demand in the European market, especially in the Netherlands.

    The event also offered an opportunity to build a network among coffee entrepreneurs in both countries.

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  • Taiwan Mobile eyes investments in India, Indonesia

    Taiwan Mobile eyes investments in India, Indonesia

    Taiwan Mobile is considering investing in the telecoms markets of India and Indonesia due to their strong growth potential.

    At the operator’s annual general meeting, chairman Richard Tsai said the company is evaluating opportunities to enter the markets.

    While Tsai acknowledged that India’s overcrowded market has resulted in heavy price competition, he said that the large population is creating opportunities in segments including data transmission.

    The operator is evaluating the possibility of teaming up with operators in India to carve out a slice of the nascent 4G market in the nation.

    According to Tsai, the company has also been eyeing an entry into the e-commerce sector in Southeast Asia, with subsidiary momo.com preparing to explore the markets of the Philippines and Vietnam.

    Domestically Taiwan Mobile is focused on developing its third party payment business while kicking off an OTT content business. Taiwan Mobile has meanwhile set a target of lifting its 4G subscriber base to 5 million in 2017 from 3 million at the end of 2015.

  • Indonesia plans to implement certification to prevent fish laundering

    Indonesia plans to implement certification to prevent fish laundering

    Indonesia will implement a certification system to prevent fish laundering, Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources Susi Pudjiastuti said here on Tuesday.

    “I will make sure that all imports of fish will require a catch certificate in order to prevent so-called fish laundering,” she stated.

    She admitted that Indonesia imported fish to meet the demand from the industrial sector such as certain restaurants which need salmon fish, a species not found in the country.

    The minister explained that she has allowed these imports because she believed it will not hurt the price of local fish.

    “Our fish imports have dropped,” she continued, adding, “Indonesia imported many kinds of fish, not only salmon, which are not found in the country.”

    Susi pointed out that skipjack tuna is not found all year round in Indonesia. In addition to the decreasing trend of fish imports, the fish culture in Indonesia has also helped reduce dependency on fish feed, she noted.

    She praised her offices program of distributing various types of fish feed machines to various regions as it seemed to have yielded results.

    The office has increased the number of auditors from 700 to 1,000 this year to certify good fish culture practice.

    “We want more counselors and auditors as the number of people involved in fish culture has also increased. Similarly, production, exports and fish consumption have also increased,” the director general of fish culture, Slamet Soebjakto, informed in Mataram on May 26.

  • Astra doubts car sales would increase

    Astra doubts car sales would increase

    The country’s largest car manufacturer, PT Astra Internasional, expresses doubt that sales of automotive products would increase in 2016.

    Car and motorcycle sales would not increase under the economic slowdown, Astra’s investor relation officer, Ira Ardianti, said here on Monday night.

    Sales of both two and four wheeled motor vehicles have been flat in the past five months, she cited. The people’s purchasing power is still weak and have no fund to spare for luxury, she said.

    Sales of motorcycles dropped in the regions mainly because of the commodity price fall such as palm oil and rubber prices, Ardianti said.

    In the first quarter of 2016, Astra’s car sales dropped to 127,000 units from 137,000 units in the same period last year. In April and May, Astra’s sales of cars totaled 31,000 units and 33,000 units respectively.

    Its sales of motorcycles also shrank to 1.1 million units in the first quarter of 2016. In April and May sales were recorded at 348,000 units and 338,000 units respectively.

    “We could not make prediction , but hopefully the economy would improve and the people’s purchasing power would be stronger,” she said.

    The Indonesian Automotive Industry Association (Gaikindo), however, said car sales in Indonesia (from factories to dealers) surged 11 percent to 87,919 units in May 2016, the second straight month of rising car sales year-on-year.

    Gaikindo chairman Jongkie Sugiarto attributed the increase mainly to delivery of new models ahead of Idul Fitri holiday.

    In April car sales in Indonesia grew 4.6 percent to 84,703 units from 81,000 units in the same month last year.

    This is encouraging after being on the decline for 16 straight months previously.

    Stakeholders in the automotive industry hope that this is the start of a rebound, in line with accelerating economic growth.

    In the first quarter of 2016 Indonesias economic growth accelerated to a growth pace of 4.92 percent yoy), higher than the 4.73 percent GDP growth pace in the same quarter last year.

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  • 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.

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  • 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.

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  • 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.

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  • 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.

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  • 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.

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  • 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.

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  • 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.

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  • 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.

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