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Tag: Indonesia

  • SCR Corp set to move into Indonesia

    SCR Corp set to move into Indonesia

    Sarawak (Malaysia) restaurant chain SCR Corp is set to move into Indonesia, first targeting Pontianak in Borneo as well as Jakarta.

    GM (franchising and strategic planning) Johnny Leo Lee Boon says the company is ready to launch its franchise business once potential partners have secured prime locations in the two cities. He says business groups from Pontianak and Jakarta have visited Sarawak several times to study the chain’s franchise business model.

    “They have come up with proposed secondary locations to set up SCR restaurants that we find may not be ideal,” he says. “We advise them to look for strategic prime locations where there are good daily crowds… The ball now is in their court.”

    Leo says Jakarta has more than 70 malls that are ideal for F&B, while Pontianak with its population of about 1.6 million people could also support the franchise.

    SCR, which celebrates its 30th anniversary next year, owns 36 restaurants and has 19 franchised outlets in Sarawak, Sabah, Labuan and Brunei. Fourteen of the owned outlets and five franchises are in Kuching. The menu features 110 local and western dishes and beverages, with Singapore chicken rice the signature dish.

    Leo says SCR is also in preliminary talks with a company in the Philippines about franchising, and its executives are expected to visit soon.

    Meanwhile, SCR will soon open its first franchise outlet in Lawas, northern Sarawak, and there are expansion plans to to Kapit once the road link is ready.

    “The food business market in Sarawak is saturated,” says Leo. “We are consolidating and limiting the number of outlets in certain towns. Our focus is to expand our franchise business to more countries in Asean.”

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  • Telkom launches 1Gbps broadband for enterprises

    Telkom launches 1Gbps broadband for enterprises

    Indonesia’s PT Telkom has launched a new line of high-speed broadband services for enterprise customers offering speeds of up to 1Gbps.

    The operator’s new Smart Office Pro services are designed to meet business customers’ requirements for high-speed broadband in the digital age.

    The company is offering a 1Gbps package bundled with up to 1,000 minutes of free voice calls, IPTV and bundled services including storage, hosting and managed services.

    At a press conference announcing the new offers, Telkom director enterprise and business services Muhammad Awaluddin said the service aims to help customers benefit from increased efficiency, flexibility, stability, sustainability ad continuity.

    He added that the launch is in line with the operator’s commitment to building a digital society in Indonesia, which itself also aligns with the government’s vision of transforming the nation into a digital economy.

  • Citilink to Open New Hong Kong-Manado Route

    Citilink to Open New Hong Kong-Manado Route

    Citilink, the low-cost arm of national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, is set to open a new route from Hong Kong to Manado in North Sulawesi in a bid to lure Chinese tourists to the archipelago.

    Citilink Indonesia commercial president director Hans Nugroho said Manado was one of Indonesia’s most popular destinations among Chinese tourists besides Bali and Raja Ampat in West Papua.

    “Manado has become famous as a diving destination. Hopefully the new route will afford foreign tourists easier access to Indonesia,” said Hans.

    Using an Airbus A320 for its maiden flight on the new route, Citilink is slated to carry 180 tourists from Hong Kong to Manado on Tuesday. Hans estimated that the carrier would be able to accommodate up to 3,000 passengers until the end of August.

    According to Tourism Ministry data, the number of foreign visitors to Indonesia reached 915,200 in May, 12.6 percent of whom came from China.

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  • MoneyGram Inks Deal with Arsema, Expands to Indonesia

    MoneyGram Inks Deal with Arsema, Expands to Indonesia

    MoneyGram recently announced that its Indonesian subsidiary PT MoneyGram Payments System has inked a long-term deal with Indonesian remittance company Arsema. Per the agreement, Arsema would channel MoneyGram’s money transfer services at all post offices of Indonesia. The services would start from Central Java and Bali region.

    MoneyGram strives to provide secure money transfer services to its customers and the deal with Arsema will further help the company in its efforts. This collaboration will also expand MoneyGram’s reach across Indonesia. Also, the aforesaid deal will facilitate operation to serve customers better with faster and more convenient offerings.

    The overall process has become much easier and can be completed in a few simple steps. Customers can now simply visit any MoneyGram agent location and start transferring and receiving funds after filling up and submitting a form and displaying a photo identification proof. The funds can be ready for collection is Depending on agent’s operating hours and regulatory requirements, the transactions can be made within 10 minutes or less.

    Apart from strengthening its presence in high-growth potential markets, MoneyGram has forayed into several unexplored and underdeveloped global markets. The company has also been expanding in markets that offer high growth potential. Per the World Bank report, remittances worth $9.6 billion flowed into Indonesia in Apr 2016. We expect the latest deal to help the company capitalize on the opportunity, which in turn, should add to its top line going forward.

  • Batam to continue cooperation with Yokohama

    Batam to continue cooperation with Yokohama

    The Batam city government said it will continue cooperation, which began last year, with the Japanese city of Yokohama.

    Batam city mayor Muhammad Rudi said the cooperation would be continued as the cooperation has been a success thanks to assistance from the Yokohama city administration.

    “The assistance includes how Batam could reduce carbon gas emission and economize on power. At the airport and government hospital, power consumption could be saves by 30 percent,” Rudi cited.

    He said Batam also hopes that the Yokohama city administration to provide assistance in the form of technology needed for Batam development.

    “In seeking to reduce carbon gas emissions, denuded forests are a problem, therefore wee need more assistance to cope with the problem,” he said.

    “We are grateful with the equipment but we also need technology to use the technology products,” he said.

    Director of the Development Cooperation Department of Yokohama, Toru Hashimoto said Batam is the fourth city in ASEAN with which Yokohama cooperates.

    The three other cities are Da Nang of Vietnam, Bangkok of Thailand, and Cebu of the Philippines.

    Through the cooperation, Batam is expected to grow to be like Yokohama to become a smart city, Toru said.

    “Batam and Yokohama are equally good. In November we will have a seminar on Asia Smart City in Yokohama. We hope the mayor and deputy mayor would attend the seminar,” he said.

  • Over six million tourists visit Indonesia

    Over six million tourists visit Indonesia

    Some six million foreign tourists visited Indonesia since the issuance of presidential regulation number 21 of 2016 concerning visa-free facilities for foreign citizens from 169 countries, an official said.

    While 4,095,264 tourists came from 15 countries which have reciprocal agreements with Indonesia, 2,881,945 tourists came from 144 countries without any such pact with Indonesia, chief of the public relations services of the directorate general of immigration, Heru Santoso, elaborated at a meeting with journalists here on Friday.

    “Admittedly, the figure is still far from the government-set target of 20 million tourists per year, but I believe it will further increase in the future,” he stated.

    He noted that no tourists visited from 10 countries in this list of 169 countries. These ten countries are Antigua and Barbuda, Burundi, Czech Republic, Gabon, Haiti, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Lesotho, Puerto Rico and Saint Lucia.

    “I think the promotion campaign still needs to be intensified,” he added.

    The directorate general of immigration also handled 135 criminal cases (pro justitia) in the first half of 2016, he said, adding at least three foreign nationals were involved in the cases.

    “They committed immigration related crimes. In 2015, five foreign nationals were involved in such cases,” he informed.

    The office also recorded 4,715 cases of immigration administration violation in the January-June 2016 period. The cases involved 117 citizens from countries eligible for visa-free facilities, he disclosed.

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  • Sriwijaya Air to open Manado-China flight route

    Sriwijaya Air to open Manado-China flight route

    Sriwijaya Air is planning to open the Manado-China direct flight route at the end of this year to cater to the increasing number of Chinese tourists traveling to North Sulawesi.

    Sriwijaya Air’s move is aimed at benefiting from the opportunity as it will have a positive impact on the regional economy, its district manager for Manado, Achmad Trenggono, said here on Friday.

    The plan to open more flight routes from and to the North Sulawesi provincial capital of Manado will have a multiplier effect, he added.

    “We are ready to support the North Sulawesi provincial governments efforts by encouraging the tourism sector,” he stressed.

    He believed that if the tourism sector is developed properly, it will have a massive impact on other sectors in the province.

    The general manager of the state airport operator of Sam Ratulangi (Samrat) international airport, Halendra Waworuntu, pointed out that his side is prepared to help the airline company open new flight routes from Manado to destinations across the world.

    “Only chartered planes have served international flights from Manado so far,” he informed.

    He underlined that the plan to open the Manado-China flight route will have a bright prospect because the province has a large potential to develop its economy.

  • Embassy promotes trade expo Indonesia in Senegal

    Embassy promotes trade expo Indonesia in Senegal

    The Indonesian Embassy in Dakar, Senegal, has held a business meeting with Senegalese businessmen to promote various mainstay products and the 31st Trade Expo Indonesia (TEI) to be held in Jakarta on October 12-16, 2016.

    The business meeting was attended by Senegalese businesspersons who have been doing business with their Indonesian counterparts.

    Secretary general of the Senegalese national chamber of commerce and industry Ndeye Seye, Dakar chamber of commerce and industry secretary general Aly Mboub, Poultrade CEO Washimp Obalah and Libellule CEO Gaelle Rispal attended the meeting.

    It was also attended by Senegalese businessmen in Thies who have visited the TEI organized in previous years.

    Indonesian Ambassador to Senegal Mansyur Pangeran said here on Sunday that the relations between Indonesia and Senegal, particularly in the business field, have been running well since long ago.

    However, their bilateral trade was still low, recorded at US$89.37 million only in 2015.

    The Indonesian embassy promoted various mainstay products during the meeting such as oil palm, cocoa, rubber, cinnamon and textile.

    During the meeting, Senegalese businessmen asked information regarding the types of products, prices, container transportation services, payment mechanism and sharia banks in Indonesia.

    Poultrade is interested in developing business with Indonesia for soap noodles. It is planning toimport 300-500 tons of the product from Indonesia per month.

    The ambassador said Indonesias free-visa policy was also hailed by Senegalese businesses and it is likely that more Senegalese businesses will take part in the 31st TEI.

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  • Finance ministry believes 2017 growth will be better

    Finance ministry believes 2017 growth will be better

    The Indonesian economy will grow at a faster pace in 2017 than it did in 2016, the Ministry of Finance believes.

    “I believe the economic growth next year will be higher than that of this year,” chief of the ministrys fiscal policy body, Suahasil Nazara, said at a meeting of the working committee of the House of Representatives (DPR) Budget Body here Wednesday.

    Economic growth in the past five years has tended to slow down as internal upheaval and global pressure had slightly affected the national economic performance, he noted.

    The economic slowdown is expected to reach its peak this year after the government issued a series of fiscal policies, the first since 2015, aimed at boosting the national economy, he said.

    “The fiscal policies are aimed at spurring economic growth. This way we encourage tax receipts and divert expenditures to more productive infrastructure projects from non-productive infrastructure projects and cut fuel subsidies. All of these will lead to higher growth,” he added.

    The country began to see the result of the fiscal policies when economic growth was recorded at 4.8 percent in 2015 and 4.92 percent in the first quarter of 2016, he said.

    “In view of that, the assumed economic growth for 2016 is set at 5.2 percent as compared to 4.8 percent in 2015. Since the first quarter of 2016, the economic growth has reached 4.9 percent. We believe the turning point has been visible but it takes time to increase,” he said.

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  • GrabBike Indonesia Records 300% Growth

    GrabBike Indonesia Records 300% Growth

    Online app-based transportation service GrabBike recorded a growth of 300 percent (year to date) until the first half of 2016.

    “Our growth has been outstanding since last January when Grab did a rebranding as the service provider with the most complete vehicle reservation platform,” Public Relations Manager for Grab Express and Grab Bike Dewi Nuraini said in a statement on Thursday, July 14, 2016.

    Dewi says Grab’s machine learning technology and data analytic capabilities are the significant driving growth factors and allow major efficiency.

    In addition, the company also gradually reduces subsidy for every trip completed by 50 percent. “This indicates the high involvement of the users on Grab’s multi-service platform,” Dewi said.

    One of Grab’s four monthly active users in Indonesia averagely uses more than one Grab services. Besides the app-based motorcycle taxi or GrabBike, Grab has a private car rental, taxi order, and courier service.

    Dewi said Indonesia has become the largest market for Grab, based on the number of trips completed on the entire platform. Therefore, Grab specifically focuses its business in Jakarta.

    “Grab also plans to expand its multi-service platform to more than eight major cities in Indonesia,” said Dewi.

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  • Businesses in Indonesia Capitalize on Pokemon GO Popularity

    Businesses in Indonesia Capitalize on Pokemon GO Popularity

    “We are excited to announce that Pokémon GO is officially available to Trainers in Germany,” Pokemon Go announced on Wednesday (13/7) on its official website.

    With an official Indonesian release imminent, savvy businesses across the country have begun harvesting the game’s unique featured — requiring players to travel around and explore different areas to find and catch Pokémon.

    The National Museum, Jakarta, suggested players, known as Pokémon trainers, hunt the little monsters through the institution’s grounds on Monday.

    “Are you a Pokémon master/trainer? Come hunt Pokémon at the National Museum. It will add to your knowledge in a fun way!,” the Museum National tweeted.

    Motorcycle taxi ride-hailing application Go-Jek also did not want to miss the opportunity to benefit from the game.

    “Wanna seek Pokémon? Go with Gojek,” the ride hailing app said.

    Qraved.com, a Jakarta-based restaurant search and reservation site, joined the parade after launching a list of restaurants close to Pokéstops — places where players can get free items to enhance game experience — around the Sudirman area.

    The app — created by license owner Pokémon Company, multinational consumer electronics and software company Nintendo and Google’s spin-off software developer Niantic — itself, according to Quartz, has seen its players in the US alone spend $1.6 million each day on in-app purchases.

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  • Axiata details major organizational revamp

    Axiata details major organizational revamp

    Malaysia’s Axiata group has announced a major organizational and management shake-up across its group of companies, with the reshuffling or appointment of multiple new top executives.

    The company has embarked on a transformation as part of its strategy of executing its succession plan and strengthening its ability to manage an entity that has grown to more than twice its size since its inception.

    As part of the restructuring, Axiata has established a new unit to oversee its Southeast Asia operations. The current CEO of domestic mobile subsidiary Celcom Axiata, Dato’ Sri Shazalli Ramly, has been selected to take responsibility for all Southeast Asia operations.

    Axiata recently set up a similar unit to manage the operator’s South Asia operations and appointed Dr Hans Wijayasuriya, currently CEO of Sri Lanka’s Dialog Axiata, as regional CEO for South Asia.

    Celcom itself will meanwhile undertake an organizational refresh which will involve the establishment of a new executive committee, including the appointment of six new key senior positions.

    Axiata Group CEO and Celcom chairman Jamaludin Ibrahim will chair this committee.

    Former Robi Axiata CEO Michael Kuehner will meanwhile become the new CEO of Celcom starting in September.

    He will be assisted by two new deputy CEOs – Azwan Khan Osman Khan and Mohamed Adlan Ahmad Tajudin, who have been promoted from within the group.

    Celcom has also appointed a neew CFO – Jennifer Wong – a new chief human capital officer (CHCO) – Azmi Ujang – and a new chief transformation and digital officer – Azmi Ujang.

    Finally, Axiata Group has also named the planned successor for Wijayasuriya. Supun Weerasinghe will take over as Dialog’s CEO at the start of next year.  Weerasinghe is currently CEO of Robi Axiata, and will himself be replaced in this role by Robi COO Mahtab Uddin Ahmed.

  • Taiwan-based Shoemaker Set to Expand Factory in Indonesia

    Taiwan-based Shoemaker Set to Expand Factory in Indonesia

    A Taiwan-based sports shoes manufacturer has expressed its interest to expand its business in Indonesia. The company, who has had a factory in Tangerang since 1996 with 1,100 workers, will expand and is expected to absorb up to 10,000 workers.

    The Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) chairman Franky Sibarani has welcomed the planned expansion. “It’s very positive to help to create employment and optimize investment benefits in a bid to improve people’s welfare,” he said in an official statement as quoted by Bisnis.com, Tuesday, July 12, 2016.

    The BKPM chairman said that the company has picked Majalengka District as one of the possible location for its expansion. The company will expand its factory and also bring along some of its suppliers as part of its supply chain.

    Franky sees it as a positive move amid the government’s effort to make Indonesia as a supply chain hub of products being marketed in Southeast Asia and Asia.

    “We will certainly support labor intensive industries who have set their sight on Indonesia as their production base,” he explained.

    BKPM data shows that investment realization from Taiwan throughout 2015 stood at US$107.95 million, consisted of 275 projects and was ranked 15th in the list of countries investing in Indonesia. Meanwhile, in February 2016 that Taiwan’s outward investment to Indonesia was ranked seventh with a total investment of US$1.5 billion.

    Taiwan’s investment is expected to help achieve the target of 2016 investment realization of Rp594.8 trillion, particularly from foreign investment which is set at Rp386 trillion, or 65% of the targeted total investment realization.

  • Inamall launch opens doors for RI businesses

    Inamall launch opens doors for RI businesses

    The launch of a marketplace dedicated to Indonesian-made products on Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba’s platform will open doors for local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to break into the Chinese market.

    Over the weekend, Trade Minister Thomas Lembong and a number of officials took part in officiating Inamall in China, which is currently accessible through Alibaba’s subsidiary marketplace Tmall Global. Prior to the announcement, Inamall had reportedly been active since last year.

    Inamall will feature exclusively Indonesian-made products, with a particular emphasis on food and beverages. Some Indonesian brands that have entered this marketplace include coffee brands Kopi Luwak and Kapal Api, along with snack products ranging from Kusuka chips to Inaco Nata De Coco.

    Through the partnership with Alibaba, Indonesia now has a direct access to a lucrative online market, which would allow Indonesian producers to sell their products directly to Chinese consumers without the hassle of distributors.

    Indonesian ambassador to China and Mongolia Soegeng Rahardjo elaborated during the event that since Inamall’s soft launch last year it has been visited by up to 400 million Chinese users, thus highlighting the extensive interest in Indonesian products in the People’s Republic.

    The interest, Soegeng noted, arose because members of the Chinese public had less faith in their local products because of safety issues, especially when it comes to food and beverage products. With this perception by Chinese people, Indonesian products will get a better foothold in their market.

    “But the challenge now is how [Indonesian vendors] are able to maintain the quality of their goods, maintain their capacity and ensure the continuity of their production so that outside markets are able to consistently come back to an Indonesian product,” he said during the Inamall launch in Hangzhou last week, as reported by Antara.

    Adding to that, the director of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) in China, Liky Sutikno, noted that Inamall would enable Chinese consumers to develop emotional connections with Indonesian products, enough for them to buy again and again if they adore the product, thus creating precious brand loyalty.

    At the same event, the managing director of the Global Alibaba Group, K. Guru Gowrappan, noted that Alibaba’s intentions in Indonesia are to help build the country’s e-commerce ecosystem so that local SMEs will be able to thrive.

    Alibaba had already begun to extend its reach into the Southeast Asian e-commerce market, with its recent purchase of a controlling stake in Singapore-based platform Lazada earlier this year.

    Commenting on this partnership, the Communications and Information Ministry’s e-business director general, Azhar Hasyim, said that having their products able to transcend borders directly into a market like China would be massively beneficial for Indonesian SMEs.

    In terms of online traffic, Azhar says that with many Indonesians being familiar with Chinese websites and online services, the market exposure could increase as a result on both sides.

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  • Standard Chartered Bank Indonesia appoints new CEO

    Standard Chartered Bank Indonesia appoints new CEO

    UK-based financial giant Standard Chartered has appointed Rino “Donny” Donosepoetro as the new CEO of its Indonesian branch, replacing Shee Tse Koon, who is leaving to pursue another career.

    Donny’s new appointment will be effective as of Sept. 1 as it is subject to regulatory approval. He will report to Ajay Kanwal, Standard Chartered’s regional CEO for ASEAN and South Asia.

    Lea Kusumawijaya, chief financial officer at Standard Chartered Bank Indonesia, has been appointed as acting CEO with immediate effect.

    “Donny brings with him an extensive and diverse international experience in the operations of the bank’s different business sectors,” Kanwal said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon.

    He said Donny, who has a degree in international relations, had knowledge in the areas of audit and governance that would further strengthen the group’s businesses and franchises in Indonesia.

    In his 20-year career in the group, Donny has held a number of diverse roles across businesses in several markets including the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, UK, Singapore and the Falkland Islands.

    As a CEO of Standard Chartered’s Indonesian branch, Donny will be responsible for developing and executing the company’s business strategy. He is also expected to build relationships with local clients as well as regulators and stakeholders, as well as improving bottom-line profitability and capital.

    Kanwal said the bank was fully committed to investing in Indonesia, with a focus on corporate and retail banking, which is “strategically important as it has been in the country for over 150 years.” The bank is also sharpening its focus on enhancing wealth management platforms and investing in commercial banking to cater the growing local medium businesses.

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