Retail News CRM

Tag: Indonesia

  • Indonesia’s Go-Jek Poised for Imminent Southeast Asia Expansion

    Indonesia’s Go-Jek Poised for Imminent Southeast Asia Expansion

    Indonesian ride-hailing and online payment company Go-Jek is set to announce its first expansion to another country in Southeast Asia in the “next few weeks,”.

    Go-Jek also plans to expand to three other Southeast Asian countries by the middle of this year, the email quoting Go-Jek chief executive Nadiem Makarim said.

    News of the plans come after Uber Technologies agreed this week to sell its Southeast Asian business to regional rival Grab.

    The industry’s first big consolidation in Southeast Asia, home to about 640 million people, could put pressure on Go-Jek, which is backed by Alphabet’s Google and China’s Tencent Holdings.

    Nadiem described that Uber deal as a “great opportunity” because “fewer players means a smoother path to continued and deepened market leadership” for Go-Jek in Indonesia.

    Ride-hailing companies throughout Asia have relied heavily on discounts and promotions, driving down profit margins and increasing pressure for sector consolidation.

    Go-Jek, a play on the local word for motorbike taxis, has grown rapidly since the startup launched eight years ago in Indonesia, a county with a population of more than 250 million people.

    Customers can get drivers to deliver everything from meals and to cleaners and hairdressers, via a smartphone app – helping it become a crucial workaround in cities such as Jakarta with some of the worst traffic in the world.

    Nadiem did not name the countries targeted for expansion in the email, but Go-Jek’s chief technology officer has previously said it aimed to set up operations in the Philippines this year.

    “Preparations are well under way and within the next few weeks our first new country launch will be announced,” the email quoted Nadiem as saying.

    “This will be followed by three other countries in Southeast Asia by the middle of the year.”

    Citing the financial and strategic backing of its local and global partners, he added: “We are confident that we have more than enough support to take one of the most amazing growth stories in the world from being an Indonesian phenomenon to a global one.”

    Google, Singapore investor Temasek and China’s Meituan-Dianping are among investors in Go-Jek as part of a major fund-raising round.

    Makarim said that a “significant portion” of capital raised has been set aside for international expansion.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Grab agrees to increase drivers’ income

    Grab agrees to increase drivers’ income

    Grab Indonesia, a ride-hailing application provider, plans to take measures to increase the income of its drivers in response to their protest earlier this week.

    “We will study this. We all agree to make a joint effort to increase the income [of the drivers],” said Grab Indonesia managing director Ridzki Kramadibrata in Jakarta on Wednesday.

    Ridzki and a representative of Go-Jek, another ride-hailing application provider, were at the palace on the invitation of Presidential Chief of Staff (KSP) Moeldoko to discuss the issue, following the meeting between President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and representatives of the protesting drivers on Tuesday.

    Jokowi received the drivers’ representatives after thousands of drivers hit the street on Tuesday morning to demand the tariff increase, which was Rp 1,600 (12 US cents) per kilometer.

    During the meeting, Jokowi promised mediation between the drivers and the ride-hailing application providers.

    Riszki said he would soon announce the results of the study and get ready to talk to government officials.

    “The government has shown goodwill by asking us to negotiate [with the drivers]. We have already understood the problem. It is about income. But the drivers have to understand that tariffs are not the only factor in increasing their incomes,” he said.

    Meanwhile, Moeldoko said the drivers demanded the tariff increase to Rp 4,000 per km from Rp 1,600.

    He said the Transportation Ministry had also made calculations about the new tariffs that would be proposed in the mediation meeting.

    Lees ook:

  • Jakarta hosts Southeast Asia pharmaceutical ingredients exhibition

    Lawmakers, professional associations and pharmaceutical industry players came together in Jakarta at the Convention on Pharmaceutical Ingredients Southeast Asia (CPhI SEA) 2018 from March 27 to 29.

    They are expected to get together; interact and exchange ideas on improving the pharmaceutical industry, said exhibition organizing agency PT UBM Pameran Niaga Indonesia president director Christopher Eve in Jakarta on Tuesday.

    He said the organizers expect 5,000 visitors to attend the event.

    “Through this event, pharmaceutical industry players can showcase their technological innovations, trade ideas and collaborate with each other,” Eve said.

    Meanwhile, Health Ministry pharmaceutical and health equipment director general Maura Linda Sitanggang expressed hope that the event would boost investment in the pharmaceutical industry.

    “Since this event allows people to interact with each other, I think it is possible for people to trade ideas and information regarding resources and technology,” she said at the opening ceremony of the event.

    The three-day event was held at the Jakarta International Expo Kemayoran and attended by 260 participants from Romania, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Austria and Ireland.

    The event features a conference, start-up forum, innovation gallery, technology updates and business matching program.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Uber Users Need to Transfer to Grab Platform Soon

    Uber Users Need to Transfer to Grab Platform Soon

    Uber ride sharing drivers and customers in Jakarta and other 50 Southeast Asian cities have until April 8 to transfer their accounts to Grab, following an announcement on Monday (26/03) that Uber will sell its business in the region to the Singapore-based Grab.

    Under the deal, Uber will hand over its operations and assets in Southeast Asia in exchange for a 27.5 percent stake in Grab — which according to latest valuation round put its value at $6 billion. Grab will also let Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi join its board of directors.

    “Uber will be combining our operations with Grab to lead you in the next chapter of ridesharing in Indonesia and across Southeast Asia,” the company said in a statement to customers on Monday.

    “What this means for you: we will be transitioning our services over to the Grab platform by April 8, 2018, so all requests after that date should be made from the Grab app. However, you can still use the Uber app in more than 80 countries around the world,” the company said.

    Grab’s acquisition of Uber will challenge its main competitors, including Indonesia’s homegrown Go-Jek. Go-Jek is backed by Chinese technology giants Tencent Holdings.

    Grab said it will further develop an online-to-offline platform by creating GrabCycle, an offline marketplace for shared bicycle rent services, and GrabShuttle Plus, an in-demand platform to provide bus services for certain routes.

    As part of the acquisition plan, the GrabFoods service will further expand in Singapore and Malaysia. The food service integration is slated to finalize in the first half this year.

    Aside from food and online-to-offline services, Grab will also expand its payment services as it plans to offer micro-financing, insurance service deals and other financial services.

    “Together with Uber, we are now in an even better position to fulfill our promise to outserve our customers. Their trust in us as a transport brand allows us to look towards the next step as a company: improving people’s lives through food, payments and financial services,” said Anthony Tan, Grab Group chief executive and co-founder.

    The acquisition of Uber, which has forfeited its operations in eight countries in the region, is similar to the deal China’s Didi Chuxing made in 2016 that bought out Uber’s business and operations in the country for $35 billion, and its third retreat after selling its operations in Russia to local company Yandex in 2017.

    “It [the deal] will help us double down on our plans for growth as we invest heavily in our products and technology to create the best customer experience on the planet,” Khosrowshahi said.

    Lees ook:

  • Indonesia’s Citilink to start up to 3 new international routes in 2018

    Indonesia’s Citilink to start up to 3 new international routes in 2018

    Low-cost airline Citilink Indonesia has announced plans to serve two or three more international routes this year in addition to the Jakarta-Penang route that started operation on Sunday and the Jakarta-Dili route that has been in operation since May, last year.

    The company said it took into consideration several aspects before opening new routes, including the destination city’s gross domestic product (GDP), to assess the business prospects.

    “These [new routes] will benefit Citilink, because we can optimize the utilization of our fleet,” Citilink finance director Fransetya Hutabarat said on the Citilink flight to Penang on Sunday.

    Meanwhile, Andy Adrian Febryanto, Citilink Indonesia’s chief commercial officer, said the new routes would be within a range of four to five flying hours, a distance coverable by Airbus A320 planes.

    “We plan to expand our [route network] to a number of cities, but I cannot disclose the routes yet,” he said.

    Citilink’s inaugural flight to Penang recorded a seat occupancy rate of 97 percent, with 176 of the 180 available seats filled.

    Penang is considered an attractive destination for airlines, as it is a modern international island city that offers tourists attractions such as heritage buildings in George Town, the Gurney Drive tourist belt, Penang Hill and others.

    Planes on the route take off from Jakarta at 9:55 a.m. and from Penang at 2:50 p.m. local time. Fransetya said the firm might increase the flight frequency in the future if demand was high.

    AirAsia has served the same route for a longer time.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Indonesia sees maiden shipment of chicken nuggets to Japan

    Indonesia sees maiden shipment of chicken nuggets to Japan

    The Trade Ministry has seen the first export of 6 tons of chicken nuggets to Japan on last Wednesday. The nuggets were produced by PT Belfoods Indonesia, the subsidiary of publicly listed PT Sierad Produce.

    “I congratulate Belfoods for being the first company to export chicken nuggets to Japan and for its contribution to Indonesian national exports,” said Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita in a statement.

    Enggartiasto said the shipment was a milestone for Indonesia given that the Japanese market was long known as hard to penetrate for Indonesian producers owing to its strict quality standards.

    “We expect that this is a good start to develop the Indonesian processed chicken industry for the international market. If Indonesian chicken nuggets can enter Japan, then it will be easier for it to access other countries,” he said.

    The trade minister also said he expected Indonesian chicken exporters to train local chicken farmers because exports should also increase the livelihoods of local stock farmers while increasing the country’s foreign currency savings.

    The consumption of poultry-based processed foods in Japan reached US$2 billion a year, making Japan a potential choice for exports. China and Thailand are known as the major exporters for Japan.

    Meanwhile, PT Sierad Produce CEO Tommy Wattimena said Belfoods products’ taste had become accepted by the Japanese because the subsidiary had done some market research in the country.

    “Belfoods will still focus on the domestic market while keeping the quality of our products up to export standards to help export development,” he said.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Indonesia Wins Appeal Against EU Over Anti-Dumping Duty on Biodiesel

    Indonesia has won an appeal against the European Union in a dispute over the bloc’s anti-dumping duty on biodiesel, the Ministry of Trade said in a statement on Wednesday (21/03).

    The European Court of Justice, the EU’s highest court, ruled that the bloc must do away with anti-dumping duties of between 8.8 percent to 23.3 percent on imports of Indonesian biodiesel products.

    Indonesia is one of the world’s largest exporters of palm oil-based biodiesel.

    “With the elimination of these duties, businesses can once again export biodiesel to the EU,” said Oke Nurwan, director general of foreign trade at the ministry.

    He added that the elimination of duties was valid from March 16, 2018.

    The Indonesia Biofuel Producers Association welcomed the ruling.

    “We’re asking producers to prepare exports soon,” said Paulus Tjakrawan, vice chairman of the association.

    He declined to give an estimate on expected export volumes.

    The EU court ruling reinforces a decision made by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) earlier this year, which said the EU needed to bring its measures into conformity with WTO agreements.

    Indonesia also plans to challenge anti-subsidy duties in the United States in a US court and at the WTO.

    Indonesia has also been pushing domestic biodiesel consumption as part of an ambitious plan to develop its biofuels industry. It plans to expand biodiesel subsidies to cover palm-oil blended fuels for use by its huge mining sector in addition to the power sector.

    Lees ook:

  • Indonesia’s authority to start ticketing violators of ride-hailing app rules

    Indonesia’s authority to start ticketing violators of ride-hailing app rules

    The Transportation Ministry in April will start ticketing ride-hailing drivers who violate the rules as stated in Transportation Ministerial Regulation No. 108/2018 on non-route public transportation.

    The ministry will pay particular attention to drivers who do not have a driver’s license for public transportation (SIM A general) and the document that demonstrates the vehicle has passed a roadworthy test, said Transportation Ministry land road transportation director general Budi Setiyadi in Jakarta on Wednesday.

    He said there was no reason for drivers to violate the rules as the government had helped them and the vehicle owners by providing cheap driver’s licenses and free roadworthy tests.

    “Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi instructed me to complete the issuing [of driver’s licenses and vehicle roadworthiness documents] in March so that in April we can start ticketing [violators],” said Budi.

    The ministry has started deploying officers on roads to advise ride-hailing drivers who do not have the two documents. The officers currently only issue warning tickets to the drivers.

    Budi said the ministry had recorded a high demand for the two documents as the deadline was approaching. He said in Jakarta alone, 18,000 roadworthy documents for ride-hailing vehicles had been issued and about 1,000 drivers had also obtained their new driver’s licenses.

    Lees ook:

  • Infested Chinese Garlic Imports Kick Up a Stink in Indonesia

    Infested Chinese Garlic Imports Kick Up a Stink in Indonesia

    Indonesia has impounded more than 200 tons of garlic imported from China, warning that a microscopic worm infestation found in the shipment could put at risk plans by the Southeast Asian country to boost its own garlic crop.

    Since coming to power in 2014, Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has pursued self-sufficiency policies to protect farmers, but efforts to rely on domestic supplies of everything from beef to rice have at times caused shortages and price spikes.

    Chinese food imports have previously proved sensitive in Indonesia. In 2016, Beijing’s embassy in Jakarta expressed alarm at media reports accusing China of using a “biological weapon” against Indonesia, after four Chinese nationals were arrested for planting imported chilli seeds contaminated with a bacteria.

    The 232 metric tons of garlic were imported from China in mid-February and after arriving at Jakarta’s port were shipped to the island of Sumatra, the Ministry of Agriculture said.

    This could be “very damaging to our garlic farming when we are trying to achieve self-sufficiency,” the ministry said in a statement on March 12.

    Despite being certified as free of pests in China, samples of the shipment contained ditylenchus dipsaci, a microscopic worm that infects onions and garlic, the ministry said.

    The nematology department at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln describes the worm as “one of the most devastating plant parasitic nematodes.”

    When quarantine officials reported the discovery to the importer, the garlic had already been sent to North Sumatra, the agriculture ministry said.

    The controversy even stirred a heated debate in parliament this week when a member of Jokowi’s ruling party called for a police investigation.

    Soetrisno, the chief executive officer of Tunas Sumber Rejeki, the company that imported the garlic, could not immediately be reached for comment.

    The Chinese embassy in Jakarta declined to comment.

    The garlic is currently being stored at a warehouse in Belawan Port, Sumatra, that has been sealed by police and the quarantine agency.

    Banun Harpini, the head of quarantine at the agriculture ministry, said on Wednesday the importer would be blacklisted. It was not immediately clear what other penalties would be levied.

    Indonesia plans to be self sufficient in garlic in 2019 by increasing the growing area for the crop by more than 70,000 hectares, but this may be an ambitious target since last year the country imported 434,000 tons of garlic, more than ten times the amount grown domestically.

    This year, the agriculture ministry expects 392,000 tons will be imported, mostly from China and India.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Tumi acquisition lead Samsonite to good numbers

    Tumi acquisition lead Samsonite to good numbers

    Samsonite Asia sales lept 16 per cent last year, a rate slower than the Hong Kong-listed company’s global growth, and predominantly driven by the acquisition of Tumi.

    The world’s largest travel luggage company achieved global sales of US$3.49 billion, up 23.3 per cent, with Asia accounting for $1.19 billion of that. Samsonite Asia sales excluding the Tumi effect grew by a much more modest 4.8 per cent, while sales in Japan grew by 32 per cent, or 12 per cent excluding the Tumi business, driven by the Gregory, American Tourister and Samsonite brands.

    In the first half of last year, Samsonite assumed direct control of the wholesale and retail distribution of Tumi products in South Korea, Hong Kong, Macau, China, Indonesia and Thailand.  Net sales in China increased by 11.9 per cent year-on-year, (7.2 per cent excluding Tumi), due to increased sales of the Samsonite and American Tourister brands. Net sales in South Korea increased by 15.7 per cent, but fell 2.5 per cent excluding Tumi, due to fewer shoppers visiting from China and weak consumer sentiment.

    Net sales in Hong Kong increased by 34 per cent year-on-year, driven by the addition of Tumi, but by just 1.5 per cent excluding Tumi.

    Net sales in India increased by 4.6 per cent, despite a temporary disruption during the year due to the Indian government’s introduction of a goods and services tax that took effect in the third quarter of last year.

    Strong direct-to-consumer growth

    Samsonite showed solid progress on its move towards increasing its direct-to-consumer sales, aided by the acquisition of online luggage retailer eBags last May.

    Net sales rose 57.4 per cent overall, by 32.1 per cent excluding Tumi and by 12.2 per cent after 1 further excluding eBags.

    Dollar reported profit attributable to the equity holders increased by US$24.1 million, or 12.1 per cent.

    “We saw very satisfying growth last year, further driven by a strong performance from the Tumi and eBags businesses following their integration into the group,” said chairman Tim Parker.

    “In particular, we made solid strides in improving Tumi’s performance and as a result it was accretive to earnings in its first full year post acquisition. Now that we have strategically expanded into the highly attractive premium segment, and established a firm foothold in e-commerce, we look forward to more aggressively expanding our presence in the direct-to-consumer channel worldwide, especially direct-to-consumer e-commerce, where we see strong growth opportunities.”

    CEO Ramesh Tainwala said that while the company continued to benefit from the buoyant growth in travel and tourism worldwide, its strong performance was also driven by continued investment in brands, especially in the form of increased marketing support, as well as the expansion of direct-to-consumer e-commerce and brick-and-mortar retail operations.

    “Looking ahead, we will continue to implement our multi-brand, multi-category and multi-channel strategy, while leveraging our decentralised management structure and investment in marketing, in order to capitalise on the many exciting opportunities ahead of the group,” he said.

  • Epiphany Cafe plans to invade Asia

    Epiphany Cafe plans to invade Asia

    A rural New Zealand donut maker is set to expand into Asia, initially targeting the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

    Epiphany Cafe started just two years ago as a single family-owned store in the Waikato city of Hamilton, in the heart of New Zealand’s largest dairy-farming region. Since then it has expanded to five stores in Auckland and Hamilton under a franchise model it is now looking at expanding into other New Zealand towns and cities before heading offshore.

    “We believe there is a need we can fulfil in Asia,” GM for sales and marketing, Suzanne Gaier, said in an interview published on Stuff.co.nz.

    Gaier hopes to have the first Asian stores operating within 12 to 24 months.

    “Our idea is also to bring our core staff members from New Zealand into Asia and inject Kiwiana that way too. The whole idea is to take our Kiwi brand over there and be the Fonterra of sweet treats… as well as provide Kiwi expats with a little slice of home.”

    Epiphany Cafe developed its donut recipe over six months and now boasts 29 flavours regularly rotated.

  • Indonesia lures US to invest more

    Indonesia lures US to invest more

    The administration is revising regulations on tax incentives for investment and seeks to pass them by the end of this month.

    Speaking to 41 US-based companies grouped under the US-ASEAN Business Council on Tuesday morning, the President underlined the significance of investment into Indonesia from the world’s top economy.

    “American investment into Indonesia has been sizeable and plays an important role in the Indonesian economy,” Jokowi said during a meeting with the council at the Merdeka Palace.

    Realized foreign direct investment (FDI) in Indonesia by US firms surged by 71.5 percent to US$1.99 billion last year, driven by 625 projects. That is significantly higher than the 30 percent growth to $1.16 billion seen in 2016, spread across 540 projects.

    The US stood still as the sixth-largest foreign spender in the archipelago over the 2016-2017
    period.

    Jokowi also noted that the US brought high-quality investment into Indonesia through companies with powerful brands, state-of-the-art technology and a broad international network, including gold and copper miner Freeport-McMoRan, technology giants Google and Facebook and entertainment giant Walt Disney.

    Consequently, he expected US companies to jack up their investment although he was also aware of the many challenges of doing business in Indonesia, from policies regarding digital payment and patents to complicated export-import procedures.

    “Give me two months and I’ll bring you some positive [progress] on economic policy reforms,” Jokowi said.

  • Bank of Indonesia Expects Rupiah to Strengthen

    Bank of Indonesia Expects Rupiah to Strengthen

    Bank Indonesia expects the rupiah to continue to strengthen and currency market volatility to subside as market price in expected US Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes, a senior official said on Wednesday (14/03).

    “The fundamental level of an exchange rate is not a fix level, but I can say that the current level is not [the rupiah’s] fundamental and it should be stronger than now,” said Doddy Zulverdi, who heads the monetary management department at Bank Indonesia (BI) and is also one of the candidates to become a member of BI’s board of governors.

    Doddy reiterated BI’s commitment to intervene in the market to guard the rupiah against volatility. He said the recent weakness has had limited impact on exports, but has likely had a bigger effect on holding back imports.

    The rupiah touched a two year low of 13,800 a dollar earlier this month. It was trading at 13,731 per dollar on 0400 GMT Wednesday.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Indonesia Eyes Fintech Regulation to Avoid ‘Loan Shark-Like’ Practices

    Indonesia Eyes Fintech Regulation to Avoid ‘Loan Shark-Like’ Practices

    Indonesia’s financial regulator said it was considering setting a cap on interest rates and the size of loans offered by fintech firms, in a move aimed at minimizing the risk of defaults.

    The emergence of these peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms, offering loans ranging from as little as a few hundred dollars to several thousands, has so far been welcomed by Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s biggest economy where tens of millions of people have little or no access to bank credit.

    More than 300,000 people have borrowed from these firms, with total loan distribution reaching 3 trillion rupiah ($218 million) as of January, versus 247 billion in December 2016, according to data from the Financial Services Authority (OJK).

    Meanwhile, annual growth in bank lending has slowed to under 10 percent, from over 20 percent in the commodity boom years. ‎

    “We support P2P lending so the people can have an easier access [to financing]. But when the access has been easier, the P2P companies feel the need to offer a high rate,” Eko Ariantoro, the director of the financial inclusion development directorate at the OJK, told reporters on Tuesday (13/03).

    “We don’t want these developing fintechs to become loan shark-like businesses‎,” he said.

    Ariantoro said the proposed maximum lending rate was still under discussion.

    There are 36 registered fintech firms operating in Indonesia and the OJK said 42 others were in the process to be approved.

    The OJK plans to also issue a new regulation for crowdfunding platforms this year as part of efforts to protect customers’ funds, Eko said.

    “We are trying to regulate the mechanism to acquire and collect funds. There should be a form of responsibility to the fund owner,” he said.

    Lees ook:

  • Lazada comes with idea to simplify selling system

    Lazada comes with idea to simplify selling system

    To help Southeast Asian entrepreneurs ride the e-commerce boom, Lazada has rolled out measures to make doing business online easier, faster and more financially rewarding.

    Already in effect, the moves benefit new sellers and about 135,000 merchants already on Lazada’s platform.

    One of the highlights is Seller Rewards, a powerful framework that recognises sellers for outstanding performance. The higher the ratings, the more rewards or benefits the seller enjoys such as:

    ● Higher visibility of products when users search and browse the site
    ● Access to shipping services and price subsidies extended by Lazada
    ● Access to promotional campaigns spearheaded by Lazada
    ● Access to preferred sellers programs; or premium seller program in Malaysia and Seller Prioritas program in Indonesia.

    Customers can rate sellers based on how they apply best practices to deliver a positive customer experience, such as quality checks on products sold, using recommended packing materials to avoid damage, and preventing purchase cancellations through third-party negligence.

    As another plus, sellers will no longer be financially penalised for policy breaches. However,  errant sellers may be delisted by Lazada.

    Instead of three to four days for anyone to start their business on Lazada, the process can now be completed in mere minutes. The simplified sign-up form requires registrants to provide just their email address, telephone number and address. They can start logging up sales 15 minutes after creating an account.

    Lazada group chief operations officer Aimone Ripa di Meana says the seller-friendly initiatives are part of the company’s efforts to empower entrepreneurs to grow their business online. “By incentivising sellers and giving them more leeway to sell efficiently and effectively, we want to ensure Lazada’s marketplace is the best place for sellers to reach out to more consumers.”

    Launched in 2012, Lazada is present in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. It helps more than 135,000 local and international sellers as well as 3000 brands serving 560 million consumers. Lazada Group is majority owned by Alibaba Group Holding.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook: