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Tag: Indonesia

  • Indonesia moves away from TPP because of Trump triumph

    Indonesia moves away from TPP because of Trump triumph

    The Indonesian government has said it will not be in a hurry to seek membership of the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal following the election of Republican Donald Trump as the country’s president.

    The decision was made considering Trump’s promise on the campaign trail to scrap the TPP, a multinational trade deal between the US and countries in the Asia-Pacific.

    “We are still calculating the costs and benefits of the TPP. This kind of agreement requires thorough negotiation and recently the discussion was getting stressful,” Trade Minister Enggartiasto “Enggar” Lukita said on Friday during a media briefing in Jakarta.

    He explained that problems persisted because each country had its own “ego” in expressing its needs through the mega trade deal.

    President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo expressed his intention to join the 12-member trade bloc last year.

    The TPP, which covers 40 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP), was signed by Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Australia, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore the US and Vietnam.

    The trade deal has not been ratified by the US Congress.

  • Government to take firm action against illegal textile imports

    Government to take firm action against illegal textile imports

    The government plans to take firm action against illegal imports of textile and textile products as these have been hindering business and impacting ind ustrial growth in the manufacturing sector.

    “We will take firm action against importers who have so far misused facilities to avoid official levies by the government,” Finance Minister Sri Mulyani said at a press conference here on Thursday.

    She stated that strengthening the textile industry and the textile products sector was very important as this sector has been asked to increase production to boost national exports.

    Smuggling of used clothes into several regions of the country to meet the increasing demand for cheap clothes has been disrupting growth of textile and textile products sector.

    Certain people were illegally importing products. These people held import licenses to transfer goods to other parties. Businessmen dealing in textile and textile products exploited these licensed importers.

    “We will enforce the law. We have invited police officers to a meeting attended by the chief of the crime investigation department to take a stronger and more consistent action against illegal imports,” she assured.

    Sri Mulyani informed that she would also invite other ministries to review regulations relating to textile and textile products imports. Some of these regulations overlap and run against the needs of the public, trade and industry.

    The TPT (textile and textile products) is a labor intensive industry that can absorb a lot of workers and even create new jobs in the distribution and trade sectors, she added.

    In 2016, Indonesias TPT exports contributed 9.61 percent to the total non-oil and gas exports, which is the second highest after palm oil exports, recorded at 10.3 percent.

    Based on national law enforcement data in 2015, 162 cases of smuggling were aborted by the Directorate of Customs and Excise of the Ministry of Finance. Until October this year, 151 cases of TPT smuggling cases had come to light.

    The Directorate of Customs and Excise would tighten coordination and supervision in cooperation with the Corruption Eradication Commission, the Indonesia Police, the Ministry of Trade as well as the Ministry of Industry to solve the TPT import problem.

    With improved TPT import policies and their implementation, the national manufacturing industry is expected to grow while domestic prices of TPT would be more stable and state revenues more optimal.

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  • Indonesian government to give preference to Japan for semi-high speed train

    Indonesian government to give preference to Japan for semi-high speed train

    The Indonesian government will give preference to Japan to build a Jakarta-Surabaya semi-high speed train project, Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said.

    “Japan will receive preference,” he said after a coordination meeting at the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs here Friday.

    Despite receiving preference, Japan must continue to meet the qualifications set by the Indonesian government, Sumadi, one-time president director of state airport operator Angkasa Pura II, said.

    He made it clear that at the coordination meeting with Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, National Development Planning Minister/National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) Head Bambang Brodjonegoro and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani the government decided to expedite the construction of the semi-high speed train project.

    The government will soon complete a plan for the construction of semi-high speed train line and will discuss it with Japan in the next few months, he said.

    Meanwhile, Bambang said at the meeting the government still had to assess the semi-high speed train project.

    “We are still discussing and whether the project will use an ordinary loan scheme, government project, or private sector participation scheme,” he said.

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  • Trump Victory Effect Only Temporary Visible in Asia

    Trump Victory Effect Only Temporary Visible in Asia

    Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution believes that the impact of the US presidential election on Indonesia’s economy is only temporary. Darmin said that the government would anticipate changes in the market after Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump won the election.

    “We shouldn’t be worried about the election. There will be an impact on the economy, but it’s only for a short term,” Darmin said at his office on Wednesday.

    The election results announced today showed that Donald Trump gained 288 votes, exceeding the minimum winning threshold of 270 votes. His rival from the Democratic Party Hillary Clinton obtain 215 votes.

    Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto echoed Darmin’s comment saying that the US presidential election would not have direct impact on the national industry. Instead, Airlangga suggested that the US presidential election would have a significant impact on the capital market.

    However, Airlangga warned that the election results could affect the Fed rate revision in December. In addition, Airlangga said that he would revisit the plan to join the Trans Pacific Partnership.

    During his campaign, Trump revealed his plan to cancel all trading agreements that could cause losses to the US. Trump also criticized the TPP as a danger for the US. Trump further called for cancellation of the North America Free Trade, since it would have negative impacts on job opportunities in the country.

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  • GO-JEK acquires Pune-based mobile app developer Leftshif

    GO-JEK acquires Pune-based mobile app developer Leftshif

    Indonesia-based leading startup GO-JEK on Tuesday announced that it has acquired Pune-based mobile application developer Leftshift for upscaling its product development, design and engineering platforms.

    This is the fourth Indian start-up acquisition by the Indonesian startup.

    “Our partnership with Leftshift over the last one year has been an amazing experience, they are arguably among the best mobile app developers in the country. We look forward to their team becoming a part of the GO-JEK family,” said Sidu Ponnappa, Managing Director, GO-JEK Engineering India, in a statement.

    Leftshift was started in 2007 with the intent of creating “loveable apps” that people would find easy and convenient to use.

    “The opportunities and challenges at GO-JEK are beyond thrilling. Our resources and technology would certainly complement and accelerate product development at GO-JEK,” added Sudhanshu Raheja, founder and CEO, Leftshift.

    According to GO-JEK, it intends to continue shoring up its India operations as it eyes more talent for key processes like data science, mobile, security and DevOps.

    The financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.

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  • Government Push Google to Pay Tax

    Government Push Google to Pay Tax

    Director General of Tax Ken Dwijugiasteadi confirmed that Google Asia Pasific Pte Ltd will settle their tax debts by the end of 2016. The government has decided to negotiate with the company instead of filing a report to the police. “Google must pay their tax debts this year, the company and the government will release a statement after the investigation,” Ken said on Monday.

    Ken had met with Google representatives last week. According to the Director General, Google has the right to file their objection towards the tax investigation results as long as an agreement has not been made. The company however, will be required to pay off their debts based on the investigation’s closing conference.

    In response to the issue, Google spokesman Jason Tedjakusuma refused to provide any comment. Jason also refused to respond to questions related to the results on last week’s meeting. “No comment,” Jason said briefly.

    The government estimated that Google Asia Pacific’s revenue, based on service and product sales in Indonesia, had reached Rp 5.5 trillion. On the other hand, Google representative office in Indonesia only generates revenues from advertising services.

    Google Indonesia had been registered at the Tanah Abang Tax Office as a foreign investment company since September 15, 2011. However, state officials cannot collect the company’s taxes because Google is not registered as an Indonesian legal entity.

    Yustinus Prastowo, Executive Director of Center for Indonesia Taxation Analysis doubted the government’s ability to force Google to pay their taxes by the end of 2016. “Even if there is a payment, it wouldn’t be as large as it was expected,” Yustinus said.

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  • Lippo Group betting on e-money in digital age

    Lippo Group betting on e-money in digital age

    Indonesia’s Lippo Group is turning e-commerce, electronic money and other information technology-related enterprises into a new pillar of its business, closely monitoring spending trends to gain a better foothold in the greater Southeast Asian market.

    The next phase for the banking and real estate conglomerate “will be the fourth industrial revolution,” CEO James Riady told The Nikkei Tuesday on the sidelines of the 18th Nikkei Global Management Forum here.

    Lippo Group was founded as a banking institution by Mochtar Riady, the current CEO’s father and a former head of Bank Central Asia. It branched out into real estate in the 1990s when subsidiary Lippo Karawaci developed a plot outside Jakarta that the group collected as collateral. Lippo Group has since also developed retail and hospital operations, which help boost property value. It now has more than 20 listed subsidiaries and rings up a total of about $7 billion in annual revenue.

    But the fall in resource prices and China’s economic slowdown have dealt a blow to the Indonesian economy, including to its real estate sector. Lippo Karawaci suffered a 23% drop in sales last year to 9.19 trillion rupiah ($702 million), as well as a 79% plunge in net profit to 535.3 billion rupiah.

    Business of the future

    Meanwhile, the proportion of smartphone users in Indonesia has risen from about 20% of the population in 2014 to almost 40% — about 100 million people — in 2015. “We must have inward creative disruption so that we can be transformed into a new area of growth, which is the digital economy,” James Riady said.

    In addition to its communications and media businesses, Lippo Group launched e-commerce site MatahariMall in September 2015. One of the platform’s strengths is that it can use Lippo Group’s retail network throughout Indonesia to move and distribute products — a definite plus in the face of competition from Lazada Group, a subsidiary of Chinese titan Alibaba Group Holding, and Tokopedia, in which Japan’s SoftBank Group has a stake. It was revealed in October that Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co., bullish on MatahariMall’s growth potential, was investing in the site’s operating company.

    Riady considers e-money his new focus. The goal is to get Lippo Group’s 120 million customers on board by allowing them to pay at hundreds of retail locations using the service. He plans to expand the group’s e-money offerings to other Southeast Asian countries, as well as include such services as depositing and transferring e-money. Riady sees a complete transformation in the way banks do business.

    Lippo Group and Singaporean ride-hailing company Grab agreed in July to cooperate on launching a mobile payment platform. The service will roll out in earnest at the end of the year.

    Following trends

    The spread of e-money will allow Lippo Group to closely track spending by its customers at retailers, e-commerce sites and other outlets. Riady hopes to use the service to bolster overseas expansion of the group and improve products and services associated with retail operations.

    Lippo Group is currently operating real estate businesses in Singapore and Hong Kong. But it will target Southeast Asia in the future to win over the region’s young, eager consumers. “What matters is how we can capture the [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] population of 600 million into our e-money accounts and world of services,” Riady said.

    In terms of Lippo Group’s real estate business, Riady expressed his interest not just in property development but in creating entire communities spanning retailers, hospitals and schools. The group has already built hospitals in Myanmar, and the CEO said the company is looking into Vietnam and Laos as well.

  • Airline Sriwijaya Air offering Initial Public Offerings (IPO) in Indonesia

    Airline Sriwijaya Air offering Initial Public Offerings (IPO) in Indonesia

    Currently, Sriwijaya Air serves 46 domestic routes as well as seven international routes in the Asia Pacific with 51 narrow-body Boeing jets. With the larger fleet (after additional airplanes are purchased), the airline wants to add several domestic and regional routes as well as one to Jeddah (Saudi Arabia).

    Chandra Lie did not inform how much the company expects to raise from the initial public offering on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). In February 2011 Indonesia’s national flagship carrier Garuda Indonesia conducted an IPO on the IDX in which it raised IDR 3.3 trillion (approx. USD $252 million) by selling a 28 percent stake.

    Sriwijaya Air, founded by the brothers Chandra Lie and Hendry Lie in 2003, is Indonesia’s third-largest airline, controlling about ten percent of the domestic air passenger market. It currently carries about 800,000 passengers per month. The airline will move its administration and operational activities to the Cengkareng Business City complex from its current base at the Soekarno Hatta International Airport.

    The aviation industry in the Asia-Pacific region remains among the world’s fastest growing regions in terms of air passengers. Recently, the Indonesia National Air Carriers Association (INACA) says, whereas worldwide the number of air passengers is growing at a pace of nearly 7 percent (y/y), Indonesia’s air passenger growth is estimated at around 15 percent (y/y) in 2016.

    Number of Air Passengers in Indonesia 2011 – 2015:

    2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
    Air Passengers
    (in million)    		 62.4 66.4 68.6 72.6 82.4

    Source: BPS

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  • Indonesia wants to lead the region in e-commerce

    Indonesia wants to lead the region in e-commerce

    With other Southeast Asian countries already having prepared the ground for the digital economy to prosper, the Indonesian government has finally taken the initiative to spur the growth of e-commerce within its own boarders.

    Announced on Thursday evening, the 14th economic policy package will tackle eight issues that could determine the success of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s goal of turning Indonesia into the biggest digital economy of the region by 2020 with a targeted value of US$130 billion. The eight issues are funding, taxation, consumer protection, human resources, logistics, communication infrastructure, cyber security and the establishment of a project management office.

    The government expects the new policy package, dubbed the e-commerce road map, to create 1,000 “techno-preneurs” with businesses that have a total value of $10 billion by 2020.

    Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution said the e-commerce road map, which will be translated into a presidential decree, was essential to boost connectivity and efficiency in the industry.

    The government also expects the road map to better protect national interests and give priority to small and medium-sized enterprises and start-ups.

    “We also want to boost creative innovation and invention of new economic activities, especially for youths who enjoy playing around with new things,” he said during a press conference to unveil the package on Thursday.

    Indonesia’s e-commerce market is estimated to be worth Rp 18 trillion ($1.4 billion) as of 2015, with 37 million consumers from a total population of 255 million, according to World Economic Outlook data compiled by the Internet Service Providers Association. The association expects the e-commerce market will be worth Rp 25 trillion by 2016, with 49 million consumers.

    Meanwhile, Communications and Information Minister Rudiantara presented some details of the road map, which includes grants or subsidies to help start-ups boost their chances of surviving in the tough e-commerce industry.

    The government also aims to reduce taxes for locals investing in start-ups and simplify taxation procedures for e-commerce start-ups with a turnover of less than Rp 4.8 billion a year, so that the final income tax will only come to 1 percent.

    “In terms of logistics, this is interesting, because we have already decided to reposition state-owned postal company Pos Indonesia as a logistical platform for Indonesian e-commerce,” Rudiantara said.

    Since taking office in 2014, Jokowi has issued 13 stimulus packages aimed at eliminating business hurdles.

    A recent report from management consulting firm McKinsey & Company suggested that by going digital, Indonesia would be able to unleash its next level of economic growth to the tune of $150 billion in terms of impact by the year 2025 if it were able to address the most pressing issues adequately.

    The report suggested that while Indonesia was admirable in terms of the number of internet and smartphone users, it still did not adequately embrace modern technology. Internet penetration in Indonesia has only reached 39 percent of the population, despite smartphone penetration standing at 43 percent.

    The report partly places the blame for the low penetration on Indonesia’s relatively weak information and communication technology infrastructure. Indonesia’s internet bandwidth, for instance, is still at a relatively low average rate of 6.2 kbps per user, far below Malaysia’s 27.2 kbps and the Philippines’ 27.7 kbps.

    Bank Central Asia (BCA) economist David Sumual was optimistic about the latest economic policy package, saying Indonesia’s market was large and investors had already begun to show interest in the business.

    David, however, warned the government’s digital economy dream could end if the country failed to improve infrastructure and logistics.

    “It will not reach its maximum potential if our logistics remain the same. It may be alright in the bigger cities, but how will it work in the remote areas? Weak infrastructure remains our biggest task.”

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  • Lawmaker wants increase milk production, consumption

    Lawmaker wants increase milk production, consumption

    Legislator of Commission X of the House of Representatives (DPR), Dwita Ria Gunadi wants to increase milk production and consumption because the per capita milk consumption in the country is still lower than other Asian countries.

    “The per capita milk consumption in 2015, based on data from the Agriculture Ministry was only 12.1 liters per annum,” Dwita Ria Gunadi said in a written statement here on Thursday.

    The per capita consumption is still is still lower than the per capita consumption of India, which reached 48.62 liters per annum, Singapores 44.5 liters and Malaysias 36.2 liters.

    Indonesias per capita milk consumption is even lower than that of Thailand, which reached 33.7 liters per annum, the Philippines 17.8 liters and Vietnams 14.3 liters.

    Dwita reminded that the milk imports of Indonesia should meet domestic need, which has exceeded 80 percent.

    “This condition is a cause for concern because our land has potential for developing and breeding milch cows,” Dwita, who is a member of the Greater Indonesia Movement Party, (Gerinda) said.

    She has also started a discourse to boost production though among others, the allocation by local governments of funds to breeders for stimulating milk production.

    It was earlier noted that the fresh milk production of milch cows in the Malang District of East Java, increased from 117,235 tons in 2014 to 132,052 tons in 2015 and during the first semester of 2016 it was pegged at 66,593 tons.

    “In order to increase production and consumption of milk, we provide milch cow assistance to breeders. This year, 92 heads of milch cows were provided, and next year this assistance will continue, but the number will not be as big as this year,” Sudjono, the head of Malangs Animal Husbandry Service, said on November 4.

    He added that over the past five years the number of milch cows provided for breeders accounted for 826 heads.

    The farmers, who got the assistance, were those from milch cow production centers, such as Wajak, Pujon, Ngantang, Poncokusumo and the Jabung sub-districts.

    According to the Cooperatives, Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises (SME) Minister Puspayoga, milch cow farmers must increase and maintain the quality of their milk production. All milk produced domestically, including by members of cooperatives, should be absorbed by the milk-processing industry (IPS) in order to meet the domestic need and reduce imports.

    An executive from one of the countrys food and drinks company, PT Nestle Indonesia, argued that to increase productivity and improve the quality of milk, local milch cow farmers should adopt sustainable breeding practices.

    “The key to increasing production and improving quality is to adopt sustainable breeding practices and to optimize cowshed cleanliness,” R Wisman Djaja, PT Nestle Indonesias director for Sustainability agriculture Development and Procurement Affairs, had said in Malang, East Java last month.

    The government, according to Minister Puspayoga, is now trying to resolve the constraints being faced by milch cow farmers and milk processing industries.

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  • Husein airport expected to serve international flights

    Husein airport expected to serve international flights

    Bandung, West Java – Indonesia’s state-owned airport services company, PT Angkasa Pura II, expects the Husein Sastranegara airport in Bandung, West Java, to start handling international flights from Bandung to cities in China or Bandung to Bangkok (Thailand) in 2017.

    “The airport expansion project will be completed by the end of 2016. The new terminal will handle international flights. Among the potential markets is Bangkok or Phuket,” Angkasa Pura II”s general manager Dorma Manalu said here on Wednesday.

    He added that the number of international direct flights from Bangkok and China to Indonesia has been increasing.

    “Currently, the international flights from China are mostly to Manado, North Sulawesi and Pontianak, West Kalimantan,” Dorma noted.

    According to him, nearly a 100 million Chinese tourists are visiting Indonesia every year, reflecting a good opportunity for Angkasa Pura II to start direct flights from Bandung to China or Thailand.

    So far, direct international flights from Husein Sastranegara airport are for Bandung-Singapore, Bandung-Kuala Lumpur and Bandung-Johor Baharu (Malaysia).

    “These are far fewer as of now, considering that the airport is now being expanded. Also, the airport is not too far from Bandung downtown,” Dorma explained.

    Earlier, the management representatives of the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) visited Kertajati international airport in Majalengka, West Java.

    The President Director of the airport, Virda Dimas, explained that the Chinese corporation management was interested in Indonesia’s aviation industry and wants to confirm its plans to open international flights from the country to Kertajati since there is a fairly large Chinese market.

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  • Internet Retailing Expo Indonesia Gears Up to Connect Indonesia’s Stakeholders

    Internet Retailing Expo Indonesia Gears Up to Connect Indonesia’s Stakeholders

    The Internet Retailing Expo (IRX) Indonesia, is gearing up to return with a loud bang. The 2ndedition of IRX Indonesia, to be held from 18 to 19 January next year at the Pullman Jakarta Central Park, will once again become the meeting place for marketplaces, multi-channel retailers and online retailers to meet their key suppliers and learn through peer knowledge sharing and best practice implementation case studies.

    IRX Indonesia was launched due to the huge potential of the internet retailing market, as it has started to grow significantly within Indonesia in the recent years.

    In 2017, IRX Indonesia is expected to attract 2000 visitors to an even more diverse exhibition with plenty of value-packed on-floor sessions and 75 leading solution providers in the areas of digital infrastructure and innovation, digital payments, last mile fulfilment and many others. More than 80 multichannel and ecommerce retailers will be sharing knowledge and experience during the six conferences sessions, workshops and clinics at IRX Indonesia 2017. All these under the themes of Connected Store of the Future, Payments & Security, Insight & Experience, Digital Sales & Marketing, Digital Merchandising, Multichannel Operations & Fulfilment.

    “IRX is the leading multichannel event in the retail calendar and takes place every March at the NEC Birmingham, United Kingdom. The UK is the most sophisticated internet retailing market globally. With over 200 exhibitors and 5000 visitors to the show, IRX welcomes retailers and technology providers from across the multichannel landscape,” said Richard Ireland, Managing Director, Asia, Clarion Events Pte Ltd. “Following its great success in 2016, IRX will be running its second show in Jakarta, Indonesia in January 2017 and plans to bring some of the expertise gained from the UK to Indonesia. Our event plans to help retailers looking to establish, along their journey to grow their online retail strategies.”

    Visitors to the event can expect industry tracks featuring a distinguished speaker panel of local and international industry who’s who, including, among others, Roy N. Mandey, Chairman, APRINDO; Ravi Kumar, COO, PT. MAP; Catherine Sutjahyo, CEO, Alfacart.com; Adrian Suherman, CEO, Lippo Digital Group; Aruni Therese Abeyesundere, Chief Marketing Officer, Pizza Hut;; Simon Torring, Regional Head of Merchandising (Digital), Sephora Digital SEA, Ankit Porwal, Business Director, L’Oreal Paris Indonesia; Ashley Amanna, Head of ECommerce, L’Oreal Indonesia; Pankaj Khushani, Head of Media Technology Solutions – SEA, India & Korea, Google; Rizkie Maulana Putra, Head of ECommerce Development, Samsung Electronics Indonesia; Tabah Yudhananto, Marketing Technologist, Digital Marketing, CRM Senior Manager, Blibli.com; and Cam Walker, CEO Indonesia, iflix.

    The conference will feature 6 streams alongside e-Commerce clinics and workshops on the exhibition floor. Special highlights for the event include SME Forum: “Building capabilities in a digital age”; CMO Forum: “The way marketers engage customers”; CEO Panel Discussion: “Omni Channel retailing: Digital Transformation, Customer First”; E-Commerce University; E-Commerce Clinics; Start-up & Innovation Zone: “Enabling Business value with Digital Transformation”; Indonesia – China Cross-Border Ecommerce Pavilion; and 3D VR Shopping Experience.

    IRX Indonesia will feature 50+ exhibitors including 8Commerce, Asian Delker Logistics, ATEX, Cashlez, Detrack, E2Pay, Egentic, ICUBE, Innovecto, Midtrans, MooCommerce, PaketID, Priceza, PT Kam and Kam, PT Kioson Komersial Indonesia, and SAP, and sponsors including BCA, Accenture, Telkom Indonesia, PT Pos Logistics Indonesia, Akamai, Anchanto, Go-Jek, Magento, Manhattan Associates, At Internet, aCommerce, Alto, FedEx, Gift Card Indonesia, Intramega Global, netCORE, Sprooki, and JNE.

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  • SIA delays launch of Jakarta-Sydney route after Indonesia withdraws approval

    SIA delays launch of Jakarta-Sydney route after Indonesia withdraws approval

    Flag carrier Singapore Airlines (SIA) said on Wednesday (Nov 9) it has delayed plans to launch a new route linking Singapore, Jakarta and Sydney, after Indonesia withdrew its approval due to runway maintenance work.

    The airline had earlier announced that it planned to launch the thrice-weekly Singapore-Jakarta-Sydney route on Nov 23. SIA said Indonesia’s civil aviation authorities had issued written approval, and the airline had secured the necessary airport slots.

    However, Indonesian authorities have informed the airline that they are now unable to approve the flights due to runway maintenance work at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, SIA said. The runway work also affects other airlines, it added.

    In response to media queries, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said it was aware of the delay in the launch of the new route.

    “SIA’s new service will enhance air connectivity between Singapore, Jakarta and Sydney, which will facilitate people and trade flows between these cities,” CAAS said.

    “We hope the Indonesian civil aviation authorities can give approval for this new service as soon as possible so that it can be launched.”

    SIA said it will contact customers with bookings on the route and transfer them to other flights. “The airline apologises for the inconvenience caused to our customers,” it said.

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  • Indonesia eyes electricity exports to neighboring countries

    Indonesia eyes electricity exports to neighboring countries

    Indonesia plans to sell electricity to Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore as the government is targeting greater profitability from several coal mine-mouth power plants that are anticipated to soon be completed in Sumatra.

    National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) head Bambang Brodjonegoro said the plan was feasible as the power plants would have excess capacity.

    “We can sell the electricity abroad via underwater cables,” the former finance minister said during the ASEAN G2B Infrastructure Investment Forum in Jakarta on Tuesday.

    Bambang said electricity demands were huge in peninsular Malaysia and southern Thailand, where Indonesia could meet those demands at competitive prices.

    “As long as Sumatra’s electricity needs are fulfilled, we can export the excess capacity,” he added.

    President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s administration is targeting to complete its ongoing 35,000 megawatt (MW) electricity procurement program by 2019. Of the target, 7,800 MW will be supplied from mine-mouth power plants.

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  • PNG plans to open flight route to Papua

    PNG plans to open flight route to Papua

    Papua New Guinea has reiterated its plan to open a flight route from Mount Hagen to Jayapura during a meeting of the Border Liaison Officers held in Port Moresby, an Indonesian official said.

    Papua New Guinea will soon realize its plan but has not set a specific date for it, Director for East Asia and the Pacific at the Indonesian Foreign Ministry, Edy Yusuf, said on Tuesday.

    Yusuf said the Indonesian government is prepared to help realize the plan soon.

    “Indonesia is ready to help Papua New Guinea realize the plan since there is no flight from Papua to Papua New Guinea,” he added.

    The head of the Indonesian delegation to the meeting, Klemen Tinal, who is also the deputy governor of Papua, shared Yusufs view and expressed the hope that the plan would come to fruition soon.

    Most citizens of Papua New Guinea who live in Vanimo visit Indonesia by land through borders between Wutung in Papua New Guinea and Skouw in Indonesia, as well as by sea, he informed.

    If the plan to open the flight route is realized, they will no longer need to travel to Papua by land or sea, he stressed.

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