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Tag: Indonesia

  • Ride-hailing app Grab brings GrabBike services to Bali

    Ride-hailing app Grab brings GrabBike services to Bali

    Watch out Gojek, competitor GrabBike has come to Bali. Ride-hailing app Grab has announced that it launched both GrabBike and GrabExpress services in Bali, as of Oct. 22. 

    Like Gojek, GrabBike allows you to order motorbike taxis, while GrabExpress is Grab’s courier service. Also in common with Gojek, the app’s drivers use black and green colors.

    Similar to Uber, the app has provided its GrabCar driver services in some time in Bali (they launched in 2015)—to the frustration of competing taxi and other drivers operating on the island. 

    As with GrabCar, the GrabBike and GrabExpress options will be most available in Badung and Denpasar. 

    Grab started in Malaysia but has quickly spread throughout the region, with notable success in Jakarta, its first Indonesian city. 

    “Bali is dominant in growth and tourism potential, so we saw an opportunity to improve the quality of daily trips in Denpasar and Badung. The launching of two-wheel services in Bali will complement GrabCar, which previously launched in 2015.

  • Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tart heads to Australia

    Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tart heads to Australia

    Food enterprise ST Group has launched Japanese-style Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tart outlets in Australia.

    Using a traditional recipe involving three cheeses from Japan’s dairy heartland of Hokkaido, the tarts have already been introduced in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Shanghai and Singapore. Six outlets are planned for Australia, three in Melbourne to be followed by three in Sydney next year.

    The first Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tart stores launched in Malaysia this year, selling up to 20,000 units a day.

    Designed by Eat Architects, Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tart kiosks are compact with a luxury aesthetic, featuring marble benchtop displays and low-slung designer lighting. The tarts are displayed like precious gems.

    ST Group MD Tatt Ghee Saw says Australia’s multicultural society is continually evolving, along with its palate and cuisine preferences. “At ST Group we are passionate about sharing the foods we love in Southeast Asia. ”

    Tatt Ghee Saw

    He established the group in 2011, recognising the need for comforting cultural eateries, much like the hawker’s markets and corner laksa stores of his native Kuala Lumpur.

    His first venture was PappaRich in Melbourne, which attracted long queues. It is now a major franchise enterprise with 26 stores throughout Australia and New Zealand. The group’s other brands are NeNe Chicken, Gong Cha (New Zealand only) and iDarts Australia.

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  • Oysho lingerie arrives in Indonesia

    Oysho lingerie arrives in Indonesia

    Spanish lingerie brand Oysho, owned by Inditex, continues its international expansion with the opening of its first store in Indonesia.

    In Jakarta’s centre, the 300 sqm shop is in Plaza Indonesia, a shopping centre that is also home to other Inditex brands such as Zara, as well as luxury labels including Burberry, Chanel, Hermes and Louis Vuitton.

    oysho-store

    Since launching in 2001, Oysho has expanded its presence to 44 countries with more than 600 stores. The brand specialises in lingerie, sleepwear, loungewear and footwear. It generated 229 million euros (about US$252 million) in the first quarter of this year, representing an 8 per cent increase year-on-year.

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  • HSBC plans to inject $1 billion into Indonesia business

    HSBC plans to inject $1 billion into Indonesia business

    HSBC plans to inject $1 billion of additional capital into its combined Indonesian business with PT Bank Ekonomi Raharja, an official at the Indonesian financial regulator, Ariastiadi, said on Thursday.

    HSBC separately said it would integrate its Indonesian business with Bank Ekonomi, but a bank spokeswoman in Indonesia declined to comment on the planned capital injection.

    The move would help to resolve a long-running issue for HSBC in Indonesia, where the government has encouraged banks in the country to operate via a single locally incorporated entity.

    Since the 2008/09 global financial crisis, local regulators have encouraged banks in their jurisdictions to incorporate themselves locally in order to make them easier to police and to ring-fence them from external shocks.

    Before the integration, HSBC operated its own branch on top of having a controlling stake in Bank Ekonomi.

    HSBC last year offered to buy out the minority shareholders of Bank Ekonomi and delist the Indonesian lender from the Jakarta stock exchange.

    Under the integration process, all the assets and liabilities of HSBC Indonesia will be transferred to the combined entity, which will be called PT Bank HSBC Indonesia, said HSBC’s Indonesian legal consultant, Kemal Siregar.

    HSBC shares were down 1 percent in London by 0940 GMT, while the benchmark FTSE 100 index () remained flat.

  • Industry risks startup bubble

    Industry risks startup bubble

    Kaskus co-founder Ken Dean Lawadinata has broken his silence after marching out of one of Indonesia’s most prominent technology platforms, citing higher “risk” in the industry and even “a little bit of a bubble”.

    “I think right now the IT market is in a bit of a bubble in Indonesia, with everyone asking ridiculous valuations without any signs of profit in the near future,” local media quoted the 30-year-old, who brought Kaskus to fame in 2008 with his cousin Andrew Darwis.

    This — just days after Go-Jek co-founder Michaelangelo Moran also announced he had quit his popular company — has generated concerns over the state of Indonesia’s young and thriving startups, companies that have seen many investments flow in with little details and no guarantees about their revenues and profitability.

    “There is a marginal bubble forming because of the involvement of foreign investors, hence the global nature of the industry’s fears,” says Naveen Menon, head of communications, media and technology practice at A.T. Kearney.

    Foreign investors are flocking into startups operating in the country, with the biggest funding ever for a local startup rounded up by Go-Jek in August worth US$550 million from American private equity firms KKR and Warburg Pincus.

    “Indonesia’s startup scene is starting to look crowded, but compared to other markets such as India or the USA, it’s relatively small and still generating huge interest among investors,” he added.

    There are over 2,000 startups in Indonesia, most of which are valued at less than $10 million, according to a Google-Temasek report. The middle-income segment of the country is flourishing and internet users are expected to double by 2020 from over 100 million users at present, the world’s fifth largest figure.

    Even if startup investors are running higher risks, Naveen explained that it was very common for them to invest in unprofitable companies due to a scale effect, or a network effect.

    “Basically, investors in the startup system are giving up short-term gains for massive long-term gains. They just need one of their invested startups to become successful in order for them to say that they have succeeded,” he said.

    Startups and venture capitalists (VCs) have told that they see no bubble bursting in the near future as they are banking on the growth potential of the young industry.

    “I would see it not as a bubble, but more of a challenge of market and price adjustment,” said Sebastian Togelang, founding partner of Kejora, a local VC firm that focuses on building companies.

    The technology industry is well prepared to prevent bubbles from bursting because of lessons learned from the 2000 dotcom bubble burst, when tech firms in developed countries crashed and burned after going public based on unrealistic valuations, he said.

    “Everyone is being cautious and that’s a good thing for both parties,” Sebastian added.

    These days, fewer tech companies are going for initial public offerings (IPOs) and when they do, it takes more time and more maturity to do so, according to data from McKinsey Indonesia.

    Over 50 companies in the US are targeting IPOs in 2014, versus 371 in 1999, while median years to IPO stood at 11 years in 2014 from four years in 1999. In terms of networks, there are now 14 billion connected devices worldwide from half a billion in 1999.

    Metra Digital Innovation (MDI) Ventures CEO Nicko Widjaja said Indonesia was far from a bubble because many startups were funded by corporate ventures with big scales that had yet to reach their optimum levels.

    Local corporate ventures into the digital startup sector include those operated by Bank Mandiri and Bank Sinarmas, along with Telkom Indonesia’s Indigo Accelerator program, which Nicko and MDI are aligned with.

    The concerns over a bubble burst in the tech scene may have emerged in the first place because of a perceived “winter” for venture capital in Indonesia. For almost a year, fundraising has been more difficult due to a more cautious approach taken by both investors and startups in seeking profitability, VCs said.

    Startups admit that their focus is indeed on growth and eventual profitability, but the main aspect of their operations revolves around the effects of their business in changing the way people shop, travel, transact and use a wide range of services online.

    “From the start, one of our main focuses has always been on growth,” Go-Jek’s chief marketing officer Piotr Jakubowski said, admitting that satisfying investor returns on investment remained a “process”.

    “Our best takeaway is the fact that we continue to inspire new businesses and we are also innovating and growing in a way that’s beneficial for consumers.”

    E-commerce firm Blibli.com is of the view that the startup scene will continue to grow so long as enterprises serve to benefit the public.

    “In the end, it’s about educating the market, especially in e-commerce, which is something relatively new. It’s teaching people to try online shopping,” Blibli.com senior marketing manager Deny Agsana said.

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  • Loyalty Program Pointo Aims to Manage Points Across Region

    Loyalty Program Pointo Aims to Manage Points Across Region

    “For points issuers, the Pointo system will help them limit their budget on marketing and add more value to its customers. Meanwhile for point receivers, it would help them generate more revenue as it would increase transactions,” Pointo Point Exchange chief executive Ari Stefanus said on Wednesday.

    Pointo now registers issuers including grocery stores Ranch Market and Farmers Market, home appliances retailer Electronic Solutions, national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, Lippo Group’s theater chain Cinemaxx, ice cream shop Haagen-Dazs and many more.

    In the near future, Pointo targets to have at least 150 brands collaborate with them, including merchants in Asia, such as Universal Studios and Gardens by the Bay in Singapore, Ocean Park and Disneyland in Hong Kong and Japan.

    The company also wants financial companies, such as banks, flight carriers and telecommunication operators to join Pointo.

    Loyalty Program Indonesia is an information technology developer established in 2008. It built expertise on customer loyalty programs, serving clients from the retail sector, including convenience store chain operator Indomaret, retailer Centro Department Store, as well as shopping malls Grand Indonesia and Pacific Place.

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  • Opportunity Grows in Indonesia as Tourism Sector Blooms

    Opportunity Grows in Indonesia as Tourism Sector Blooms

    The government’s ‘Wonderful Indonesia’ campaign (which began in 2011) has transformed Indonesian tourism into a vibrant, lucrative, and rapidly growing industry. Alongside national ‘gems’ like the ancient Borobudur Temple, the divers’ haven of Raja Ampat, and the Komodo National Park, a host of new destinations are becoming established – among them Bintan, Maluku, and Lombok.

    Tourism is responsible for creating close to 10 million jobs, and last year the government allocated a further Rp.1.3 trillion (US$98.4 million) to promote tourism. That year it contributed 9.6% of total GDP – behind Indonesia’s top earners of oil, gas, coal, and palm oil.

    Minister of Tourism Arief Yahya announced that in 2019, tourism would be Indonesia’s biggest foreign exchange earner. By that time, he wants tourism’s contribution to national GDP to have doubled, bringing in US$24 billion annually.

    The objective to reach 20 million tourists by 2019 is equally ambitious. This year’s target is 12 million; the total last year was 9.73 million. To support these targets, the Asian Development Bank agreed to lend Indonesia US$10 billion over the next five years.

    Business tourism lags behind leisure tourism: in 2014, total business tourists (3.16 million) were half that of leisure tourists (6.27 million). Events like the 39th PATA (Pacific Asia Travel Association) Travel Mart, recently hosted in Greater Jakarta, reflect the potential for business tourism. That event attracted 1358 delegates from 63 countries, and the tourism ministry must work with businesses to bring more events like this to Indonesia in the future.

    Business tourism could facilitate the expansion of the hospitality industries, particularly high-class hotels and restaurants (and other venues suitable for conferences and exhibitions). The government recently altered its ‘Negative Investment List’ such that foreign investors have greater access to (and ownership of) strategic businesses – including in the tourism and hospitality industries. Substantial cash injections should boost economic growth, creating more jobs and facilitating more creative enterprise, to ensure Indonesia remains globally competitive.

    Travel outside of Bali remains challenging, and the infrastructure is in need of a significant revamp. The government has responded to this increased demand by announcing plans to expand current airports as well as construct new ones. This is an essential strategy: after the upgrade of Labuan Bajo airport, Komodo Island, home of the endangered Komodo dragon, is able to accommodate 1.5 million tourists annually (before, the number was 150,000).

    Potential hotspots: Bintan and Maluku

    Bintan, the largest island in the Riau Archipelago, is known for its natural beauty, boasting long stretches of pristine, white-sand coastline. It is near Singapore and the Malaysian state of Johor, and is primarily marketed at people living in, or visiting, Singapore. Bintan thus profits from the international traffic running through Singapore’s world-class Changi airport.

    Julia Suryakusuma notes that development of Bintan has been slow, and a substantial cash injection is needed to transform Bintan to the level at which it is able to compete with Bali. So as not to appear hollow, sterile and just ‘another’ island resort, she recommends that Bintan markets itself as an ecotourism destination, based around the indigenous community of Orang Laut, in Tanjung Berakit (to the northeast of the island). After all, the incorporation of local culture is what lies behind Bali’s success. Ecotourism is a growing sector in the tourist industry with huge business potential, although difficulty is sometimes faced in getting the locals to participate. It is increasingly popular with American tourists, an important market which has long eluded Indonesia.

    The far-flung region of Maluku, albeit a popular diving destination, is being promoted in a broader capacity as a key tourism site for eastern Indonesia. With this it has the potential to open up the regional economy, for the more remote islands of eastern Indonesia are relatively undeveloped in comparison to the western regions. Within Maluku, the Buru regency has been spotlighted as one of Indonesia’s ‘tourist icons’. Here, the Ministry of Tourism recently launched the Bupolo tour festival, where various cultural events were showcased, in a bid to attract more tourism.

    Lombok and Halal tourism

    Lombok, in West Nusa Tenggara, is also in the midst of a significant transformation. Mandalika Resort in Lombok is a vast complex being developed by the Indonesia Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), the state-owned company responsible for the Nusa Dua complex in Bali.

    The government has allocated Rp.1.8 trillion (US$138.57 million) to develop Mandalika. Mandalika is now a special economic zone (SEZ), which means investors will be granted tax and fiscal incentives, as well as other business-related benefits; a factor which will undoubtedly encourage the proliferation of hotels, restaurants and bars over the next few years, as well as better and stronger infrastructure. According to the ITDC, it will be ready by 2018.

    However, Lombok is becoming known for a different reason. At the 2015 World Halal Travel Summit and Exhibition in Abu Dhabi, Lombok was recognised as the World’s Best Halal Tourism Destination and Halal Honeymoon Destination.

    Halal tourism is a growing sector, given the increasing number of Muslim tourists, and as the world’s most populous Muslim country Indonesia is strongly positioned to exploit that industry. The government has officially listed West Nusa Tenggara, West Sumatra and Aceh as Halal tourism destinations.

    The government announced it would be targeting more Arab tourists, particularly from Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is the largest tourism contributor to Indonesia from the Middle East, with 147,074 visits in 2014. It was recently added to the list of countries for which visa entry is no longer required. The government also signed agreements with key Gulf airlines, including Qatar Airways and Emirates Airlines, to increase the frequency of direct flights to the archipelago.

    Given Indonesia’s determined promotion of tourism, economic opportunity is rife and investors should be aware.

  • Indonesia central bank surprises with another cut to key rate

    Indonesia central bank surprises with another cut to key rate

    Indonesia’s central bank surprised the market on Thursday by cutting its benchmark interest for a sixth time this year, renewing efforts to spur sluggish lending and growth.

    Bank Indonesia (BI) cut the 7-day reverse repurchase rate by 25 basis points to 4.75 per cent. “In the midst of a weak global economy, we believe this monetary easing will strengthen efforts to push domestic demand, including for credits, so that it could support the momentum for economic growth,” BI said.

    Thirteen of 17 economists in a Reuters poll had expected the benchmark to be kept at 5.00 per cent on Thursday.

    The central bank made six cuts to its benchmark this year by a total of 150 basis points.

    In August, it switched its benchmark from the 12-month reference rate to the 7-day reverse repurchase rate to try to more directly affect market rates.

    The economy gained some momentum in the second quarter, with good crops higher government spending helping push annual growth to 5.2 per cent.

    But the central bank said state spending cuts, sluggish bank lending, and weak global trade probably weakened third quarter growth to around 5 per cent. BI’s outlook for 2016 is between 4.9-5.3 per cent.

    So far, BI’s 2016 rate cuts have had limited impact on commercial banks’ lending. In August, it grew just 6.83 per cent from a year earlier, the weakest since November 2009.

    Indonesia is due to announce third quarter growth early next month.

    In September, Indonesia’s annual inflation rate was near the lower end of BI’s target band, at 3.07 per cent. The rupiah has been stable, trading near 13,000 a dollar since July. The third quarter’s current account deficit is expected to stay at a comfortable level.

    Ng Weiwan, economist at ANZ said real interest rates in Indonesia “remain elevated despite the rate cuts this year.”

    “Credit growth will be constrained with the overhang from the non-performing loan and the deposit rate caps limiting the interest that banks can pay for deposits,” Mr Ng added.

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  • Bata moves infrastructure into the cloud

    Bata moves infrastructure into the cloud

    Datapipe has partnered with footwear retailer Bata to drive its digital transformation by moving its technology infrastructures to the cloud.

    Bata is seeing strong growth in Asia’s multibillion-dollar footwear market, specifically in India, China and Southeast Asia. The company tapped Datapipe, a specialist in managed cloud services for the enterprise, to manage its cloud deployment and deliver the security, speed, cost-efficiencies, and scalability required for these high-growth markets.

    Bata’s global sourcing infrastructure, hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS), is increasingly reliant on cutting-edge cloud infrastructure for its day-to-day operations including its Point of Sale (PoS) system, warehousing, logistics, and purchase order processes. As a managed cloud-service provider and AWS premier consulting partner, Datapipe was selected to assist Bata with developing and growing its presence in Asia by unlocking operational efficiencies.

    Jason Singh, head of marketing for APAC at Datapipe said that with Bata’s rapid growth in emerging markets, the company needed an IT infrastructure that was secure, scalable, and incredibly reliable.

    “We worked closely with Bata to optimise its AWS architecture and practice. This freed up the company’s technology team to focus on other core aspects of its business. As a result, Bata’s focus is where it should be: serving its customers and managing its production facilities, while Datapipe manages its cloud deployments.”

    To bolster Bata’s digital transformation, particularly around best practice design and security, Datapipe adopted a two-phased approach to ensure an optimised environment. Datapipe first redesigned Bata’s existing cloud environment based on AWS best practices including platform based security configurations. The second phase will deploy comprehensive network and instance-based security controls and services, ensuring secure connections to Bata’s eCommerce websites for users in the region.

    Jeremy Chong, director, global footwear services at Bata said the Datapipe team has strengthened the security and efficiency of Bata’s cloud infrastructure, allowing the company to focus on business growth.

    Bata has more than 5200 retail stores in 70 countries and production facilities in 18 countries. The APAC footwear market is projected to reach US$127.2 billion in annual revenues by 2020, according to Euromonitor, up from $104 billion in 2015. Growth in the global footwear market will be fuelled by demand from developing markets in Asia, according to Verdict Financial. eMarketer, meanwhile, predicts worldwide retail eCommerce sales will reach $1.915 trillion in 2016, with double-digit growth due to hit $4 trillion by 2020.

  • Telkom picks HAUD for A2P SMS monetization

    Telkom picks HAUD for A2P SMS monetization

    Telkom Indonesia has adopted HAUD’s A2P SMS monetization and SS7 security managed services to create new sources of revenue and improve subscriber experience for the operator.

    The managed service agreement with HAUD will help Telkom Indonesia mitigate any lost A2P revenue, and its subscribers are protected from spam and fraudulent SMS traffic.

    Through its Revenue-as-a-Service approach, HAUD will manage the entire A2P monetization process, from traffic identification and blocking, to redirection of traffic to monetizable channels, without requiring any initial investment from the MNO.

    HAUD’s mobile network firewall provides modular protection against SS7 security vulnerabilities, fraud and spam SMS, while preventing grey route traffic that bypasses network termination fees. Its range of packages effectively ring-fence networks from malicious messages, while improving customer experience and revenue assurances.

    Mårten Björkman, SVP for Asia Pacific at HAUD, said Revenue-as-a-Service is a new approach to helping operators to make the most of all possible income streams available to them.

    Björkman said the global A2P SMS market is worth billions, but many operators are not equipped to claim their fair share, and routinely lose out on large amounts of revenue due to the ongoing use of grey routes.

    “HAUD’s knowledge and experience of the global A2P and fraud landscape can help MNOs like Telkom Indonesia stay in control of their networks with a minimal outlay of resources,” he said.

    Michael Adiguna, AVP of sales strategy at Telkom Indonesia, said the agreement with HAUD was particularly attractive, and the ability to deliver results almost instantly “was impressive.”

    “With our revenues maximized and network utilization improved, we can focus on delivering the quality of service that modern mobile users demand,” said Adiguna. “HAUD’s solution makes sure that the messages our subscribers receive are from genuine, trustworthy sources.”

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  • Indonesian herbal medicine to be marketed abroad

    Indonesian herbal medicine to be marketed abroad

    An original Indonesian herbal medicine, Jamu, will be marketed abroad in the Middle Eastern and ASEAN regions, the chairman of the Jamu Association of Central Java, Nyoto Wardoyo, said here on Wednesday.

    Jamu is made from natural materials, such as roots, bark, flowers, seeds, leaves and fruits.

    “Indonesias ambassadors in various countries have started to introduce Jamu to other countries, such as Arab nations and Hongkong,” he informed.

    According to him, Jamu is in demand in many countries because they have realized that its health benefits.

    “Jamu is well known for its nutritional value. Demand for the product is rising and the exports have increased,” he reiterated.

    He also appreciated the fact that the government is encouraging the herbal medicine industry to progress.

    “Entrepreneurs expect expeditious grant of a license. Once we complete all the requirements, we want the government to immediately issue a permit,” he stressed.

    He hoped for better synergy between farmers, entrepreneurs and university researchers to develop Jamu products.

    He also hoped that Jamu products could be a part of the BPJS health program.

    “When people suffer mild colds, coughs or flu, the doctors can treat them with Jamu,” he underlined.

    Thanks to these efforts, the usage of Jamu is expected to rise at home as well as abroad.

  • Indonesia’s logistic sector lags behind other ASEAN countries

    Indonesia’s logistic sector lags behind other ASEAN countries

    Indonesia needs to work harder to improve its logistic sector because its performance lags behind those of other ASEAN countries such as Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani said on Wednesday.

    “On the Logistics Performance Index (LPI), according to the World Bank, Indonesia stood at 63rd place of the 160 countries surveyed,” the minister said in her opening speech during the Jakarta International Logistics Summit and Expo in Jakarta.

    Singapore topped the list of ASEAN countries, ranking fifth globally, while Malaysia ranked 32nd and Thailand 45th, she added.

    The LPI is a benchmarking tool created to help countries recognize challenges and opportunities they face in their performance on trade logistics and improve it.

    She said there were aspects affecting the competitiveness of logistics in Indonesia, namely a lack of infrastructure and complex customs and excise procedures.

    “To realize this, the government has utilized the state budget and funds from the private sector to develop infrastructure across Indonesia,” she said.

    Besides improving infrastructure, another important measure is to fix the quality of regulations and simplify bureaucracy, she said.

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  • Hotel occupancy rates increase in Bali

    Hotel occupancy rates increase in Bali

    The occupancy rates of star rated hotels in Bali averaged 72.40 percent in August or an increase of 1.76 percentage points from 70.62 percent in the previous month.

    “The occupancy rate was quite encouraging when visits by foreign tourists shrank 9.52 percent in Bali compared with the previous month,” head of the Bali branch of the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) Adi Nugroho said here on Wednesday.

    Adi said the occupancy rates would boost hotel operators as an occupancy rate of 50 percent is enough to cover operating cost including salaries of employees.

    In August, 2016, Bali recorded 438,135 visits by foreign tourists including 437,929 arrivals recorded by the Ngurah Rai airport and 206 arrivals at seaport.

    The number of arrivals dropped 9.52 percent in August from July but an increase of 44.3 percent year-on-year, Adi said.

    Adi said most foreign tourists stayed at star rate hotels in six of nine regencies in the province.

    The highest occupancy rate was recorded by hotels in the regency of Badung averaging 75.38 percent or up from July, followed by hotels in the city of Denpasar averaging 66.34 percent though declining from the previous month.

    Hotels in the regency of Gianyar followed in the third place with occupancy rate averaging 60.01 percent , down from 66.84 percent in July , the regency of Buleleng recorded an occupancy rate of 57.69 percent up from 52.23 percent and the regency of Karangasem 47.45 percent, down from 50.92 percent.

    Three other regencies – Jembrana, Bangli and Klungkung – have no star rated hotels . They have only inns or non standard hotels.

    Four star hotels recorded the highest occupancy rate averaging 78.16 percent, followed by five start hotels averaging 77.31 percent, one start hotels 64.96 percent , three start hotels 58.55 percent and two star hotels with occupancy rates averaging 56.31 percent.

    Adi Nugroho said despite the significant increase in the occupancy rate. the increase was recorded only in the regencies of Badung and Buleleng.

    In three other regencies, hotel occupancy rates declined including in the city of Denpasar, regencies of Gianyar and Karangasem, Adi Nugroho said.

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  • Renault launches two new cars in Indonesia

    Renault launches two new cars in Indonesia

    Despite a bleak forecast for the automotive market in Indonesia, French carmaker Renault and its local partner PT Auto Euro Indonesia launched two new products in Jakarta on Wednesday: the KOLEOS and KWID.

    Serge Yoccoz, Renault ASEAN director of operations, said Indonesia was one of only a few countries to see the launch of the KOLEOS, a medium sport utility vehicle (SUV), ahead of Europe.

    “The new KOLEOS will be [Renault’s] flagship for the Indonesian market,” he said. “It has been redesigned to have unique features and has the ability of an SUV.”

    As for the KWID, Yoccoz added, the mini crossover would be offered for consumers eyeing high fuel efficiency and low maintenance costs. “The KWID will be able to address Indonesian customers’ [demand] for a stylish car,” he said.

    The KOLEOS is offered at Rp 460 million for its standard version and Rp 495 million for the panoramic sunroof version. Meanwhile, the KWID is tagged at Rp 117.7 million and is expected to be able to compete in the compact car segment, which accounts for 16.3 percent of the whole automotive market, according to 2015 data from the Association of Indonesian Automotive Manufacturers (Gaikindo).

    Bambang Subijanto, director of Indomobil Sukses International–an umbrella company of Auto Euro Indonesia, said the Renault-Nissan and Indomobil partnership would create good business synergy and respond to customers’ demands, especially in after-sales services.

    The sales target for both models is set at 1,000 units, until 2017.

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  • UOB Indonesia offers Rp 1.1 trillion in bonds to strengthen lending

    UOB Indonesia offers Rp 1.1 trillion in bonds to strengthen lending

    United Overseas Bank (UOB) Indonesia plans to issue Rp 1.1 trillion (US$84.5 million) in bonds in November. The issuance hopes to raise cash to support the bank’s lending capacity next year.

    UOB Indonesia president director Kevin Lam said Rp 1 trillion in proceeds would come from the senior bond while the remaining Rp 100 billion would come from the subordinated bond. Both will be offered from Nov. 17 until Nov. 22.

    “The bond will enable us to maintain solid funding as we help our customers seize business opportunities arising from increased infrastructure development and consumer demand,” he said during a public expose in Jakarta on Wednesday.

    The senior bond is divided into three series with a buy-back option, he further explained.

    Series A is offered with 370 days of maturity and a 7.4 percent coupon rate per annum. Series B will mature in 3 years with an 8.25 percent coupon rate. Series C will have a 5-year tenor with a coupon rate of 8.5 percent.

    Meanwhile, the subordinated bond has a 7-year tenor with a 10 percent coupon rate. All the coupons will be paid every three months.

    In the first half of 2016, UOB Indonesia saw its interest income increase by 22.32 percent year-on-year (yoy) to Rp 1.73 trillion.

    Net profits rose by 86.81 percent yoy to Rp 281.69 billion.

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