[Kabar-indonesia] 19 RI Biz/Econ Reports: Car Sales to Grow 6%: Assoc; Telkom; GDP Target

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

19 Reports:

- Indonesia 2007 Car Sales To 
  Grow By 6% On Yr - Association
- Bank Indonesia Gov: USD Seen 
  At Around IDR9,000 To End '06
- Indonesia press: '06 GDP Growth 
  Target Cut To 5.8% Vs 6.1%
- Indonesia's Telkomsel local currency
  rating upgraded to 'BBB-' - Fitch
- Indonesia sets max rph deposit rates 
  at 11.75 pct
- Indonesian property firm starts
  US$225 mln project
- JP: Thai fishing firms to invest in RI 
- JP: Marketing guru Philip Kotler 
  celebrated 
- Nissan to set up new Indonesian
  factory as export base
- JP: DPD to stage local investment 
  forum [Regional Representatives 
  Council]
- Cut in key Indonesian rate to boost
  consumer sector: Economist
- JP: BES designated bond-data center 
  [Surabaya Stock Exchange]
- Most banks in Indonesia confident
  economy will improve in H2
-update: Indonesia delays second retail
  bonds-fin ministry
- ASEAN must boost links with 
  China, India 
- Indonesia's Berlian Tanker plans sale,
  leaseback of vessel for 45 mln usd
- Australia's QSL to help develop
  Indonesian sugar industry
- Foreign fishing firms eager to comply
  with Indonesia's new rules
- Indonesia palm oil prices firm,
  trading slow

Indonesia 2007 Car Sales To Grow By 6% On Yr -Association

JAKARTA, August 11 (Dow Jones)--New car sales in Indonesia next 
year are expected to recover from a trough this year, growing by up 
to 6% amid expectations that interest rates will continue to fall, a 
senior official with Gaikindo, an association of local vehicle assemblers
said.

"The recent Bank Indonesia interest rate cut has raised optimism that
the economy will improve next year, which could also increase consumer
purchasing power," Gaikindo Chairman Bambang Trisulo told Dow Jones
Newswires.

The central bank cut its benchmark one-month rate by 50 basis points
to 11.75% Tuesday, the third and deepest reduction since rate cuts
began in May.

Analysts expect the benchmark rate to ease to around 11.0% by the end
of 2006, in line with a fall in on-year inflation to around 8.0% in
the same period.

Gaikindo expects 2006 car sales to total around 350,000 units, down
34% on year from 533,910 sold in full-year 2005.

Consumer spending, which contributes around 70% of Indonesia's total
annual gross domestic product, has taken a hit since last year, when
the central bank sharply increased rates to cool an inflationary surge
sparked by the government's move to effectively more than double fuel
prices on Oct. 1, 2005.

Sales by car distributor Astra International (ASII.JK), Indonesia's
largest automotive company by assets, represent 53% of the domestic
auto market.

-----------------------------------

Bank Indonesia Gov: USD Seen At Around IDR9,000 To End '06

JAKARTA, August 11 (Dow Jones)--Macroeconomic conditions provide the
central bank "room" to cut its benchmark one-month rate again next
month, Bank Indonesia Governor Burhanuddin Abdullah said Friday.

"There is room (for a September rate cut)," Abdullah told reporters.
He said the bank would monitor softening on-year inflation movements
before making any monetary policy decisions.

But Abdullah shied away from predicting a repeat of the 50-basis point
cut in the benchmark rate that the bank announced last week.

"We have to be very careful (about the pace of monetary easing)," 
he said. 

Adbullah's comments, which echo those Thursday by Bank Indonesia
Senior Deputy Governor Miranda Gultom about the likelihood of
additional benchmark rate cuts, will heighten market anticipation of
further monetary loosening next month.

The central bank's decision last week to bring the rate down to 11.75%
from 12.25% was the third and deepest interest rate cut since Bank
Indonesia initiated monetary policy easing in May.

Analysts expect the benchmark Bank Indonesia one-month rate to reach
11.00% by end-2006 in line with a decline in on-year inflation to
around 8.0% in the same period.

Abdullah also indicated that Bank Indonesia will aim to keep the U.S.
dollar from falling below the IDR9,000 mark.

"It seems the rupiah will be around 9,000 up to the end of the year, I
think the trend is like that," he said.

That statement is in line with central bank policy to avoid references
to currency market intervention, but supports the government's aim to
keep Indonesia's exports competitive.

At 0725 GMT, the dollar was at IDR9,085, up from an intraday trading
low of IDR9,045.

--------------------------------------

Indonesia press: '06 GDP Growth Target Cut To 5.8% Vs 6.1%

JAKARTA, August 11 (Dow Jones)--The Indonesian government and
Parliament have agreed to cut the 2006 economic growth target to 5.8%
from 6.1%, Kompas daily reported Friday.

The economy must grow 7% on year in the second half in order to
achieve the new target, the newspaper quoted Syarif Hasan, the deputy
chairman of the budget committee in Parliament, as saying.

"(Still), the government must work hard although the (growth) target
has been cut," Hasan said.

The government's statistics agency is slated to announce
second-quarter gross domestic product data on Tuesday.

--------------------------------------

Indonesia's Telkomsel local currency 
rating upgraded to 'BBB-' - Fitch

JAKARTA, August 11 (XFN-ASIA) - Fitch Ratings said it has upgraded PT
Telekomunikasi Selular's (Telkomsel) long-term local currency Issuer
Default Rating ('IDR') to 'BBB-' from 'BB+' with a stable outlook.

At the same time, Fitch has affirmed Telkomsel's long-term foreign
currency IDR of 'BB-' with a stable outlook, which is reflective of
the outlook on Indonesia's long-term foreign currency IDR of 'BB-'.

Fitch said the upgrade of the local currency IDR recognizes
Telkomsel's track record of having achieved consistently impressive
financial and operating results, its entrenched position as
Indonesia's leading cellular operator, as well as its robust growth
prospects.

Telkomsel's total number of subscribers has risen to 29.3 mln as of
June 2006 from 24.3 mln as of December 2005, implying annualized
growth of 41 pct and a market share of over 50 pct, it said.

'Medium-term growth prospects are robust, with market penetration
still low at around 22 pct as of the first quarter, though penetration
of the addressable market was higher at around 49 pct.'

It said despite an increasingly competitive environment, the company
has managed to sustain (and even slightly improve) its exceptionally
strong EBITDA margins at over 70 pct of net revenues during the last
three fiscal years.

The ratings take into account the prospect of competition intensifying
in the cellular segment, with new entrants anticipated to launch their
services by late 2006, sustained heavy network investments by existing
operators and the rapid strengthening of the number three operator, PT
Excelcomindo Pratama.

----------------------------------

Indonesia sets max rph deposit rates at 11.75 pct

JAKARTA, August 11 (Reuters) - Indonesia's state-owned deposit
insurance corporation (LPS) has set its maximum rupiah guaranteed
deposit rates at 11.75 percent for Aug 15-Sept 14, the agency said on
Friday.

It also set the maximum dollar guaranteed deposit rates at 5.0 percent
for Aug 15-Sept 14. -end-

--------------------------------------------------------------

Indonesian property firm starts US$225 mln project

JAKARTA, August 11 (Reuters) - Indonesian property management 
firm PT Plaza Indonesia Realty Tbk kicked off a US$225 million 
expansion of Jakarta's premier shopping complex on Friday as 
retailers try to lure people to splurge amid easing inflation.

The project, first planned in the 1990s but put on hold because of the
Asian financial crisis, will add 201,500 sq metres to the glitzy Plaza
Indonesia complex in downtown Jakarta where top brands from 
Ferragamo to Burberry have outlets.

"We are building this project to prevent upper class Indonesians from
going abroad to shop. They should be able to do it here," M. Sjohirin,
a director at Plaza Indonesia, told reporters after a launch ceremony.

The rich in Indonesia, a country of 220 milllion, often shop in
neighbouring countries like Singapore and Malaysia.

The company has appointed Korea's Ssangyong Engineering 
& Construction Co. to build the extension, which includes a luxury 
apartment block and office buildings. The project is expected to 
be completed in 2009.

"The total development cost, including for drawings and consultant
fees, is $225 million," finance director Hendra Hartono told reporters
after the launch where officials rang sirens and handed a helmet to a
project supervisor to symbolise the start of construction.

Hartono said $150 million will be funded by a syndicated loan and the
rest from internal resources.

Plaza Indonesia, which also owns the Grand Hyatt hotel in Jakarta, has
said it is negotiating with Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. to
get syndicated loans to finance the project.

"We are in the final stage of the negotiation and hopefully we can
sign the (loan) agreement next month," Hartono said.

Sumitomo Mitsui is the lead arranger for the syndicated loan.

Plaza Indonesia's founding shareholders, comprising four companies
including diversified firm PT Bimantara Citra Tbk , control a 40.75
percent stake in the company. Singapore's UOB Kay Hian Holdings 
Pte Ltd holds 11.33 percent and UBS AG controls 10.76 percent.

-----------------------------------

The Jakarta Post
August 11, 2006

Thai fishing firms to invest in RI 

Luh Putu Trisna Wahyuni and Andi Aswidi, 
The Jakarta Post, Denpasar

The Thai government has entered into an agreement with Indonesia under which 
Thai fishing firms operating boats in Indonesian waters will be required to 
establish fish-processing plants on Indonesia soil.

The agreement was arrived at during a series of bilateral meetings between 
delegations from the two countries in Sanur, Bali, on Aug. 8 and 9, a top 
official from Indonesia's Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry said. 

Under Ministerial Decree No 17/2006, foreign fishing firms will only be 
allowed to operate within Indonesia's special economic zone if they set up fish 
processing plants here. 

"If Thai fishing firms want to operate in Indonesian waters, they will have 
to establish processing plants in Indonesia. But for types of fish that cannot 
currently be processed here, the Thai fishing firms will be allowed to export 
them, or enter into collaborative ventures with local firms to process them," 
said Aji Sudarso, the head of data and information at the Maritime Affairs and 
Fisheries Ministry, on Wednesday. 

The ministry's director general for fish marketing, Martini Husein, said that 
with the new bilateral arrangement, catches would no longer be allowed to be 
immediately shipped outside of Indonesian maritime boundaries. 

"All the bounty that is caught will have to be landed on Indonesian soil 
first so that it can be recorded on our database. The aim is to monitor the size 
of catches," Martini said. 

Meanwhile, the secretary to the ministry's Directorate General of Fisheries, 
Nilanto Perbowo, said that Thai firms were planning to enter into joint 
ventures for processing purposes with between 10 and 16 local companies. 

The Indonesian government has issued licenses for 355 Thai boats to fish 
Indonesian waters. However, only 306 boats are currently doing so. 

The government is planning to apply similar arrangements to boats from the 
Philippines and China. 

------------------------------------

The Jakarta Post
August 11, 2006

Marketing guru Kotler celebrated 

Benget Simbolon Tnb., The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

So, what actually is marketing? Does it means the same as selling?

Perhaps these were the sort of questions that popped into the minds of most 
of the people, especially those in Asia, who attended the worldwide 
celebrations earlier this week to mark of the 75th birthday of Philip Kotler, one of the 
world's best-known marketing gurus. 

The Kellogg School of Management in the U.S. and a number of marketing 
institutions in Asia have organized various events to mark his 75th birthday and to 
raise public awareness about the rigidity of marketing theory and practice. 

Among the worldwide events was a seminar on Kotler's marketing theories, 
which was organized by MarkPlus and held in Jakarta on Monday evening. 

For most people, both marketing and selling are generic terms. And most 
people think that they are synonymous. "Isn't marketing just hard selling?" they 
often ask. 

Well, it appears that it isn't. 

Selling is only concerned with how to persuade people to buy products. Thus, 
it only applies to profit-oriented organizations, and not to non-profit 
organizations. 

But marketing is concerned with identifying needs and fulfilling them. It is 
applicable to all institutions, including non-profit ones. 

Kotler says that the most important tasks in marketing are studying the 
market, segmenting it, targeting the people you want to service, positioning 
yourself in the market and creating a service that meets people's needs. 

"The contrast between marketing and selling is whether you start with 
customers, or consumers, or groups you want to serve well -- that's marketing. If you 
start with a set of products you have, and want to push them out into any 
market you can find, that's selling," he once said in a special interview with 
Peter Drucker, one of the world's best-known management gurus. 

Many organizations define very clearly the needs they wish to serve. But they 
often base their definitions on their own interpretations. They do not 
understand "needs" from the consumer's perspective. According to Kotler, the main 
question in marketing is whether an organization is customer-minded or not. 

Kotler, an economist-turned-marketer, has always underlined the importance of 
focusing attention on consumers, rather than products and their prices. 

Kotler was actually not trained as an economist. He studied economics at the 
University of Chicago and was awarded a PhD in economics from the 
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the U.S. 

But the lack of attention paid to marketing by the economics syllabus 
encouraged him to learn more about the topic. 

His study of marketing finally paid off. He has written dozens of marketing 
books, including Marketing Management, one of the most influential among 
students and the public. 

His influence on marketing is not confined to the United States alone. His 
thoughts have also been echoed by marketers in Asia, where noted marketing 
experts like Indonesia's Hermawan Kartajaya became avid disciples of the well-known 
guru. 

In Asia, he co-authored several books -- specially tailored to local needs -- 
with experts who are considered to be most attuned to and knowledgeable about 
local conditions. One of these books is Repositioning Asia, From Bubble to 
Sustainable Economy, which was written in collaboration with Hermawan. 

In recognition of his outstanding role in the field of marketing, the 
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) established the Philip Kotler Center 
for ASEAN Marketing on Nov. 24, 2005, which is aimed at assisting 
businesspeople in the region with marketing strategy. 

Recently, the Financial Times, one of the world's leading business 
newspapers, recognized Kotler as a man who had made an outstanding contribution to the 
field of marketing. 

The Times said that Kotler had raised the profile of marketing, and had 
managed to divert attention away from the importance of price and distribution to 
that of marketing in attempting to beat the competition. 

He had also broadened the concept of marketing from selling per se to 
communication. His integrated concept, which also included the incorporation of 
corporate social responsibility into marketing strategy, needed to be applied by 
all institutions, be they profit-seeking or non profit-seeking. 

Good marketing strategy, therefore, goes beyond the issues of products, 
prices and advertising. It entails presenting a human face as part of a life 
mission to meet human needs. 

This makes the job of selling in a company much easier. Or even, perhaps, 
will render selling redundant. As both Drucker and Kotler have pointed out, the 
true aim of marketing is to make selling unnecessary. 

-------------------------------------

Nissan to set up new Indonesian factory as export base

JAKARTA, August 11 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - Nissan Motor Co.,
Japan's second largest car maker, plans to build a factory in
Indonesia and make the country a Nissan car and component 
export base for the global market.

The factory will support the marketing of its Livina Geniss
multipurpose vehicle (MPV) to be launched in 2007, Bisnis Indonesia
newspaper said.

The plan to operate the export facility has been discussed with the
principal, said Teddy Irawan, sales and marketing director of PT
Nissan Motor Distribution Indonesia, without providing investment or
capacity figures.

Nissan has said it plans to increase its market share in Indonesia,
hoping for a fivefold increase to 30,000 units by 2007.

Yasuaki Hashimoto, vice president of Nissan Motor Indonesia, said
various parts of the Livinas to be sold in the country will be
produced in Indonesia while other components will be imported from
China and Thailand.

-----------------------------------

The Jakarta Post
August 11, 2006

DPD to stage local investment forum 

Andi Haswidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In the hope of encouraging the country's regions to become more proactive and 
receptive toward inward investment, the Regional Representatives Council 
(DPD), in collaboration with a global event organizer, will host an event titled 
the Indonesian Regional Investment Forum in November.

"We want to make local governments more proactive and to take the initiative 
in encouraging inward investment into their regions. We hope that this event 
will serve as the catalyst in encouraging the regions to promote their 
potentialities," DPD Deputy Speaker Irman Gusman said Thursday. 

Speaking also in his capacity as the chairman of the forum's organizing 
committee, Irman said that in this era of globalization, local governments had to 
be creative in providing jobs and alleviating poverty through the encouragement 
of new investment. 

"This is the real meaning of local autonomy. This is real development. This 
is the essence of decentralization, the creation of prosperity." 

Irman said the two-day investment forum, which began Nov. 2, would be 
attended by delegations from more than 15 countries and would be addressed by a 
number of prominent speakers, including the President, several ministers and a 
number of governors representing the country's local chief executives. 

He said that the delegates would be informed about what the government was 
doing to improve the investment climate and also be brought on visits to major 
projects and companies that were open and ready for investment. 

According to Irman, the keynote speaker will be C.K. Prahalad, the author of 
The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty through Profits, 
who has been dubbed the most influential thinker on business strategy today 
by Business Week magazine. 

"There are still many problems concerning investment in Indonesia, but at 
least the upcoming investment forum will serve as a starting point based on which 
the DPD can serve as a catalyst for promoting what is encapsulated in 
Prahalad's theories," said former minister Sarwono Kusmaatmaja, also a member of the 
DPD. 

Despite the dire need for investment, various surveys have confirmed that the 
regulations issued by many local governments are actually detrimental to 
investment. 

President Soesilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who recently arrived back from a trip to 
Singapore, expressed disappointment Monday about the state of the country's 
investment climate, saying that foreign investors were still not interested in 
putting their money into Indonesia as little had improved here. 

"I really felt disheartened when our Singaporean friends said that they still 
did not consider Indonesia to be an attractive investment destination as 
nothing had changed," Soesilo said as quoted by Indo Pos. 

----------------------------------

Cut in key Indonesian rate to boost consumer sector: Economist

JAKARTA, August 11 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - The 50-basis point cut of the
central bank's reference interest rate is expected to boost consumer
credits, which will push up demand for automotive and property
products, an economist said.

Director of Social and Economic Research Institute at the University
of Indonesia Chatib Basri said an increase in consumer credits will
also contribute to the economic growth in the third quarter of this
year.

A number of major economic indicators have improved, rising from the
rock bottom in the first quarter of this year, Basri added.

He said the markets of cars, cement and motorcycles are expected to
revive, but there is no sign yet of the impact on investment, which
has tended to decline until June over problem in capital.

He predicted the economic growth will be higher in the second half of
this year, but the annual growth will be around 5.4%-5.6%.

----------------------------------

The Jakarta Posy
August 11, 2006

BES designated bond-data center 

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Capital Markets Supervisory Agency (Bapepam) has officially designated 
the Surabaya Stock Exchange (BES) as the country's sole bond-transaction 
reporting center as part of Bapepam's efforts to provide an integrated source of 
information on bond prices and yields for investors.

The Surabaya bourse commenced operating as the reporting center Wednesday, 
following the issuance of a directive on July 31 by Bapepam director Fuad 
Rahmany announcing the appointment of the BES as Indonesia's reporting center, as 
well as the agency's latest regulations on bond-transaction reporting. 

With the appointment of the BES, all trades, swaps, repurchases, transfers or 
other forms of exchange of both corporate and government bonds, conducted on 
or off the market, must be reported to the BES within one hour of the 
transaction taking place. 

The particulars that traders are required to report include the name and type 
of the bond, its price and yield, the volume and value of the transaction, 
settlement details and the parties involved in the transaction. 

The BES will then combine this information with data from the Indonesian 
Central Securities Depository (KSEI), and from Bank Indonesia (BI) as the central 
registry for government bonds, and make it freely available to interested 
investors and members of the public. 

The BES will provide all the necessary technology and infrastructure to allow 
for real-time reporting and publication free of charge. 

Any additional fee-based services must be approved by Bapepam. 

The BES will provide details of the reporting system and procedures to 
traders and the public within one year, the bourse said in a statement. 

The BES has been acting as the country's main bond market for some time, and 
has been providing bond market information to the public in the form of the 
Indonesian Government Bond Price Index and the Indonesian Government Securities 
Yield Curve since 2000. 

It's recent designation as the country's bond transaction reporting center 
came hot on the heels after it was appointed to manage the secondary market for 
Indonesia's first-ever retail bond sale. 

However, the Indonesian Government Securities Inter-dealer Association 
(Himdasun) has been reluctant to officially acknowledge the BES as the nation's 
reporting center following disagreements over fees. 

------------------------------------

Most banks in Indonesia confident economy will improve in H2

JAKARTA, August 11 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - Bank Indonesia said only 37
of 84 banks which already submitted their business plans to the
central bank have revised their targets for the second half of this
year.

A researcher at the central bank, Tirta Segara, said most banks are
optimistic that the economy will improve in the second half of this
year.

Tirta, however, said credits are forecast grow 15 per cent-16 per cent
this year, lower than the previous projection of 18 per cent-20 per
cent by the central bank.

The country's largest lender Bank Mandiri (JSX:BMRI), which was most
beset by non performing loans (NPL), is not among the 37 banks
revising their targets.

Tirta said in general the condition of the banking industry has
improved by a number of indicators including credit expansion, capital
adequacy ratio, NPL and efficiency.

Based on data at the central bank, the CARs of Indonesian banks
average 20.5 per cent, which is higher than in many other countries.

---------------------------------------------------------------

update: Indonesia delays second retail bonds-fin ministry

JAKARTA, August 11 (Reuters) - Indonesia has delayed a plan to sell
its second retail bonds previously planned by the end of the year
because it has enough funds, the finance ministry's treasury director
general told reporters on Friday.

--------------------------------------------------------------

ASEAN must boost links with China, India 

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia, Aug. 11 (AP): Southeast Asia's prosperity could hinge 
on supplying goods to China and India and luring investments from them, 
instead competing with economic giants in Western markets, a top international 
development expert said Friday.

China will likely become the world's biggest economy by 2025, while India 
might eclipse the U.S. economy by the middle of this century, said Jeffrey Sachs, 
the director of the U.N. Millennium Project.

Any effort by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations to 
collectively challenge the two powerhouses won't bear much fruit, Sachs told 
reporters while visiting Malaysia for talks with government officials on financial 
policies.

"The idea of ASEAN as an exclusive trade unit to somehow give protection 
(against) China and India is probably not in the cards," he said. "I wouldn't see 
a defensive union make any sense."

ASEAN has expressed hopes of creating an ASEAN Economic Community by 2020, 
which some officials say could help the region avoid being dwarfed economically 
by China and India.

Several countries are spearheading calls for the plan - which would 
facilitate a free flow of products, services and human resources across the region - to 
be brought forward to 2015.

A wide economic gulf divides ASEAN's six more developed nations - Brunei, 
Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand - and its four newer 
members - Cambodia, communist Vietnam and Laos and military-ruled Myanmar - 
in a region of 550million people.

Sachs, a professor who heads The Earth Institute at Columbia University, said 
ASEAN cannot thrive without engaging its largest neighbors, stressing that 
Southeast Asia's "interests in being extremely active with China and India are 
too powerful."

"What is interesting is how ASEAN is going to be supplying goods to India and 
China, how it's going to be attracting investments from those countries."

ASEAN countries must improve their ability to export modern products and draw 
investments by emphasizing information technology and human capital through 
efforts such as expanding broadband Internet facilities and revamping education 
to cultivate computer-savvy workers, Sachs said. 

-----------------------------------

Indonesia's Berlian Tanker plans sale, leaseback of vessel for 45 mln usd

JAKARTA, August 11 (XFN-ASIA) - Shipping firm PT Berlian Laju Tanker
said it plans to sell one of its vessels to First Ship Lease Ltd (FSL)
for 45 mln usd.

The ship, the Prita Dewi, will then be leased back.

In a statement, Berlian said the transaction is designed to provide
the firm with additional cashflow to be used for its regular
operations as well as for financing activities.

It noted that by leasing back the vessel, its fleet capacity growth is
not affected, and there is no adverse affect on its operating revenue.

Berlian has previously sold and leasebacked two vessels.

FSL is a Singapore based company which provides leasing services to
the international shipping industry.

Berlian said it will hold a shareholders meeting on Sept 11 to seek
approval for the proposal.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Australia's QSL to help develop Indonesian sugar industry

JAKARTA, August 11 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - State-owned sugar company PT
Rajawali Nusantara Indonesia (RNI) plans to cooperate with Australia's
Queensland Sugar Limited (QSL) to develop the country's sugar
industry.

The cooperation plan will include revitalizing sugar industry, growing
high yield seedlings, exchange of experts and expansion of capacity,
said Agung P. Murdanoto, an executive of RNI.

Agung said the cooperation plan is to be implemented in the planting
season next year.

"We hope the step will serve as a motor in the efforts toward
realization of self sufficiency target in sugar supply," he said here
Tuesday.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Foreign fishing firms eager to comply with Indonesia's new rules

JAKARTA, August 11 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - Around 500 foreign fishing
companies have indicated interest in investing in the fishery sector
in line with the new regulation adopted by the government.

The fishing companies plan to invest up to US$500 million, Maritime
and Fishery Minister Freddy Numberi said Thursday.

The government has issued new regulations requiring foreign fishing
companies to build domestic fish processing factories, and has banned
them from exporting fish fresh from the sea.

The policy is aimed at boosting investment in the domestic sector and
providing more local jobs, Numberi has said, adding currently most
fish caught by foreign fishing vessels are sent abroad.

Earlier, fishing companies from the Philippines and China have agreed
to build fish processing plants in Bitung, North Sulawesi and in Papua

-----------------------------------------------------------

Indonesia palm oil prices firm, trading slow

JAKARTA, August 11 (Reuters) - Tight crude palm oil supply supported
Indonesian prices on Friday, but trading was subdued as players stayed
on the sidelines to await clearer price leads next week.

Crude palm oil at the state marketing centre's auction in Jakarta
traded at 4,463 rupiah ($0.492) a kg, up from 4,450 rupiah on
Thursday.

There were no local auctions in Medan, the provincial capital of North
Sumatra and the key port for palm oil exports.

"There is no news or guidelines whatsoever, so everybody just waits
for Monday," said a trader in Medan.

In Jakarta, cooking oil traded at 5,100-5,140 rupiah, little changed
from Thursday and supported by good demand and tight supply.

"Local crude palm oil supply is still tight. Buyers only purchase
enough stocks for the short term," said a trader in Jakarta.

Traders said drought had reduced river water levels, hampering
shipment from oil palm-growing areas such as Kalimantan to ports in
Sumatra and Java, where olein refiners are concentrated.

On the export front, sellers offered Aug/Sept shipment at $460 a
tonne, free on board Belawan, against bids of $455. No deals were
reported.

"The local market is more interesting now for exporters as it fetches
higher prices. So they prefer to sell it to the local market than
export," said another trader in Medan.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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