Indonesia Morning News For December 12

Is Indonesia’s Widodo in China’s pocket?
The president’s rivals aim to portray him as overly reliant on Beijing in an emerging nationalistic campaign strategy for upcoming elections.
— Asia Times

Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand seek to boost local currency settlement
The central banks of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand launched a framework on Monday aimed at increasing direct settlement of transactions in their local currencies to reduce the current dependence on the U.S. dollar.
— Reuters

Six Sectors Will Boost Industry in 2018
Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto said six sectors are expected to boost the national industry in 2018.
— Tempo

Indonesia seeks control of aluminum supply chain
Employees at Indonesia Asahan Aluminium, the country’s only aluminum producer, looked cheerful as for the first time in many years they welcomed dozens of journalists from major publications in Jakarta.
— Nikkei Asian Review

Import duty to be slapped on intangible goods in 2018: Darmin
The government said intangible goods would be slapped with import duty starting January next year, a senior minister said here on Monday.
— Antara

Industry Expected to Grow 5.6 Percent in 2018
The Ministry of Industry targets the growth of non-oil and gas processing industry of 5.67 percent in 2018.
— Netral News

Amnesty International opens Indonesia office
Amnesty International has established a permanent presence in Indonesia by setting up an office in Jakarta with the aim of working more effectively with local human rights organizations and victims of abuse.
— UCA News

Indonesian officials learn about Australian fiscal policy
A member of both APEC and the G20, Indonesia has the largest economy in South East Asia which, since the Global Financial Crisis, has experienced strong sustained economic growth around five per cent.
— Griffith News

Three Lippo Group Companies Plan Rights Issuances in Q1 2018
Retail and property companies under the Lippo Group, an Indonesian diversified conglomerate, plan to issue new shares in the first quarter next year to fund business expansion and working capital, their executives said.
— JakartaGlobe

Jokowi Expects PTSP to be Operational in February 2018
President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) today talked about the importance of government transparency in permit issuance including on the one-door service.
— Tempo

Indonesia: Azure Ventures leads seed round in SaaS startup MailTarget
Indonesian marketing automation startup MailTarget received seed funding led by local venture capital (VC) firm Azure Ventures and an unnamed angel investor earlier this year, according to a Daily Social report.
— DealStreetAsia

Mitsubishi Motors and Indonesian Govt Agree on Electric Vehicles Development Plan
Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the Indonesian government regarding the development and use of electric vehicles in Indonesia, today, Monday (12/11/2017).
— Netral News

Trade Ministry: Indonesian Household Consumption Constantly Grow
According to Ministry of Trade’s Domestic trade General Tjahya Widayanti, the buying ability of Indonesian people has not weakened.
— Tempo

Syndicated loan by five banks to support LRT project
After undergoing lengthy discussions involving a number of ministries, the Greater Jakarta light rail transit (LRT Greater Jakarta) project has finally secured a syndicated loan from five banks.
— The Jakarta Post

ADB to Support Technological Transformation in Indonesia
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved $750,000 to Indonesia to provide knowledge support and technical assistance to study the impact of disruptive technologies on the Indonesia economy.
— Modern Diplomacy

Government kicks off Jakarta-Surabaya cargo ferry route
The Transportation Ministry kicked off on Sunday the operation of subsidized long distance cargo ferries for the Jakarta-Surabaya route to ease logistics distribution between the two major cities.
— The Jakarta Post

Luhut seeking to draw Qatari investors
Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan is leading an Indonesian delegation to Qatar to draw investors from that country to Indonesia.
— Antara

Indonesia detains 18 in pre-emptive bid to boost Christmas security
Indonesian anti-terrorism police have detained 18 people with links to militant groups in a bid to cut the risk of attacks during Christmas and the New Year in the world’s biggest Muslim-majority country, police said on Monday.
— The Business Times

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