Indonesia Morning News For May 18

Indonesia’s carmakers take aim at Australian market
When Indonesian President Joko Widodo met Toyota Indonesia vice president Warih Andang Tjahjono recently, one of the main topics of discussion was Indonesia’s export potential, with the country’s leader urging Toyota to try to ship more cars abroad.
–Nikkei Asian Review

Coal Exporters Should Fret as China, India Become Policy-Driven Markets: Russell
Coal exporters may be feeling more comfortable about their future as they see both reasonable demand from Asia’s top importers and prices which appear to be stabilizing at levels that allow for decent profits.
– Jakarta Globe

How Indonesia’s Bulog Struggles to Stabilize Food Supply
State Logistics Agency (Bulog) reached 50 years of age on 10 May 2017, a little more than two weeks before the start of the month-long Islamic fasting month on Ramadhan that starts on 27 May.
– Global Indonesian Voices

Chevron Evaluates Enhanced Oil Recovery Project in Rokan Block
Chevron Pacific Indonesia has yet to decide the fate of the enhanced oil recovery (EOR) project in Minas field, Rokan block, Riau.
– TEMPO

China’s JD.com Makes Reported Push Into Indonesia
Southeast Asia’s biggest market is beckoning e-commerce firm JD.com in what may be a huge investment. China’s JD is reportedly currently negotiating with PT Tokopedia, an e-commerce company in Indonesia, for a potential investment deal.
– China Tech News

Indonesia Car Sales Rise 5.7% in April
Car sales in Indonesia rose 5.7 percent in April from a year earlier, data released by the automotive industry association showed on Wednesday (17/05), as quoted by Astra International, an Indonesia-based firm primarily engaged in the automobile business. Automakers sold 89,588 vehicles in April, the data showed.
– Jakarta Globe

Motorcycle Sales Down 18.8% in April
Motorcycle sales in Indonesia fell 18.8 percent in April from a year earlier, data from an industry association showed on Wednesday (17/05).
– Jakarta Globe

Indonesia: Fisheries minister goes from strength to strength
“THOSE who don’t eat fish, I will sink!” ends a video released by the Indonesian fisheries ministry last week.
– Asian Correspondent

PGN Obtains 37bn BTU Gas from ConocoPhillips
State gas company PGN received 37 billion British thermal units (BTU) of natural gas from ConocoPhillips. PGN President Director Jobi Triananda Hasjim explained in its press release that the additional gas supply will be allocated to regions in Dumai, Riau.
– TEMPO

Soap to Chocolate: We Consume 17 Pounds of Palm Oil Each Year
Pick up any package in a supermarket and there’s about a 50 percent chance it’s got palm oil in it.
– Bloomberg

JCI Drops After New Rules Scrapping Bank Secrecy Announced
Indonesia’s benchmark stock index dropped slightly on Wednesday (17/05) amid negative sentiment following the government’s new regulation giving more power to tax authorities in accessing taxpayers’ accounts.
– Jakarta Globe

New Regulation on Bank Secrecy Not Expected to Disrupt Status Quo
he government’s new regulation granting federal tax authorities greater access to individual financial account information will not disrupt status quo banking activities, an economist said on Wednesday (17/05).
– Jakarta Globe

Tax Obedience Of the Wealthy Doubted by ICW
Firdaus Ilyas from Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) recently questioned about the tax obedience of Indonesia’s wealthiest who in average mostly have a deposit over Rp2 billion. Firdaus suspects that most wealthy people have not paid their tax duties.
– TEMPO

Jokowi Says HTI Disbandment Has Long Been Planned
President Joko Widodo said he will take legal action against those wanting to change the national ideology. “Those who violate the law will be prosecuted,” Jokowi yesterday said during a meeting with mass media executives at the Presidential Palace, Central Jakarta.
– TEMPO

Indonesia strives for zero garlic imports by 2018
Indonesia has bold aspirations for its garlic industry as it looks to achieve zero garlic imports by 2018.
– Fresh Plaza

Freeport Workers Expect Govt Intervention in Industrial Dispute
Freeport Indonesia Workers’ Union has urged the government to intervene in an industrial dispute between the workers and the mining company following the dismissal of 840 employees on May 15. “The move was out of control. Freeport cannot treat employees as they pleased,” Freeport Workers’ Union secretary-general Tri Puspita said yesterday.
– TEMPO

Branchless Banking Customers Vulnerable to Overcharges, Data Breaches: Survey
Early adopters of branchless and electronic banking services in Indonesia are vulnerable to agent misconduct due to a low public awareness of banking products, says a survey conducted by financial service consultancy firm MicroSave published on Tuesday (16/05).
– Jakarta Globe

Ministry Attests to the Zero Percent Down Payment Program
Syarif Burhanuddin from the General Works and People’s Housing Ministry says that the ‘0 percent down payment mortgage loan’, which recently became a topic of debate, is actually quite possible to realize.
– TEMPO

Japan, New Zealand to Work Together to Revive TPP
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his New Zealand counterpart, Bill English, on Wednesday said they would work together to bring to fruition the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, even after the United States ditched the free trade pact.
– TEMPO/ Reuters

Police Arrest 10 Suspected of Trafficking Workers to Saudi Arabia
Police have detained 10 people suspected of trafficking illegal workers from Indonesia to Saudi Arabia.
– Jakarta Globe

Govt to Complete 9 Large Dam Projects This Year
The Public Works and Public Housing Ministry will complete 9 large dam projects this year. The projects are part of the government’s plan to build 65 large dams until 2019.
– TEMPO/ Antara

Aceh Shariah Court Sentences Gay Couple to Caning
Aceh Islamic Shariah court has sentenced two gay men to public caning for the first time on Wednesday, May 17.
– TEMPO

Feature photo Anita
Find our previous morning news feature photos in the AEC News Today Morning News Feature Photos gallery where you will find a pictorial display of daily life throughout the Asean Economic Community (AEC).

Introducing The AEC News Today Mobile App

In an era of hectic schedules where time is precious, the AEC News Today mobile app enables you to stay up to date with the latest Asean news on governance and policy issues affecting the Asean Community while you are on the move and whenever you have a few minutes to spare.

See full details, including our AEC News Today Mobile App Privacy Statement here: Stay up to Date With The AEC News Today Mobile App

Download the AEC News Today mobile app from Google play or the App stores by clicking the icons below.

Indonesia morning news by AEC News Today is your one stop source for Indonesia news on matters of governance and policies affecting Asean business communities and is published M-F by AEC News Today: Governance, not government; policies not politics.

Indonesia Morning News For May 18 added by John Le Fevre on May 18, 2017
View all posts by John Le Fevre →

Bio
Latest Posts

John Le Fevre

Thailand editor at AEC News Today

John is an Australian national with more than 40 years experience as a journalist, photographer, videographer, and copy editor.

He has spent extensive periods of time working in Africa and throughout Southeast Asia, with stints in the Middle East, the USA, and England.

He has covered major world events including Operation Desert Shield/ Storm, the 1991 pillage in Zaire, the 1994 Rwanda genocide, the 1999 East Timor independence unrest, the 2004 Asian tsunami, and the 2009, 2010, and 2014 Bangkok political protests.

In 1995 he was a Walkley Award finalist, the highest awards in Australian journalism, for his coverage of the 1995 Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) Ebola outbreak.

Prior to AEC News Today he was the deputy editor and Thailand and Greater Mekong Sub-region editor for The Establishment Post, predecessor of Asean Today.

In the mid-80s and early 90s he owned JLF Promotions, the largest above and below the line marketing and PR firm servicing the high-technology industry in Australia. It was sold in 1995.