Indonesia Morning News For January 22

Widodo puts more starch in his ranks
What was billed as a Cabinet reshuffle turned out to be little more than a riffle, but in replacing his chief of staff with a retired military commander Indonesian President Joko Widodo is clearly inserting some starch into the ranks ahead of legislative and presidential elections in 2019.
— AsiaTimes

Indonesia to auction 43 oil and gas blocks by March
The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry plans to offer 40 conventional and three unconventional oil and gas blocks through a tender in early March, including 32 blocks that failed to attract investors in 2015-2017 auctions.
— The Jakarta Post

Govt Boosts Railway Industry to Compete in Global Market
Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto stated that Indonesia is one of the major players in railway manufacture in Southeast Asia.
— Tempo

Jokowi calls on banks to expand credits to small businesses
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo called on banks to diversify their loan disbursement to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to help them expand their businesses.
— The Jakarta Post

Indonesia plans exports of LNG to Pakistan, Bangladesh
INDONESIA’S Deputy Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Arcandra Tahar has said the country plans to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) to two South Asian countries — Pakistan and Bangladesh — with the trading values at about US$6 billion for each country.
— The Nation

Jokowi: Cash Labor-Intensive Program Increases Purchasing Power
President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo expected cash labor-intensive program implemented in numerous areas can increase the people’s purchasing power.
— Tempo

Trade Ministry issues raw sugar import license
The Trade Ministry has issued license for the importation of 1.8 million tons of raw sugar to meet local food and beverages industry demand in the first semester of 2018.
— Antara

Indonesia Production Capacity of Cars Reaches 225 Million Units
The production capacity of four-wheel vehicles in Indonesia in 2017 went up to 2,258,131 due to investments from Mitsubishi, Wuling and Sokon that produced their vehicles in Indonesia last year.
— Tempo

Gov’t to Lower Income Tax for Conventional, Online SMEs
Indonesia will cut final income tax on small and medium enterprises by half and also impose taxes on e-commerce businesses to even the playing field between traditional brick and mortar and digital businesses, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said on Friday (19/01).
— JakartaGlobe

Indonesia unhappy with EU plans to ban palm oil biofuels
The Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has criticized the European Union for backing a ban on the use of palm oil in biofuels, calling it a protectionist move.
— Antara

Business booming for Indonesia’s ‘sharia motorbike taxis’
Women in Indonesia are escaping gridlock by jumping aboard a new transport service that is deemed acceptable under Islamic sharia law.
— ABC Online

Indonesia starts processing rice imports to stabilize prices
A senior economic minister of Indonesia said here on Friday that the country has started processing rice imports to stabilize prices and curb inflation.
— Antara

Indonesian govt relents on controversial fishing net ban
The Indonesian government has lifted a ban on the use of a controversial trawler net following protests by fishermen.
— UCA News

Indonesia expects to pass data protection bill in 2018
The government aims to deliberate and pass into law the personal data protection bill this year, although it is not listed in the 2018 National Legislation Program (Prolegnas).
— The Jakarta Post

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