OMBUDSMAN TO STUDY GOVT'S INTERCONNECTION RATE POLICY

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Sept 9 (Antara) - The Indonesian Ombudsman will study the government's plan to reduce the mobile communication interconnection fee.          The plan is being questioned by the country's largest mobile telecommunication operator, Telkomsel, but other operators in the country are supporting it.          The Indonesian Ombudsman will convene a plenary meeting to look into the matter following a report by the Indonesian Forum for Transparency (Fitra) on the planned reduction in the interconnection fee, or off-net tariff.          "We will hold a plenary meeting to see and decide the crucial points with regard to the government's plan," Indonesian Ombudsman Chairman Alamsyah Saragih informed in Jakarta on Wednesday (Sept 7).          Alamsyah questioned whether the government, in this case, the Ministry of Informatics and Communication (Kemenkominfo), had discussed it with the relevant parties or other cellular operators before deciding to cut the off-net rates.          As of now, subscribers pay interconnection fees, or off-net rates, when they use their phones to connect with telecommunication networks outside of the operator they subscribe to.

GOVT URGED TO FURTHER PROMOTE ITS TAX AMNESTY PROGRAM

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Sept 9 (Antara) - The government needs to conduct intensive campaigns to further promote its tax amnesty program so that it will attract more taxpayers and achieve its target of collecting Rp165 trillion from repatriated assets.          The government launched the tax amnesty program last July, hoping to redeem Rp165 trillion from Rp1,000 trillion repatriated assets, out of the estimated Rp4 thousand trillion assets being stashed overseas.          However, up to July 9, the total redemption from repatriated money the government collected amounted to only Rp8 trillion, or about 8.4 percent of the target. It was earlier predicted that significant amount of amnesty penalties would be collected in September, when the first period of three months will end, where redemption tariff is set at four percent.     The trend was in keeping with the prediction made by economists and the government that the participation of taxpayers was likely to increase in September, just as the deadline for the first tax amnesty period approaches.

INDONESIA SEEKS FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN E-COMMERCE

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Sept 8 (Antara) - The Indonesian government is considering boosting the development of e-commerce in the country and for that purpose it is seeking to attract foreign investment to the sector.            Indonesia's interest in developing e-commerce in the country was reflected when President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) recently offered a chance to foreign investors to invest in the sector.            The National Economic and Industry Committee (KEIN) supports the initiatives of President Widodo to attract e-commerce investment to Indonesia when he met with investors on the sidelines of the G-20 meeting some time ago in China.            "Of course KEIN supports such efforts, since the agenda of the President is to obviously discuss investment cooperation to market Indonesian products abroad. It is expected to improve the quality of Small Micro Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and makes them well-known globally through an e-commerce company," said KEIN Vice Chairman Arif Budimanta in an official statement received by Antara on Thursday.

INDONESIA CHECKS HAJJ PREPARATIONS IN SAUDI ARABIA

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Sept 7 (Antara) - While sending 168,800 pilgrims to Saudi Arabia, Indonesia is inspecting the state of hajj preparations in Arafah, Muzdalifah and Mina where millions of pilgrims will be hosted when the  hajj rituals are at a peak in Mecca.          Indonesian Minister of Religious Affairs Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, in his capacity as the Indonesian hajj pilgrims' leader, accompanied by Abdul Djalil, the director general of hajj affairs, and M Jasin, the inspector general of the Religious Affairs Ministry, toured Arafah, Muzdalifah and Mina plains on Tuesday to see the preparations.         The minister checked out the preparations regarding hajj tents, catering services, power supplies, health services and toilet facilities. He spent hours touring around Arafah, Muzdalifah and Mina plains to ensure that Muassasah (the Saudi hajj organizer) meets the requirements agreed to in the contract.         The peak rituals will take place in the Arafah plain on Zulhijjah 9, or September 11, 2016 Saudi time.

AMPERA BRIDGE TO SERVE AS ICON OF TOURISM

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Sept 6 (Antara) - South Sumatra's well-known Ampera Bridge which spans 1,177 meters over the Musi River in Palembang City will be transformed into a tourism icon for the province.          As a busy landmark, the bridge, which connects the Seberang Ulu and Seberang Ilir areas of the Palembang city, will be closed to vehicles during the night time and serve as a center of culinary delicacies for local and foreign tourists.          Transforming the Ampera Bridge into a culinary tourism center is expected to attract many local and foreign tourists and boost South Sumatra's tourism development.          "South Sumatra's tourism industry will develop rapidly if many tourists visit this region," South Sumatra Governor Alex Noerdin said when providing a first lecture at a new tourism polytechnic school in Palembang on Friday (Sept 2) last week.          According to Wikipedia, the bridge was planned during the era of Indonesia's first president, who wanted a bridge that could open and be a match for London's Tower Bridge. The funds for the construction came from Japanese war reparations.

FISH INDUSTRY TO FOCUS ON EASTERN REGION

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Sept 4 (Antara) - The Indonesian eastern region is rich in natural and maritime resources but it is relatively less developed if compared with the western part of the country.         As part of its efforts to carry out even development, President Joko Widodo's (Jokowi's) government is looking to the regions outside Java, particularly the eastern region.         In the field of fish industry, President Jokowi has the target to shift the focus of fish industrial development from Java to the eastern region of the country. The present government's concept necessitates that fish industry should not be concentrated on Java.        Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Susi Pudjiastuti therefore wanted the development of fishery processing centers to be shifted to regions outside Java such as Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Papua.         According to  Deputy Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) for Eastern Indonesia Andi Rukman Karumpa, Minister Susi's idea was in line with the maritime development vision of President Jokowi and Vice President Jusuf Kalla.

TAX AMNESTY PROGRAM NOT FOR SMALL TAXPAYERS

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Sept 2 (Antara) - Taxpayers belonging to the middle and low-income strata should not worry about the government's tax amnesty program because it will be enforced only on big taxpayers.          According to Chief Economic Minister Darmin Nasution, the main target of the government's tax amnesty program is to net those taxpayers who own big assets but have not yet properly paid taxes.          The tax amnesty plan also targets whose who stashed assets overseas. It is expected that they will avail of the tax amnesty and repatriate to Indonesia the funds they had parked abroad.          The government has estimated that assets worth Rp4,000 trillion are parked abroad, and expects that about one thousand trillion rupiah will be repatriated. Thus, the government will be able to collect some Rp165 trillion in redemption money and asset declaration funds in the coming nine months, from July 2016.          However, up to the end of August, 2016, assets repatriated were not even worth Rp2 trillion.          Following such a response, the government also intends to bring under the umbrella of the tax amnesty program those taxpayers who had not yet paid their due taxes rightfully at home.