INDONESIA BEGINS REJUVENATING OIL PALM PLANTATIONS

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Oct 13 (Antara) - Indonesia, the world's largest crude palm oil (CPO) producer, has begun rejuvenating its oil palm plantations as some of its 11.6 million hectare plantations are now aging.         Rejuvenating its palm plantations is very important for Indonesia to maintain its reputation as the world's largest CPO exporter. Hence, Indonesia is now beginning to renovate its plantations especially in Sumatra.         President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said the government will continue to rejuvenate the country's oil palm plantations, starting from Sumatra. The President made the remarks when inaugurating the rejuvenation of thousands of hectares of oil palm plantations in Musi Banyuasin District, South Sumatra on Friday.         The aim of plantation rejuvenation is to make the economy continue to increase. Moreover, CPO plays a significant role in the country's economy.         As some plantations are old, there has been a downward trend in CPO production.  According to  the Palm Oil Plantation Fund Managing Board (BPDP),  CPO exports fell two percent by volume in 2015, while production dropped by about seven percent.

PAPUA FOCUSES ON AIR INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Oct 12 (Antara) - The geographical conditions of the Indonesian easternmost province of Papua, especially in the remote areas, pose difficulties for land transportation, forcing the government to pay attention to the development of infrastructure for air transportation.          The means of transportation to reach remote areas in the mountainous regions in Papua is by small airplanes or helicopters. Hence, Papua continues to develop its airports or airstrips to facilitate the arrival of small planes or helicopters.          In Mimika District, for example, the government is developing the Hoeya and Bela airstrips in Jila subdistrict. Besides that, in Biak Numfor District, the Frans Kaisiepo International Airport is also being developed as a hub for air cargoes, apart from serving air passengers.          The Ministry of Transportation also continues to develop air transportation safety system, considering the difficult geographical conditions of regions in eastern Indonesia.         For this, the United States has also provided assistance worth US$1 million for the development of flight safety in the Indonesian eastern region, especial in Papua and Maluku provinces.         Head of Regional Transportation Service of Mimika District, John Rettob, stated in Timika early this month that Papua continued to develop the two airports of Hoeya and Bela in Jila subdistrict.

TEI 2017 SETS TRANSACTION TARGET OF US$1.1 BILLION

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Oct 11 (Antara) - Indonesia's annual five-day trade expo (TEI) 2017, which was opened by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) in BSD City, Tangerang, Banten Province, on Wednesday, has set a transaction target of US$1.1 billion.          Indonesia has invited Middle East countries and other nations to take part in the 32nd trade event, as part of the efforts to achieve the target.         The expo, which is attended by business delegations from different countries, such as Jordan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, and Cambodia, will showcase products by at least 1.1 thousand exhibitors.         The TEI is an annual trade exhibition organized by the Trade Ministry to introduce various high-quality service products and export commodities. The trade expo also highlights Indonesia as a destination country for international investors.         According to Jokowi, Indonesian products must be able to penetrate non-traditional markets in Africa, Eurasia, the Middle East, South Asia, and South America, among others.         Therefore, the president urged Indonesian embassies overseas to identify products in demand that Indonesian businessmen could meet. Indonesian embassies overseas have intensively promoted TEI 2017.

SOEs SHOULD MERGE TO REDUCE DOMINATION IN BUSINESS SECTORS

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Oct 11 (Antara) - Some 800 subsidiaries of 118 state-owned enterprises (SOEs) need to merge to reduce their domination in business sectors, so that small-scale private firms will have greater access to government projects.         This issue was raised by Rosan P. Roeslani, general chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), at its national meeting last week. In his speech, Roeslani highlighted the dominant roles played by SOEs in government projects due to which national private firms had lack of ample opportunities to secure projects.         "We hope the opportunity would first be given to national firms if they are unable to implement the projects and only then should they be offered to SOEs," Roeslani remarked during the meeting attended by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi).         There are several projects handled by SOEs and their subsidiaries, including small projects offered to their subcontractors, which should have, in fact, been offered to private firms and small companies.         Kadin expressed hope that SOEs would implement projects that can become their core areas of business and would not seize portions that should be carried out by the nation's private and small-scale companies.         "We hope that SOEs would return to conducting business in their core areas," Roeslani stressed.

CHEAP FUNDS NEEDED TO DEVELOP RENEWABLE ENERGY

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Oct 7 (Antara) - Indonesia should not harbor concerns over depleting fossil fuel reserves since it is rich in renewables, as the sources of energy in the future, and geothermal is one of the country's renewable source assets.         Geothermal power in Indonesia is an increasingly significant source of renewable energy, and as a result of its volcanic geology, it is often reported that the country has 40 percent of the world's potential geothermal resources, which is estimated to be 29 thousand megawatts.         However, Indonesia requires funds to develop its new and renewable sources of energy. The government wants renewable sources to contribute 23 percent of the country's energy mix by 2025, and the country has pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 29 percent by 2030.         In order to facilitate the development of renewable sources of energy, the Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Ministry is encouraging PT Sarana Multi Infrastruktur (SMI), a state-owned infrastructure funding company, to help develop new and renewable energy by disbursing low-interest loans.          At a presentation of a Micro Hydro project for Indonesia in Jakarta on Thursday, Deputy ESDM Minister Arcandra Tahar said the government is looking for cheap funds to develop the potential of new and renewable energy in Indonesia.

ACEH FARMERS' EXCHANGE RATE DECLINES

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Oct 4 (Antara) - The exchange rate of Aceh's farmers declined by 0.31 percent in September, as compared to that in the previous month of August.          Yet, the decline in the exchange rate of the farmers does not necessarily reflect a decline in their welfare. Moreover, last month, farmers' products, in the form of commodities, succeeded in boosting the province's economic growth.          The farmers' exchange rate (NTP) is not the best measurement to reflect the farmer's level of prosperity. Yet, it is a good indicator of the farmers' level of purchasing power.          Up till now, experts and observers are still debating whether the level of NTP reflects the level of farmers' welfare. Even though farmers' NTP in September dropped to 0.31 percent, yet in the second quarter of 2017, Aceh recorded an increase in economic growth thanks to the development of its agricultural sector, where about 70 percent of Aceh people are farmers.          Aceh Province recorded a higher economic growth in the second quarter as compared to the first quarter of 2017, owing to the contribution of several sectors, particularly plantation, and other agricultural commodities.

INDONESIA OFFERS INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS IN ASEM FORUM

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Oct 1 (Antara) -  Indonesia offered infrastructure projects to investors and discussed on-going others with partner countries during the 4th Asia Europe Meeting - Transport Ministers Meeting (ASEM-TMM) in Bali on September 26-28.         During the ASEM-TMM forum, Indonesia discussed cooperation in the transportation and other sectors with, among others, Britain, Japan, China, Poland, Hungary, South Korea, the Philippines and Singapore.         During the first day forum, Indonesian  Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi held the first bilateral meeting  with British Consultants to discuss cooperation in guide ship in the  Malacca Strait.          The British Consultants welcomed the idea of collaboration in vessel guides with European, Chinese, or Japanese. "During the first discussion, I proposed to a team from Britain to create a collaboration with ships guide owned by Europe, China, and Japan, and they expressed their ability to do so," the minister said.          Minister Sumadi discussed two possible cooperation with the Minister of Maritime, Economic and Interior Affairs of the Republic of Poland, Marek Grobarcyzk. Firstly, cooperation in the maritime sector, which included efforts to modernize the port in Kuala Tanjung, North Sumatra. Secondly, the offer of cooperation in the bus building industry, which included production and distribution to nearby countries.