There’s been no shortage on rumors and speculations about an upcoming cabinet reshuffle. But let’s aside the competing versions and talk about strategy. Here’s how we think the President should adjust his cabinet, provided that he has no other option but to do so.
Read MorePresident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo surprised many when he appointed Police Comr. Gen. Suhardi Alius as the new head of the National Counter-Terrorism Agency (BNPT), a vacant position left behind by General Tito Karnavian who is now the Chief of the National Police (POLRI). It was the Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law, and Security Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan who first broke the news to the press. Suhardi was quickly sworn in and the whole process left many stunned.
Read MoreOn July 18, 2016 the Ministry of Finance issued two Regulations of the Minister of Finance (PMK) to fulfil the mandate of Law No. 11/2016 on Tax Amnesty. The published regulations are PMKs No. 118/PMK.03/2016 and PMK No. 119/PMK.08/2016. The PMK 119 was published yesterday. It lists the procedures for the transfer of property of a taxpayer to the Indonesian territory, as well as the guidelines on and the variety of investment instruments available. Below is the brief explanation on PMK 119.
Read MoreAcquisition of 10.46% shares in PT Freeport Indonesia by Indonesian government and acquisition of Newmont Nusa Tenggara by a consortium of Medco Group might be the talks of the town, but actually there are lots of things going on in various industries, including in coal, oil & gas, and media.
Read MoreThe Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) held their inaugural session to examine the allegation of cartel practice in the motorcycle business on July 19, 2016. The reported parties in the trial are PT Yamaha Indonesia Motor Manufacturing (YIMM) and PT Astra Honda Motor (AHM). The allegation of cartel practices itself has been circulating since 2013, but the Commission only started conducting their investigations in 2015.
Read MoreOn Monday (July 18), the Financial Services Authority (OJK) has selected 19 banks to accommodate the repatriated funds of the Tax Amnesty program. The selected banks are, among others, BCA, BRI, Bank Mandiri, BNI, Bank Danamon, Bank Permata, Maybank Indonesia, Panin Indonesia, CIMB Niaga, UOB, Citibank, The Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank Corporation, DBS, Standard Chartered, Deustche Bank AG, Bank Mega, BPD Jabar dan Banten, Bank Bukopin, and Bank Syariah Mandiri.
Read MoreOther than infrastructure projects, President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo appealed to businessmen participating in the tax amnesty program to invest their funds in agriculture, fisheries, and mineral processing. The president pointed to the development of strategic commodities like sugar and soybean.
Read MorePresident Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo appealed to Indonesian businessmen with funds deposited overseas to participate in the country’s infrastructure development by repatriating their funds. Once again we don’t know whether Anthony Salim from Salim Group, one of the largest business groups in Indonesia with overseas operations from Australia to Brazil, would participate in the program.
Read MoreStrong car sales in June lifted domestic market by 1.2% to 531,929 units in the first half of 2016. Motorcycle sales, howver, declined 6.7% to 2.96 million units, despite strong growth in June. Who are winners and losers in the period? What about the second half?
Read MoreOn Wednesday (July 20), the composite index of the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) made a further jump while a day earlier we noted a volatile market with profit taking. It gained 1.35% to close at 5,243 yesterday with huge trading value of Rp8.15 trillion. Foreign investors booked net buy of Rp862.2 billion, bringing year-to-date net buy to Rp21.38 trillion.
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