State-owned oil and gas company Pertamina booked net profit of US$1.42 billion last year, down slightly by 1.8% from 2014 as sales revenues fell 40.3% to US$41.8 billion. Petronas, Malaysia’s oil and gas company, meanwhile, posted net profit of US$3.17 billion, crashed 65% from 2014.
Read MoreWeak prices of commodities was one of factors leading to Indonesia’s ‘failure’ to get a rating upgrade from S&P, because it affects outlook of revenue side of the State Budget, hence prospect of government spending in infrastructure, among others. This is, of course, an external factor nothing the government can do about.
Read MoreRather than spending too much time in analyzing S&P’s decision not to upgrade Indonesia’s sovereign ratings, the country should fix issues contributing to lack of investments. One of them is reliability of electricity supply. President Jokowi was right to move on with his ‘work, work, and work’ campaign by visiting three provinces of Aceh, Bangka Belitung, and West Kalimantan within 24 hours to remind local governments that infrastructure development won’t go anywhere without their support in land acquisition.
Read MoreLast, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo told the press that Japan had agreed to join in on the Patimban port project in Subang, West Java. And on Tuesday earlier this week (May 31), Minister of Transportation Ignatius Jonan confirmed the news. Jonan said that Japan would provide Indonesia with a tight loan, the amount for which was still being discussed. This development came after Jokowi’s recent visits overseas—to South Korea and Russia—in a bid to seek investments for Indonesia major infrastructure development push. It’s interesting to observe which country gets what projects to get a glimpse into Jokowi’s idea of balancing geopolitics.
Read MoreMedia reported plans from some investors, including a consortium of Amata B Grimm Power Group and Global Power Synergy (PTT Group), to acquire 51% shares of PT Medco Power International (MPI), less than five years after Saratoga acquiring the shares from Medco Energi Internasional (MEDC).
Read MoreThe rumor that Heru Budi Hartono had withdrawn from running in Jakarta’s 2017 gubernatorial race as Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama’s running mate continues to spread. Ahok himself has responded to the rumor in a calm manner. He even threw jokes that maybe Heru wanted to resign and make way for Vice Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat. Some think that Heru’s withdrawal is a part of a scenario for sabotaging Ahok’s gubernatorial bid. But what if it’s a plot twist? What if Heru’s withdrawal is actually a part of scenario of paving the way for Djarot and PDI-P to rejoin Ahok? Once again, anything is possible in politics.
Read MorePolice Inspector General Ari Dono Sukmanto was sworn in as the new Chief of the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Unit (Bareskrim Polri) on May 31, 2016. Ari Dono’s predecessor Anang Iskandar left behind a lot of unfinished work. The three main ones are:
Read MoreIndonesian Harita Group and Chinese company Hongqiao will soon operate commercially the first smelter grade alumina (SGA) in Indonesia. The multi billion USD project guarantees revitalisation of bauxite mining at Cita Mineral (CITA), subsidiary of Harita Group, and its subsidiaries.
Read MoreIndonesia’s foreign tourist arrivals saw a 12.37% rise in April from a year earlier, contributing to 7.51% growth in the first four months of the year. Occupancy rate of hotels in 27 provinces also improved to 54.3% in April, while air travel passengers grew 18.5% to 24.6 million in the first four months of 2016.
Read MoreAsian markets were lower in early trade ahead of Australia’s retail sales, European Central Bank rate decision and U.S. ADP jobs report, Cnbc.com reported. The composite index of the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) gained 0.89% to close at 4,839 Wednesday (June 1). Foreign investors booked net buy of Rp33.8 billion, bringing year-to-date buy to Rp4.24 trillion.
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