Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Business & Trade updates from Jakarta














- Indonesia Pawnshop Hopes To Post $400 Mln In Turnover In July

- Indonesian Banks May Cut Interest Rates To 10%

- Bank Indonesia Exploring Cooperation With Middle East Banks

- Indonesia's H1 Motorcycle Exports Down 39%

- Indonesian PC Sales Forecast To Increase To 1.45 Mln Units

- Icon+ To Build Telephone Networks In 7,730 Indonesian Villages

- Indonesian Property Co Ciputra To Build 3 Towns In China

- Indonesian Co Astra Agro Posts Earnings Drop Despite Sales Rise

- Indonesia Govt To Encourage Production Of Arabica Coffee

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Indonesia Pawnshop Hopes To Post $400 Mln In Turnover In July

JAKARTA, July 14 Asia Pulse - Indonesian state pawnshop Perum
Pegadaian said it hopes to post Rp4 trillion (US$400 million) in
turn over in July up from normal level of Rp3.7 trillion a month.

The increase was attributable mainly to the new academic year
when many people needed additional funds, Pegadaian finance
director Budianto said.

Budianto predicted the trend would continue through the rests of
the year with the coming Idul Ftri to be followed with Christmas
and New Year celebrations.

He said the company was expected to post Rp48 trillion in turn
over this year, up from Rp33 trillion last year.

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Indonesian Banks May Cut Interest Rates To 10%

JAKARTA, July 15 Asia Pulse - Banks could cut their corporate
credit interest rates to as low as 10 per cent in the second
half of this year to follow the lead by the central bank, a
senior banker said.

The steady cut in Bank Indonesia benchmark interest rate (BI
Rate) and improving economic condition would allow banks to
offer cheaper credits, Sudargo Sudaryanto, the corporate
director of state lender Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) (JSX:BBRI)
said.

Currently the interest rate on corporate credit offered by BRI
ranges from 12 per cent-23 per cent, Sudargo said.

In the past several months BRI already cut its interest rates by
50 basis points every month, he said, adding, the bank hopes to
be able to continue the policy to encourage borrowers.

The bank has large undisbursed loans, he was quoted as saying by
the newspaper Investor Daily without giving figure.

Meanwhile, Krishna Suparto, corporate director of PT Bank Negara
Indonesia (BNI) (JSX:BBNI), another state lender, said if the BI
Rate is cut further to 6 per cent from 6.75 per cent at present,
BNI would be able to offer cheaper credit at an interest rate of
10 per cent.

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Bank Indonesia Exploring Cooperation With Middle East Banks

JAKARTA, July 15 Asia pulse - Indonesian state-owned bank Bank
Negara Indonesia (BNI) is exploring cooperation possibilities
with banks from the Middle East.

"It is still being discussed. The form of cooperation is still
being discussed from various aspects," bank vice president
director, Felia Salim, said on Tuesday.

She would not mention the names of the banks BNI planned to
cooperate with as yet. It was reported earlier that BNI would
cooperate with the Bank of Qatar.

BNI meanwhile is also still continuing the process of
cooperation with the Islamic Corporation for the Development of
the Private Sector (ICD). The two banks planned to cooperate in
the establishment of a shariah-based bank.

BNI and ICD, which is a subsidiary of the Islamic Development
Bank (IDB), have agreed to set up a shariah bank from a spin-off
BNI shariah unit.

BNI expects the spin off of its shariah unit with a capital of
Rp500 billion (US$49 million) to finish this year so that the
ICD could immediately join and invest in it.

Several investors from the Middle East meanwhile were reported
early this year to enter the banking sector in the country
including QIB from Qatar and Kuwait Investment House.

The director of shariah banking at Bank Indonesia, Ramzi A
Zuhdi, believed the Middle Eastern investors would not yet enter
this year.

"I think no investor from the Middle East will enter this year
because of the impact of the world financial crisis which has
certainly also affected their finances," he said.

------------------------

Indonesia's H1 Motorcycle Exports Down 39%

JAKARTA, July 15 Asia pulse - Indonesia`s motorcycle exports in
the first five months of 2009 fell 39 per cent to 16,841 from
the same period a year earlier on the economic slowdown in a
number of export destinations.

The global financial crisis had a significant impact on almost
all countries, including the overseas market for Indonesian
motorcycles, Chief of the Indonesian Motorcycle Manufacturers
Association (AISI) Gunadi Shinduwinata said on Tuesday.

"But because our motorcycle exports were small compared to the
total domestic sales, the drop did not have a significant impact
on the domestic motorcycle industry," he said.

He said the country`s export of almost all commodities including
automotive products saw a decline because of the crisis.

Data from the Industry Ministry show the country`s motorcycle
production in the year ended May stood at 2,078,774 units of
which 2,061,685 units were sold at home.

Motorcycle exports in the January-May 2009 period fell 39.6 per
cent to 16,841 from 27,917 in the same period last year,
according to the data.

In May 2009 alone, motorcycle exports fell 45.1 per cent to
2,810 compared to January when the figure was 5,119.

Commenting on the drop in motorcycle exports, Director General
of Transportation Means and Telematics Industry at the Industry
Ministry Budi Darmadi said the situation in the export market
was difficult to predict.

"The condition in each country varies. Each nation has different
characteristics from the standpoint of social, economic and
political aspects. And this is beyond our control," he said.

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Indonesian PC Sales Forecast To Increase To 1.45 Mln Units

JAKARTA, July 14 Asia Pulse - Sales of personal computers (PC)
in Indonesia are predicted to rise to 1.45 million units in the
second half of this year from 1.15 million units in the first
six months of the year.

Improvement in the economic condition would help push up demand
for PCs, Suhanda Wijaya, chairman of the association of computer
companies said.

The sales target of 2.6 million units in 2009 was higher than
total sales of 2.4 million units last year, Suhanda told the
newspaper Investor Daily .

Notebooks still dominated PC sales, accounting for 70 per cent
of the total sales in the first half of this year.

----------------------

Icon+ To Build Telephone Networks In 7,730 Indonesian Villages

JAKARTA, July 15 Asia Pulse - PT Indonesia Comnet Plus (Icon+)
says it will build telephone networks in 7,730 villages after it
was named the winner of Universal Service Obligation (USO)
tender.

USO is a government program to build telecommunications systems
in rural areas not yet reached by the existing fixed
telecommunications operators.

Icon+ president Mulyo Adji AG said the project would cost around
Rp730 billion (US$71.54 million) and the fund has been available
at the state minister for communication and information from USO
contributions by telecommunications operators.

Work would start after the signing of the USO contract on July
17 and in 2011, the entire 7,730 villages should have telephone
links, Mulyo told the newspaper Investor Daily.

Telkomsel won a previous tender to build telephone networks for
24,000 other villages in the country.

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Indonesian Property Co Ciputra To Build 3 Towns In China

JAKARTA, July 15 Asia Pulse - Indonesian property company group
the Ciputra Group said it will expand operations to China to
build three townships in that country.

Initial agreements have been signed on the three projects with
construction to start next year, the group chairperson Ciputra
said.

The first township to be built is in Nanjing, to be followed
with one in Chiason and another in area north of Beijing,
Ciputra said.

The Nanjing project will be built over a 900 hectare plot of
land to be carried out by phases in 10 years in cooperation with
a Chinese state company.

The Ciputra Group will have a 30 per cent stake in each of the
projects, Ciputra was quoted as saying by the newspaper Investor
Daily .

The Ciputra Group already built or is building similar projects
in India, Vietnam and Cambodia.

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Indonesian Co Astra Agro Posts Earnings Drop Despite Sales Rise

JAKARTA, July 15 Asia Pulse - Palm oil producer PT Astra Agro
Lestari (JSX:AALI) estimated a 26 per cent decline in earning to
Rp3.41 trillion (US$341 million) in the first half of this year
despite an increase in sales volume.

The fall in the sale value followed a price fall of that
commodity down to an average of Rp6,386 per kg in the first six
months of this year from Rp8,299 per kg in the same period last
year.

The publicly traded agribusiness company sold 494,018 tons of
crude palm oil (CPO) in the first half of this year up from
476,909 tons valued at Rp4.64 trillion year-on-year, company
spokesman Tjahyo Dwi Arianto said.

The company also produces rubber but that commodity has little
contribution to the income of subsidiary of the Astra Group.

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Indonesia Govt To Encourage Production Of Arabica Coffee

JAKARTA, July 15 Asia Pulse - The Indonesian government will
encourage farmers to boost production of Arabica coffee to
increase earning from coffee exports.

Last year, the country earned US$700 million from coffee exports
mainly Robusta coffee.

Robusta makes up 80 per cent of the country's coffee exports
while Arabica dominates 70 per cent of the world's market,
Plantation Director General Achmad Manggabarani said.

Manggabarani said the government will contribute by offering
high yield Arabica coffee seeds to 21 district areas.

He said the government has also set aside Rp983.7 billion
(US$96.4 million) this year to improve coffee quality and
productivity .

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