February 04 th , 2008 - IFCCI -

NU calls for unity among nation's leaders

JAKARTA : Indonesia's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), has called on the country's leaders to unite to solve its problems.

"NU has invited them all because we think if they understand and help each other, half of the nation'sproblems can be solved. The most difficult thing is actually not to manage the people but to manage the leaders," NU chairman Hasyim Muzadi said in his speech during the commemoration of the organization's 82nd anniversary at the Bung Karno Stadium in Senayan, Central Jakarta, on Sunday.

The anniversary was attended by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and First Lady Kristiani Herawati,Vice President Jusuf Kalla and wife Mufida Kalla, People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Hidayat Nurwahid, Constitutional Court chairman Jimly Asshiddiqie, Supreme Audit Agency chairman Anwar Nasution, Muhammadiyah chairman Din Syamsudin and some Cabinet ministers.

Speaking before 100,000 NU members, Hasyim said that NU "wants to uplift the country's dignity in facing all these challenges by making our ulema and pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) to be our main factors in working together with the country'sother elements," he said.

President Yudhoyono said that as the largest Muslimorganization, the NU already had a strategic position.

"The NU community has to stay as a pioneer in development and be a role model for the nation," he said.

PKS targets 20 percent of votes, open for non-Muslim support

SANUR, Bali : The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) announced it will target 20 percent of votes in the 2009 legislative election, and welcomes non-Muslim constituents, the party leader said here on Friday.

"We are quite optimistic after the results of the 146 regional direct elections in 2007, of which we won 86 independently and through coalitions," Party chairman Tifatul Sembiring told reporters Friday on the sidelines of the party's national meeting.

The meeting was attended by some 1,500 participants including party members and national figures, like People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Hidayat Nurwahid who previously chaired PKS.

The party had significantly increased its supporters at regional elections including those in Jakarta, Bekasi and Banten, Tifatul said.

In the first ever Jakarta gubernatorial election PKS gained some 42.5 percent of the vote, he said.

"We fought alone against a coalition of 21 parties (in the election)."

Jakarta must improve drainage system: Expert

JAKARTA : Jakarta would be able to sustain many hours of local rain if it had a proper drainage network, a planning expert said Friday.

Basah Hernowo, the director of forestry and water resource conservation at the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas), said floods that inundated the capital Friday were a direct result of the city's clogged drainage system.

"On Friday, Jakarta only experienced local rain and the rainwater could have receded quickly if it was channeled properly. The floods indicate that parts of the city's micro drainage system is blocked and some canals are not functioning properly," Basah told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

"We were flooded even though it was only local rain. What if it was combined with floods from Bogor and Puncak? I'm afraid the city's drainage system won't be able to channel rainwater quickly enough," Basah said.

On Friday, parts of Jakarta became flooded when heavy rain that started Thursday night continued Friday morning.

Basah said Jakarta had become more vulnerable to flooding as it could not handle downpours that lasted more than 12 hours.

Mandatory use for biofuel may be set at 2-2.5%

JAKARTA : The National Biofuel Development Committee has suggested the government make it mandatory for biofuels to constitute 2 to 2.5 percent of the nation's total fuel consumption.

This would equal 1.2 million to 1.5 million kiloliters (kl) per year.

Evita H. Legowo, the first secretary of the committee, told The Jakarta Post on Sunday it had been suggested the policy come into effect in July before the committee's tenure ended in August.

The policy would be imposed in every region across the country, not only in Java and Sumatra as previously proposed, she added.

"I don't think the policy will cause any problems as Pertamina is currently distributing Biosolar fuel with a biofuel content of 2.5 percent in most provinces in Indonesia," Evita said.

She said the proposed policy was quite realistic as the country was already producing between 1.5 million and 1.8 million kl of biofuel per year.

Evita said it had not been decided whether the policy would be applied in the industrial sector, the transportation sector, or both.

Govt to require airlines to buy, rather than lease, planes

JAKARTA : With only a few domestic airlines possessing ownership of aircraft, the Transportation Ministry is drafting a revision to a ministerial decree on airline services, requiring domestic airlines to own at least two planes, an official saidFriday.

Most airlines in the country lease aircraft.

"Initially the new regulation will apply only to new companies applying for permits, but after a year, it will also apply to all domestic airline companies," said Hemi Pamuraharjo, the domesticflights section-head at the Ministry.

The draft is currently under review by a ministry legal team and is expected to be in force by March.

"A few companies including Garuda and Merpati own several planes, but others mostly lease aircraft due to budget considerations," he said.

According to ministry data, as of last year, 15 companies served domestic flights.

Several new companies, including Lorena Air, have obtained operation permits, but are not yet operational as they have yet to secure a lease or ownership of a plane.

Export growth below target in 2007

JAKARTA : The country's total exports grew by 13.09 percent in 2007, a figure which was below the government's target of 14.5 percent, said the latest report from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).

The BPS report issued Friday shows exports reached a total value of US$113.99 billion last year.

Non-oil and gas export categories contributed a total of $91.94 billion, an increase of 15.51 percent compared with 2006.

The other category, oil and gas, reached $22.05 billion in total exports in 2007, an increase of four percent from $21.2 billion the previous year.

Within the non-oil and gas category, the sub category of vegetable oil and fat products was the largest contributor at 11.13 percent, of which some 90 percent included exports of crude palm oil products that reached $10.2 billion throughout the year.

The second largest contributor in the non-oil and gas sector was machinery and electrical goods with total exports worth $7.44 billion -- a growth of 8.09 percent.

Mineral products came in third place, with total exports at $7.06 billion, up by 7.69 percent.

Bank Resona to issue $50m in global bonds

JAKARTA : Bank Resona Perdania, the first Japanese joint venture firm in Indonesia, will issue US$50 million in global bonds and Rp 200 billion in rupiah-denominated medium term notes (MTN), says an executive.

President director Akihiro Miyamoto said at a press conference on the Japanese-Indonesian bank's 50th anniversary in Indonesia on Thursday that the issuance of bonds and MTN would be used to finance expansion and increase the credit financing.

"We will open several new branch offices. Most likely we'll start with offices in Semarang and Bali," he said of the expansion plan.

At present, the bank has two branch office -- Bandung and Surabaya, and three sub-branch offices.

Bank Resona Perdania, established soon after Indonesia and Japan established diplomatic relations in 1958, is a joint venture bank servicing Japanese and Japanese-Indonesian companies in Indonesia.

Last year, the bank booked a 13.72 percent increase in unaudited net profit with Rp 120 billion, up from Rp 106 billion in 2006.