[Kabar-indonesia] 10 Biz/Econ Reports: Tourist arrivals; Astra; Lippo; Telkomsel-Nokia; Garuda

[Joyo at aol.com]

10 Articles:

- Indonesia expects 5.5 million tourists this year

- Malaysia's Khazanah Indonesia unit Lippo Bank H1
  opg profit up 20 pct yr-on-yr 

- Table-Indonesia's Bank Lippo says net profit H1 up 

- PT Astra, Stanchart to buy new stake in Indonesia's 
  Bank Permata 

- Nokia Gets Order From Telkomsel 

- Indonesia Press: Garuda To Sell Shrs In Unit Via IPO
  Dec 

- Chinese govt offers to finance Indonesian purchase
  of 15 planes 

- Indonesia's Tunas Ridean hopes to acquire a car
  dealer this year 

- Hong Kong, China, to lead Asia Pacific  travel
  growth: survey 

- Singapore-based US businesses welcome US-ASEAN trade
  and investment pact

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

Indonesia expects 5.5 million tourists this year

Padang, West Sumatra (ANTARA, August 28, 2006) - 
Indonesia has predicted that the largest number of foreign 
tourists to come to the country this year will be from 
Southeast Asia.

Indonesia expects the number of tourists from those 
countries to reach more than two million, which is more 
than 38 percent of the projected 5.5 million visitors for 
the year, the director general of marketing of the 
ministry of tourism and culture, Thamrin B Bachri, 
said here.

He said the second largest number of foreign tourists 
was expected to come from Asia, followed by Europe, 
Australia, New Zealand, the US and Canada.

He said the target was an optimistic one which 
could be met in line with the national marketing 
program.

He said the ministry predicted the number of foreign 
tourists to the country would continue to increase 
and had set a target of 6.6 million for next year.

He said the number was expected to continue to rise 
to 8.18 million in 2008 and above 10 million in 2009.

He said Bali`s Ngurah Rai airport had remained the 
entry gate for most of foreign tourists coming to the 
country this year recording 115,502 foreign tourist 
arrivals in June, followed by Jakarta`s Soekarno-Hatta 
airport recording 106,987 foreign tourist arrivals that 
month.

He said Bali and Java remained the biggest contributor 
to the state income from tourism totalling Rp 206.8 
trillion in 2005. 

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

Malaysia's Khazanah Indonesia unit Lippo Bank H1 opg
profit up 20 pct yr-on-yr

KUALA LUMPUR, August 28 (XFN-ASIA) - Lippo Bank, an
87.5 pct-owned Indonesian subsidiary of Malaysia's
Khazanah Nasional Bhd, said its operating income in
the first half of 2006 grew 20 pct year-on-year to 967
bln rupiah mainly due to a 37 pct rise in net interest
income.

The Indonesian banking group said In a statement its
loan growth was strong and its earnings-asset
structure improved as reflected by the significant net
interest margin expansion to 7.1 pct in the first half
of 2006 from 4.9 pct a year earlier.

'It (the improved margin) helped Lippo Bank offset a
19 pct year-on-year decline in other operating income
to 201 bln rupiah,' the bank said.

The decline in other operating income was mainly due
to marked-to-market losses from the securities
portfolio and a reduction of income from foreclosed
assets, it asaid.

The banking group said its loan-book grew by 44 pct
year-on-year to 9.75 trln rupiah during the six-month
period.

Accelerated loan growth was traced to consumer loans,
which rose by 84 pct year-on-year to 2.13 trln rupiah,
and commercial loans, which posted a nearly 100 pct
year-on-year rise to 4.75 trln rupiah, it added.

Meanwhile, the bank's gross non-performing loan ratio
eased to 2.0 pct in the first half of 2006 from 5.4
pct a year earlier.

The bank said it underwent a significant restructuring
exercise in the first half of 2006 as part of a
transformation program by introducing a voluntary
early retirement scheme, which resulted in a one-time
charge of over 100 bln rupiah.

'Operating expenses excluding provisions and the above
one-time charge were managed at a respectable growth
rate of 5 pct in light of the high inflation
environment Indonesia experienced in the last 12
months,' the banking group added.

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

Table-Indonesia's Bank Lippo says net profit H1 up

JAKARTA, August 28 (Reuters) - Following are the
results of PT Bank Lippo Tbk for the six month period
ending June 30.

  (in billions of rupiah unless stated)       H1 2006 
H1 2005  Net interest income  766.39 vs 557.85 
Operating profit  329.22 vs 268.65  Net Profit   
226.83 vs 203.82  Earnings per share (rph) 57.93 vs
52.05

 NOTE - Mid-sized PT Bank Lippo Tbk is controlled by
Malaysian state investment agency Khazanah Nasional
Bhd.

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

PT Astra, Stanchart to buy new stake in Indonesia's
Bank Permata

JAKARTA, August 28 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - The
consortium of PT Astra International and Standard
Chartered Bank (Stanchart) said it will buy an
additional stake still owned by the government in Bank
Permata.

The consortium already owns 63 per cent of Bank
Permata. State-owned asset management company PT
Perusahaan Pengelola Aset (PT PPA) plans to divest the
remaining 26.2 per cent stake of the government in
Bank Permata next month.

PT PPA President Mohammad Syahrial said the consortium
has indicated interest in buying the remaining stake.

PT PPA has decided to divest the remaining assets of
the government in Bank Permata and Bank Internasional
Indonesia (BII) to raise fund to help bridge a deficit
in the 2006 state budget.

We are waiting for the price to reach optimum level,
Syahrial said.

The government still has 5.5 per cent remaining in
BII, which is 57 per cent owned by Sorak Financial
Holding.

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

Nokia Gets Order From Telkomsel

Edited Press Release

STOCKHOLM, August 28 (Dow Jones)--Nokia Oyj (NOK)
Monday said it has received a three-year WCDMA 3G/HSPA
radio and core network, and managed services contract
from Indonesian mobile operator PT Telekomunikasi
Selular.

Nokia will operate Telkomsel's multivendor WCDMA 3G
network, which will be supported by the Nokia
NetAct(TM) network and service management system.

In addition, Nokia said it will provide network
planning, implementation, multivendor integration, and
delivery services with turnkey responsibility.

Under the agreements, Nokia said it will supply
Telkomsel radio solutions, including the modular, high
capacity Nokia Flexi WCDMA Base Station and Nokia High
Speed Packet Access, or HSPA, software.

>From its Unified Core Network solutions Nokia said it
will supply Nokia MSC Server mobile softswitch, Nokia
Intelligent Content Delivery, ICD, Nokia IP Multimedia
Subsystem, IMS, Push to talk over Cellular, PoC,
Presence, and charging solutions, and Flexi
Intelligent Service Node, INS, that will enable
Telkomsel to offer and manage a wide range of advanced
IP-based multimedia services in a cost-efficient way.

The 3G network and managed services contracts cover
Greater Jakarta, and West and Central Java, which are
the most densely populated areas in Indonesia.

The application and charging solutions, including ICD,
IMS, Flexi ISN, PoC and Presence, will be delivered
nationwide to cover all provinces in Indonesia, Nokia
said.

In addition, the managed services contract covers the
nationwide applications and charging solution.

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

Indonesia Press: Garuda To Sell Shrs In Unit Via IPO
Dec

JAKARTA, August 28 (Dow Jones)--Indonesia's flag
carrier PT Garuda Indonesia plans to offer shares in a
unit, PT Aero Catering Service, via an initial public
offering in December, Kompas daily reported Monday.

Garuda also plans to sell a 37.5% stake in ground
handling company PT Gapura Angkasa and look for a a
strategic partner for PT GMF Aero Asia, which provides
aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul services,
the newspaper quoted Garuda's Finance Director, Alex
Maneklarang, as saying.

The report didn't mention the size of the stake Garuda
wants to sell in Aero Catering.

Maneklarang also said in the report that Garuda has
selected PT Danareksa and NM Rothschild as advisers to
restructure the debt-laden company.

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

Chinese govt offers to finance Indonesian purchase of
15 planes

JAKARTA, August 27 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - The Chinese
government has offered a loan of US$250 million for
Indonesia to finance the purchase of 15 units of
Chinese made Xinzhuo-60 aircraft, Transport Minister
Hatta Rajasa said.

Hatta said the 50-seat short range passenger aircraft
produced by China's Aviation Industry Corporation
(AVIC) I are to be used by state-owned airline Merpati
Nusantara Airline.

The Finance Ministry and the National Development
Planning Board are still studying the offer under
concession loan scheme, he said.

He said the government also is studying possible
cooperation to assemble the aircraft in the country.

Indonesia has an aircraft factory PT Dirgantara
Indonesia producing Casa type aircraft and helicopter
in Bandung, West Java.

Earlier Chinese news agency Xinhua reported that
Merpati wanted to buy a number of aircraft from that
country to serve flights in eastern Indonesia. The
report said the first aircraft is to be delivered next
month to be followed with other units next year.

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

Indonesia's Tunas Ridean hopes to acquire a car dealer
this year

JAKARTA, August 28 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - Publicly
listed car dealer PT Tunas Ridean (JSX:TURI) said it
hopes to complete negotiations on its plan to acquire
a 49 per cent stake in another car dealer before the
end of this year.

Tunas Ridean Director Miranti H. Andiyana said
negotiations are still underway but no agreement has
been reached, but "we hope negotiations will be
concluded this year."

In addition the two companies need to make adjustments
in the accounting systems, Andiyana added.

He said the company would not need to borrow or issue
bonds to raise funds for the acquisition, adding that
the acquisition would be financed by the company's
internal resources.

He refused to name the company but he said it is based
outside Jakarta.

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

Hong Kong, China, to lead Asia Pacific travel growth:
survey

SINGAPORE, August 28 (AFP) -- Travellers from Hong
Kong and China are expected to lead steady tourist
industry growth in the Asia Pacific region during the
second half of 2006, a regional survey released Monday
showed.

Credit card firm MasterCard said Hong Kong would lead
the way, with an estimated 3.25 million outbound
travellers during the six months to December, up 15
percent from the previous year.

China is expected to see growth of 12.5 percent to
nearly 19 million visitors overseas, it said in its
latest travel rerport.

Malaysia will also grow 12.5 percent but this includes
people crossing the land border daily into Singapore
to work, a spokeswoman for MasterCard said.

"The continuing strength in the growth of outbound
travel in the Asia Pacific further reinforces our view
that personal travel is being entrenched as an
integral part of the lifestyles of the expanding
middle class in the region," said MasterCard economic
advisor Yuwa Hedrick-Wong.

For personal travel, Europe, Australia, Hong Kong,
Canada, the United States and Japan are likely to
benefit from Chinese tourists.

Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan are the likely
beneficiaries from Chinese business travellers.

An estimated 5.78 million South Koreans are expected
to travel abroad in the next six months, up 9.0
percent from last year, followed by Thailand with
growth of 6.7 percent and Indonesia at 6.0 percent.

Outbound Japanese travellers are forecast at 9.44
million, up 3.8 percent.

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

Singapore-based US businesses welcome US-ASEAN trade
and investment pact

SINGAPORE, August 28 (AFP) -- Singapore-based American
firms said Monday the signing of a US-ASEAN trade and
investment pact will enhance opportunities for
business growth in Southeast Asia.

Nicholas de Boursac, executive director of the
American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Singapore,
said the Trade and Investment Framework Arrangement
(TIFA) will complement a free-trade agreement (FTA)
between Singapore and the United States.

"The US-Singapore FTA has been a huge success. We
believe this (US-ASEAN) agreement will also lead to a
similar increase in trade and investment and boost
business opportunities for AmCham members in the
region," de Boursac said in a statement.

The cooperation arrangement, seen as a precursor to a
full free trade accord, was inked by US Trade
Representative Susan Schwab and her counterparts from
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in
Kuala Lumpur on Friday.

De Boursac said the agreement recognizes the
importance, both economically and strategically, of
Southeast Asia to the United States.

"We believe the agreement will be complementary to the
US-Singapore FTA and will pave the way for further
trade liberalization in the region, facilitating
market access and increasing business growth and
competitiveness," de Boursac said.

"We also believe this step is good for Singapore, a
gateway into ASEAN for US business, and for
Singaporeans."

Ninety percent of Singapore AmCham member companies
have a regional focus.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore,
Thailand and Vietnam. It boasts of a market of 550
million people and offering an alternative
manufacturing base to China for foreign companies.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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