[Kabar-indonesia] 19 RI Biz/Econ Reports: Consumer Confidence Falls; Bulog; Indosat; Sampoerna

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

19 Reports:

- Indonesia consumer confidence
  falls in August
- Indonesia's Bulog extends rice 
  tender deadline
- Indonesia's Indosat opens tender for
  Palapa-C2 satellite replacement - report
- Indonesia Plans IDR700B Jakarta-Intl
  Airport Rail Link
- HM Sampoerna licenses Philip Morris
  to produce cigarettes
- Indonesian c.bank chief sees scope
  to cut rates
- Indonesia expects US, French car
  makers to invest 2.2 bln usd
- Indonesia Jan-Aug FDI approvals 8.65 bln usd
  vs 7.28 bln
- Governments, Banks Study Emerging Mkt
  Debt Default Rules
- Seven Indonesian banks cut deposit
  rates
- Indonesia's Bakries Bros cancels
  US$150 mln bond issue
- Indonesian property firm sets
  coupon for 5-yr bonds
- Indonesia's Darya Varia to go private;
  delist from JSX
- Indonesia Press: Govt To Pay Merpati's
  Debt To Bk Mandiri
- Indonesia Air Transport aims for 92% growth in
  income to 2011
- Indonesia's INKA eyes trans Jakarta busway
  gas fuel project
- PSA Peugeot Citroen, Proton mulling
  partnership
- Indonesia crude palm oil marginaly higher,
  olein flat
- Road map to develop Indonesia-Malaysia-
  Thailand economic triangle endorsed

Indonesia consumer confidence falls in August

JAKARTA, September 18 (Reuters) - Indonesian consumer confidence fell
in August as consumers worried about the future availability of jobs,
a central bank survey showed on Monday.

Analysts said their concerns could be due to the slow growth of the
private sector.

The consumer confidence index fell by 2.4 points to 93.1 in August
from 95.5 in July, the survey of 4,365 households in 16 cities across
the country showed.

"The drop is partly due to the pessimistic view respondents had on job
availability in the coming six months as well as the unsupportive
economic condition," the central bank said on its Web site (
www.bi.go.id ).

A reading below 100 means most consumers are pessimistic about the
future. The index has been below 100 since July last year.

"People simply see plenty of unemployment around them even though
macro-economic indicators seem stable right now," said economist Anung
Roni of AAA Sekuritas .

"We see that there are still many pending government projects. The
private sector is generally not moving very fast." Indonesia's private
sector has not fully recovered from last October's fuel price hikes
and continues to face high bank lending rates even though the central
bank has cut its official rate several times this year.

Fuel price increases pushed annual inflation above 18 percent late
last year, prompting the central bank to raise interest rates.

Inflation has since eased to an annual rate of 14.90 percent in
August, and the central bank has cut benchmark interest rates to 11.25
in a bid to boost growth.

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

Indonesia's Bulog extends rice tender deadline

JAKARTA, September 18 (Reuters) - Indonesian state logistics agency
Bulog said it had extended the deadline for a 210,000 tonne rice
import tender to Sept. 20 after the trade ministry increased the
number of eligible entry ports to 11 from 10.

Earlier this month, the government issued the rice import permit to
Bulog to help shore up stocks that have fallen well below the safety
level of 1 million tonnes due to a string of natural disasters.

Bulog had initially set a Sept. 18 deadline for submitting bids. But
it extended the deadline after the trade ministry changed the number
of ports the rice can be imported through to 11 from 10, Agusdin
Farid, Bulog's head of the tender, said.

Eight trading houses including Vietnam Southern Food Corp, PT Olam
Indonesia and PT Louis Dreyfus Indonesia submitted bids on Monday and
a total of 24 are expected to participate, Farid said.

"The rest will still be allowed to submit their bids by Wednesday
morning," Farid told reporters. "The extention will give traders time
to change their proposal."

Bulog has said it wants to buy 15-percent broken grade rice from
Vietnam or Thailand on a cost and freight basis.

The grains are expected to enter the country between Oct. 1 and Nov.
15, and will only be used for emergency purposes and to stabilise
prices.

Rice imports are allowed if the government's stocks in Bulog fall
below the safety level of 1 million tonnes or local prices of medium
grade rice rise above 3,550 rupiah ($0.390) a kg.

The imported grain cannot be sold for public consumption but is set
aside as a buffer stock to curb inflation.

At the moment, local prices for medium grade rice at the distributor
level are around 4,000 rupiah a kg.

Last September, Bulog was allowed to import up to 250,000 tonnes of
rice from Vietnam, but the agency only bought some 152,000 tonnes.

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Indonesia's Indosat opens tender for Palapa-C2 satellite replacement - report

JAKARTA, September 18 (XFN-ASIA) - PT Indosat has opened a tender for
a new satellite to replace the Palapa-C2 which will cease operating in
2010, company director Wityasmoro Handayanto told Bisnis Indonesia.

He said Indosat plans to launch the new satellite in 2009.

The Palapa-C2 satellite was launched in 1996.

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Indonesia Plans IDR700B Jakarta-Intl Airport Rail Link

JAKARTA, September 18 (Dow Jones)--The Indonesian government plans to
build an IDR700 billion ($76.5 million) rail line linking Jakarta's
Sukarno-Hatta International Airport to Manggarai in central Jakarta, a
senior government minister said late Monday.

The project will be undertaken by a joint venture between state-owned
railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia and Angkasa Pura II, the
company that manages Sukarno-Hatta International Airport, Minister of
Transportation Hatta Rajasa told reporters.

The planned link between central Jakarta and the city's international
airport is part of a multimillion dollar infrastructure upgrade for
which the Indonesian government is seeking investment.

That investment is desperately needed to help the government reach a
6.6% annual economic growth target from 2005-2009. The government
expects the economy will grow 5.8% in 2006, compared with 5.6% last
year.

The Indonesian government will offer domestic and foreign investors
infrastructure investment projects valued at IDR500 trillion at a
conference in November, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said Friday.

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HM Sampoerna licenses Philip Morris to produce cigarettes

JAKARTA, September 18 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - HM Sampoerna (HMSP)
(JSX:HMSP) has licensed Philip Morris Products SA (PMPSA) to produce
cigarettes, a spokeswoman said.

HM Sampoerna and Philip Morris Products SA signed a Trademark License
Agreement on September 11, 2006, corporate secretary Suartini Harintho
told the Jakarta Stock Exchange here Friday.

"The company has licensed PMPSA to produce cigarettes both under
direct and indirect agreements in specific areas," she said.

The agreement came into effect from Sept 11 indefinitely, she said.

"The agreement will become no longer in effect as soon as one or the
two parties agree to end their contract," she said.

PT Philip Morris Indonesia is an affiliate of Philip Morris
International (PMI) and was established in 1998 when PMI took over
full control of its production facilities in Malang, East Java.

Philip Morris International (PMI) currently controls 14.5 per cent of
the global cigarette market share and employs over 60,000 people
worldwide. Philip Morris International's brands are made in more than
50 factories around the world and are sold in more than 160 markets.

In 2005, PMI's cigarette production reached 43 billion pcs, or 5.7 per
cent, to 804.5 billion pcs driven primarily by the acquisition of
Sampoerna and Coltabaco in Colombia, volume growth across Eastern
Europe and in Turkey, and a one time inventory sale in Italy.

The acquisition of Sampoerna allowed PMI to become the majority
sharholder or 97.95 per cent of PT HM Sampoerna, one of Indonesia's
leading cigarette producing companies.

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Indonesian c.bank chief sees scope to cut rates

By Dhara Ranasinghe

SINGAPORE, September 17 (Reuters) - The governor of Indonesia's
central bank said on Sunday that an expected fall in inflation should
allow interest rates to be cut to around 10 percent by the end of the
year.

"We are hoping to achieve inflation at the lower end of our target, so
there is room to cut interest rates," Burhanuddin Abdullah, the
governor of Bank Indonesia, told reporters in Singapore.

"That means the economy can be more active towards the end of the
year," he added. He said the inflation target for was about 8 percent
by the end of the year, plus or minus one percent.

Indonesia cut its key interest rate in early September by 50 basis
points to 11.25 percent, the fourth cut this year. Annual inflation
fell in August to 14.90 percent, its lowest level since September last
year.

Asked when the central bank was likely to end lowering interest rates,
Abdualllah said this would depend on external factors and the oil
price.

He said the rupiah's <IDR=> exchange rate was at an appropriate level,
in response to a question about whether strength in the currency was
harming exporters.

The rupiah has risen almost 8 percent versus the dollar this year and
is Asia's best performing currency after the Thai baht.

"We spoke about two months ago to importers and exporters about what
they expect from the rupiah and the importers gave a range of about
8,500 to 9,000 per dollar," he said.

"The exporters said about 9,000-9,500 so the rate now around 9,000 is
about right."

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Indonesia expects US, French car makers to invest 2.2 bln usd

JAKARTA, September 18 (XFN-ASIA) - Carmakers from the US and France
are expected to invest a combined 2.2 bln usd to build manufacturing
plants here, the head of the country's investment board Muhamad Lutfi
said.

Lufti, who refused to identify the two firms', said the US company
plans to produce about 200,000 vehicles a year with an investment of
up to 1.4 bln usd.

The French firm plans to invest 800 mln usd in a manufacturing
facility that will produce 90,000 vehicles a year.

He said the firms' may start building their plants next year, noting
that the government is preparing tax incentives for car makers
especially for those with annual production capacity of at least
150,000 units.

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Indonesia Jan-Aug FDI approvals 8.65 bln usd vs 7.28 bln

JAKARTA, September 18 (XFN-ASIA) - Foreign direct investment (FDI)
plans approved by the government in the eight months to August rose in
value to 8.65 bln usd from 7.28 bln in the same period last year.

The National Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) said in a report
that the increase was driven by approvals for expansion projects.

It said the investment board approved 281 FDI expansion projects worth
2. 86 bln usd, against 255 projects worth 2.11 bln a year ago.

As for new projects, the board approved 951 projects worth 2.96 bln
usd, compared to 949 worth 3.63 bln the year earlier.

The report said over the same period, approved domestic investment
jumped in value to 96.73 trln rupiah from 33.31 trln a year ago.

The sharp rise in domestic investment approvals was driven by new
project approvals worth 81.46 trln against 22.79 trln in the previous
year.

Unlike the approvals trend, actual FDI during the first eight months
fell to 3.94 bln usd from 7.22 bln usd the year earlier.

But in terms of job creation, the realized FDI projects created jobs
for 164,909 people, up from 108,861 previously.

As for domestic investment, actual investment increased slightly over
the eight months to 11.82 trln rupiah from 11.06 trln in the previous
year.

The realized domestic investment projects employed 44,499 people, down
sharply from 70,860 the year earlier.

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Governments, Banks Study Emerging Mkt Debt Default Rules

SINGAPORE, September 18 (Dow Jones)--Finance ministers and top
executives from commercial banks met Monday to discuss new principles
for emerging-market debt markets, and how both sides should approach
defaults when they happen.

In a communique published after the meeting, European Central Bank
President Jean-Claude Trichet described the Principles for Emerging
Markets as an "innovative process of cooperation between the investors
and issuers of sovereign debt."

The voluntary principles are designed to establish good behavior by
both borrowers and lenders in emerging markets, and establish a
framework for negotiations between the two sides in the event of a
default.

The preface to the principles said: "These principles outline actions
and behavior of private-sector creditors and emerging market sovereign
debtors to promote and maintain stable private capital flows to
emerging-market economies in the context of growth and financial
stability."

The principles call for transparency and timely flows of information,
close debtor-creditor dialogue, good faith actions and fair treatment.

The Group of Trustees of the Principles for Emerging Markets includes
finance ministers of Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico and South Africa, and
central bank governors of Chile and Poland.

It also includes top executives, either chairman or president, of
commercial banks such as Citigroup (C), Commerzbank AG (CBK.XE),
Spanish bank BBVA (BBV), The Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS), and J.P.
Morgan Chase International (JPM), among others.

They met during the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund
and World Bank, currently underway.

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Seven Indonesian banks cut deposit rates

Jakarta, September 18 (ANTARA News) - At least seven banks in
Indonesia have cut their interest rates on one-month saving deposits
in line with reductions in Bank Indonesia and Insurance Deposit Agency
(LPS) rates, a report said.

Bank Central Asia (BCA) reduced its deposit rate for one-month periods
to 8.75 percent on September 15, down from 9.25 percent on Sept 15,
said a report made available to ANTARA News here Monday.

Bank Century cut its deposit rate for one-month periods from 11.50
percent to 9.50 percent; Bank Index Selindo from 11.25 percent to
10.75 percent; Bank Jabar from 9.50 percent to 9.00 percent; Bank
Mandiri from 9.00 percent to 8.50 percent; Bank Panin from 9.75
percent to 8.50 percent; and Bank Yudha Bhakti from 11.50 percent to
11.00 percent.

Bank Indonesia (the central bank) at its governors` council meeting on
Sept 5 decided to cut its intrest rate by 50 points from 11.75 percent
to 11.25 percent.

The Insurance Deposit Agency cut its rupiah deposit rate by 50 points
from 11.75 percent to 11.25 percent for the Sept 15-October 14 period.

Previously, Bank NISP cut its deposit rate for one-month periods from
9.50 percent on Sept 5 to 9.00 percent on Sept 13.

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Indonesia's Bakries Bros cancels US$150 mln bond issue

JAKARTA, September 18 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - Publicly listed holding
company PT Bakrie Brothers (JSX:BNBR) has decided to cancel a plan to
issue bonds valued at US$150 million over a disagreement on
collateral.

The company refused to provide assets as collateral for the bond, a
company executive who refused to be identified said.

Bakrie Brothers had already named Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank as
its underwriters for the bond.

Meanwhile, its plantation subsidiary PT Bakrie Sumatera Plantation has
begun an international road-show covering a number of countries to
promote its bonds valued at US$120 million.

BHP (ASX:BHP) needs the bond fund to refinance a debt of US$69 million
to a number of foreign banks and to build a bio-diesel factory.

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Indonesian property firm sets coupon for 5-yr bonds

JAKARTA, September 18 (Reuters) - Indonesian property firm PT Bumi
Serpong Damai (BSD) said on Monday it had set a coupon range of
14.5-15.5 percent for its 500 billion rupiah ($54.91 million) bonds to
fund its expansion plans and repaying debt.

The five-year bonds will be offered between Sept. 18-28 and listed on
the country's main bond exchange, the Surabaya Stock Exchange, on Oct.
30.

PT Danareksa Sekuritas, PT Sinarmas Sekuritas and PT Recapital
Securities have been appointed to handle the issue.

BSD said it would use 200 billion rupiah from the issue to repay its
debts while the rest will be used for business expansion and working
capital.

The firm, which owns and operates a major residential complex west of
Jakarta, booked a net profit of 43.4 billion rupiah in 2005, nearly
double the previous year. Its sales soared to 938.5 billion rupiah
from 451.3 billion in that period.

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Indonesia's Darya Varia to go private; delist from JSX

JAKARTA, September 18 (XFN-ASIA) - Pharmaceutical manufacturer PT
Darya Varia said it plans to go private and will delist from the
Jakarta Stock Exchange.

In a statement to the exchange, Darya said it will announce details of
its privatization plan next month.

In the meantime, the Jakarta Stock Exchange said it has suspended the
stock from trading at the company's request.

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Indonesia Press: Govt To Pay Merpati's Debt To Bk Mandiri

JAKARTA, September 18 (Dow Jones)--The Indonesian government will pay
the IDR194 billion ($21.3 million) in debt owed by state-owned
company, PT Merpati Nusantara Airline, to PT Bank Mandiri (BMRI.JK),
Bisnis Indonesia reported quoting a company source.

The newspaper cited Merpati's commissioner, Dedi Marwan, as saying
that the government has agreed to inject IDR450 billion into the
ailing airline, and some of the funds will be used to pay its debt to
Bank Mandiri.

The remaining funds will be used to pay maturing debts, Marwan was
quoted as saying, without giving further details.

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Indonesia Air Transport aims for 92% growth in income to 2011

JAKARTA, September 18 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - Publicly listed logistics
air transport company PT Indonesia Air Transport (JSX:IATA) (IAT) is
aiming to post 92 per cent growth in income to Rp445.42 billion
(US$4.4 million) in 2011, up from this year's forecast of Rp231.77
billion.

Its net profit is projected to climb 84.5 per cent to Rp54.36 billion
in the same period, its finance director Krisman Tarigan said in a
report.

Next year its income is forecast to rise to Rp276.32 billion with
operating income expected to scale up 19.2 per cent from a predicted
growth of only 0.3 per cent this year.

The company plans to expand operations to serve regular flights next
year, saying it hopes to serve 10 regular flight routes in eastern
Indonesia, its operating director Tony Hadi said earlier.

IAT has won an 8 month contract to lease an aircraft for US$1.4
million from Italy's oil firm Eni Bokat to serve the
Balikpapan-Tarakan route starting October.

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Indonesia's INKA eyes trans Jakarta busway gas fuel project

JAKARTA, September 18 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - State-owned railway train
producer PT Industri Kereta Api (Inka) is eyeing a project to procure
articulated buses with gas fuel for Trans Jakarta Busway.

Inka president Roos Diatmoko said Trans Jakarta Busway will need 30
new units of articulated buses to serve new routes in the capital city
next year.

Diatmoko said Inka is building a prototype of an articulated bus,
which will cost less than Rp5 billion (US$548,150) and is to be
completed in two months.

He said Inka produces articulated buses in cooperation with German
company Voith, which will provide electric transmissions and engines.

The Jakarta city administration is expanding the coverage of Trans
Jakarta Busway, which operates buses with special lanes offering
convenient transport for Jakartans sparing them from traffic jams.

Jakarta is notorious for heavy traffic jams especially in rush hours.

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PSA Peugeot Citroen, Proton mulling partnership

PARIS, September 18 (Reuters) - France's PSA Peugeot Citroen and
Malaysia's Proton are looking into forming a partnership that covers
at least the South East Asian region, the two carmakers said on
Monday.

The study is expected to take several months and will focus on areas
including product development, manufacturing, quality initiatives,
vendor development, contract assembly and distribution.

PSA Peugeot Citroen, Europe's second-biggest carmaker, and
state-controlled Proton have been grappling with competition and PSA,
suffering from higher raw material prices, has issued three profit
warnings in roughly a year.

The announcement comes after a business weekly reported in May that
the carmakers were in talks about jointly developing and making new
models in the Southeast Asian market and that PSA could eventually end
up taking an equity stake in Proton.

For PSA the agreement is expected to increase its car sales in
Malaysia and develop its business in the region, while Proton said it
hoped to benefit from the technological know-how of a major carmaker
and make the best use of its production capacity.

"The areas being studied will focus on offering benefits to both
parties in the ASEAN region and elsewhere," the companies said in a
statement.

ASEAN, the Association of South East Asian Nations which has been a
free trade area since 1993, includes Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam,
and says it has a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of almost $700
billion and trade of some $850 billion.

Troubles at PSA have prompted the company to work on a plan, to be
disclosed by the end of September, to improve profit margins in 2007
but PSA head Jean-Martin Folz will not oversee the improvements due to
his early retirement next year.

Proton is facing mounting competition and falling prices as the
government opens the domestic market to foreign rivals under free
trade deals. It said earlier this month it was reviewing its
performance targets for its financial year.

Proton's distribution network covers the United Kingdom, the Middle
East, Australia and Southeast Asia. In Asia PSA is present in Japan
and China and is building a new plant in China while doubling capacity
of an existing facility.

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Indonesia crude palm oil marginaly higher, olein flat

JAKARTA, September 18 (Reuters) - Indonesian crude palm oil prices
marginally higher on some support from Malaysian palm oil futures, but
weak demand pressured cooking oil prices which traded flat on Monday.

At the state marketing centre in Jakarta, crude palm oil was slightly
up at 4,171 rupiah ($0.456) per kg compared with 4,169 rupiah on
Friday.

"Small gains in Malaysia made prices move in a narrow range," a
Jakarta-based trader said.

Unstable prices in Malaysian palm oil futures were also reflected in
slow trading activities in the export front, with sellers offering
October shipments at $425 a tonne, while bids stood at $420-422.5
without any deals reported.

There were no offers or bids for November shipments.

"Support from the Malaysian index is very weak because the volumes
were relatively small. It's been a while since the last time it
reached 2,000 lots. That's not a good sign for the market," a
Medan-based trader said.

There were no local auctions in North Sumatra's Medan, the main port
for palm oil exports.

Weak demand put pressure on cooking oil prices in Jakarta, traders
said. Cooking oil traded flat at 4,725 rupiah a kg with some 500
tonnes of olein changing hands, a Jakarta-based trader said.

"Trading was slow because we don't see too many buyers in the market.
But hopefully it would be more active in coming weeks with Ramadan
(the major Muslim religious holiday period) on the way as demand is
usually higher," another trader in Jakarta said.

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Thai News Service
September 19, 2006

Road map to develop Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand economic triangle endorsed

The road map for joint economic development by Thailand, Indonesia and
Malaysia has been approved at a meeting in Malaysia on September 13
and 14.

Caretaker PM's Office Minister Suranand Vejjajiva said the meeting
endorsed the plan designed for development of
Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand economic triangle by the Asian Development
Bank and resolved to appoint a joint working team to set development
framework and strategies.

Mr. Suranand said the framework and strategies will be presented at a
summit to be held in November. The three countries also agreed to
exchange information and arrange for meetings of their private
businesses, he said.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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