News

Deutsche Post DHL chief executive Frank Appel says the company expects to see rapid growth in its Indonesian business as it seeks to capitalize on government plans to boost growth by improving infrastructure nationwide.          “We have very aggressive growth plans in Indonesia,” he said, adding that DHL planned to spend at least $50 million to expand its presence over the next two years. DHL commands a 60 percent market share of the logistics business in Indonesia. Much of its new investment will go towards boosting its workforce by 70 percent from 2,250 employees currently, and expanding warehouse space by 60 percent to a total of 262,400 square meters.

Signals indicating better economic conditions in the second half of this year have appeared. After data showing a sharp increase in cement consumption in August came out, more good news has followed from the automotive sector. The Association of Indonesian Automotive Manufacturers (Gaikindo) stated that car sales in August 2016 reached 96,294 units, up 6.3 percent from 90,537 units in August 2015. Toyota Astra Motor (TAM) vice president director Henry Tanoto predicted the sales volume would be higher toward the end of this year. "We predict it will continue to grow close to 5 percent until the end of the year," he said.   https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/09/20/august-auto-sales-another-sign-of-economic-recovery.html

Business of food and beverages ­avoring in Indonesia becomes more attractive. Within the last six months, two global ­avoring companies launched expansion to Indonesia.  Recently, Japanese ­flavoring company PT Takasago Indonesia will invest 19.5 million USD to establish a new factory at 16,000 meter square of area in Bekasi, West Java. According to Financial Advisor at PT Takasago Indonesia Leni Burhan, the construction of the factory will start at the beginning of 2017. The factory, which will have 3,000 ton of production capacity per year, is expected to start operating in 2018.  Previously, PT Takasago Indonesia had built factory in Purwokerto, Central Java. Aside of Takasago, another Japanese ­avoring company PT Ajinomoto will expand its factory in Karawang Industrial Zone, West Java.   http://m.kontan.co.id/news/foreigners-mor-agressive-in-flavoring-business

Nissan Motor Indonesia (NMI), the Indonesia-based local unit of Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer Nissan Motor Company Ltd, started construction of a new engine and transmission parts plant in Purwakarta (West Java). The plant, which will be constructed at NMI's existing facilities in Purwakarta, covers 3,000 of square meters in size and requires an investment of around 435 billion IDR (33.2 million USD). The plant is designed to have a production capacity of 96,000 units per year.       http://www.indonesia-investments.com/id/news/todays-headlines/investment-in-indonesia-s-automotive-sector-nissan-s-new-plant/item7173

State utility company Perusahaan Listrik Negara, better known as PLN, is confident that it can complete an extension of the Muara Karang power plant, which supplies electricity the greater Jakarta area, by 2019, after signing a 3.9 trillion IDR (294 million USD) deal with a contractor. PLN and a consortium of Japan's Mitsubishi and state-owned construction company Wijaya Karya signed the engineering, procurement, and construction contracts at the utility company's headquarters in Jakarta. The expansion of the Muara Karang gas-powered plant will increase its capacity by 500 megawatts. The current capacity is 1,200 MW.

A six-minister team chaired by Coordinating Minister for Economic A­airs Darmin Nasution meet to decide whether Japan or China will be awarded Indonesia's first high-speed train project. The team consists of Transport Minster Ignatius Jonan, Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro, National Development Planning Minister Sofyan Djalil, State-Owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno and  Coordinating Minister for Maritime A­airs Rizal Ramli, who serves as deputy chair. "The assessment will be finished on Monday and the result will be sent to the president at the next day," Darmin told reporters on Friday, after a meeting with Xie Feng, China's ambassador to Indonesia.

The 2,000 megawatt coal-generated power plant in Batang, Central Java, the groundbreaking of which was officiated by President Joko Widodo this week, is targeted to start commercial operations by the end of 2019. The controversial power plant, which costs about $4 billion, has been delayed for four years due to land acquisition problems.  However, both Joko and the chief of PLN, which will buy electricity from the plant, expressed optimism that land acquisition problems would not stand in the way of the plant's development.