IDX Composite ‘best-performing’ Southeast Asian index in 2022
JAKARTA – While the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) Composite, may have faced a couple of bumps in the road in 2022, it became the best-performing major index of the year in Southeast Asia as at Friday’s close, according to a high-ranking official at the Financial…
Digitalization of MSMEs in 2022 reaches annual target: Ministry
JAKARTA – The Ministry of Co-operatives and Small and Medium Enterprises announced that some 20.76 million MSMEs gained access to digital platforms by 2022, reaching 69.2 percent of the 30-million MSMEs’ onboarding target in 2024. Ministry’s Secretary Arif Rahman Hakim said that some 12.76 million…
Indonesia lifts remaining COVID restrictions
JAKARTA – Indonesia on Friday removed all remaining measures to control the spread of COVID-19 effective immediately, since most of the country’s population already has antibodies against the disease, President Joko Widodo said. “There will be no more restrictions on gatherings and movements,” the president…
World in State of Danger; Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Reminds G20 Members
JAKARTA – Indonesia’s Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati reminded all finance ministers and central bank governors of G20 member countries that the world is currently in a state of danger. “I don’t think that it is an exaggeration to say that the world is in a…
OPEC Cuts 2022-2023 Oil Demand Growth View as Economy Slows
London – OPEC on Wednesday, Oct. 12, cut its 2022 forecast for growth in world oil demand for a fourth time since April and also trimmed next year’s figure, citing slowing economies, the resurgence of China’s COVID-19 containment measures and high inflation. Oil demand will increase…
$1.3b Investment Opportunities Open Up as Indonesia Plan to Halt Asphalt Imports in 2024
JAKARTA – Indonesia offers investment opportunities in asphalt production worth up to $1.3 billion as the Southeast Asian countries plan to halt imports of the road material in two years, a top official said on Tuesday. The country imported 95 percent of asphalt today despite…
PT PP, South Korean firm to develop smart city in Nusantara
JAKARTA – State-owned construction and investment enterprise PT PP (Persero) Tbk has agreed to cooperate with a South Korean company to implement a smart city project in Nusantara, Indonesia’s new national capital (IKN), in East Kalimantan. The cooperation between the two companies will ensure the…
Indonesia’s housing sector constrained by rising interest rates, sluggish buying power
JAKARTA – The rising benchmark interest rate added pressure on the landed housing sector, property consultancy firm Colliers has said. Colliers head of research department Ferry Salanto explained that the increasing benchmark interest rate would significantly impact the landed house sector considering 90 percent of…
Shopee joins start-up layoffs trend in RI, blames global economy
Shopee Indonesia has announced layoffs in Indonesia, following a wider trend that has been unsettling workers in the country’s tech sector over the past few months. The subsidiary of Singapore’s Sea Ltd. said on Monday it had fired “a number of” employees in Indonesia. Meanwhile,…
Jakarta targets 41-percent reduction in PM2.5 concentrations by 2030
JAKARTA – The Jakarta provincial government is aiming for a 41-percent decline in the levels of harmful PM2.5 pollutants by 2030 through the application of three strategies and 75 air pollution control action plans. “This PM2.5 (pollutants) cause severe health impacts, both in the short…