• Government of Indonesia Serious to Develop Palm-Based Biodiesel

    Usage of biodiesel for transportation in Indonesia is expected to reach 7.2 million kiloliter by 2015, a sharp increase from 600,000 kiloliter in the first nine months of 2013. State-owned Pertamina is expected to supply the extra 6.6 million kiloliter of biodiesel. The reason why the Indonesian government is eager to develop palm-based biofuel for transportation purposes is to reduce the country's reliance on the import of expensive diesel fuel. Imports of fuels and gas are the foremost reason that Indonesia is coping with a wide current account deficit.

    Read column ›

  • Spending on Advertising in Indonesia Expected to Jump 20% in 2014

    Spending on advertising in Indonesia is expected to jump 20 percent to IDR 140 trillion (USD $12.4 billion) in 2014. This expected growth is mainly the result of increased spending due to Indonesia's legislative and presidential elections as well as the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. The former means that Indonesian political parties will increase spending to reap popularity through media exposure, while the latter will draw millions of spectators and readers due to the popularity of football in Indonesia and thus becomes interesting for advertisers.

    Read column ›

  • South Korea's Hankook Tire Taps Indonesia's Vibrant Tire Industry

    In mid-September 2013, South Korean tire producer Hankook Tire, conducted the inauguration of its tire plant in Indonesia. The factory is located in Cikarang (West Java) and is the company's seventh production center in the world: two plants in Korea, three in China and one in Hungary. Annual production capacity of the two factories in Korea reached 46.1 million tires in 2013. Meanwhile, the three factories in China have an annual capacity of 30.8 million units each. In Hungary, annual capacity stands at 12.6 million tire units.

    Read column ›

  • Indonesia's Consumer Confidence Rises Slightly in September 2013

    The Consumer Confidence Index of Indonesia rose 0.9 percent in September 2013 after having fallen 8.4 percent in the previous month. In September, the index rose because Indonesian consumers are more confident about prospects of the Indonesian economy, while concerns about the increase of certain food prices eased. Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, chief economist at the Danareksa Research Insititute, said that in September 77.4 percent of consumers were concerned about rising food prices, down from 82.5 percent in August.

    Read column ›


The views expressed in these business columns are the views of the authors or the interviewed persons only and therefore do not necessarily reflect the views of Indonesia Investments. The authors are free to ventilate their opinions about the Indonesian business climate. Facts presented in these columns are the result of the author's own research or indicated sources, read disclaimer
.