Indonesia, the world's largest producer and exporter of crude palm oil (CPO), set the export tax for its CPO shipments at USD $18 per metric ton for February 2017, significantly higher than the USD $3 per metric ton export tax in the preceding month. Indonesia's benchmark February CPO price was set at USD $815.5 per ton, rising further above the USD $750 per ton threshold that the Indonesian government uses to separate a zero export tax policy from the setting of an export tax.

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Indonesia's Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) has released the direct investment figures - both foreign direct investment (FDI) and domestic direct investment (DDI) - for the fourth quarter of 2016 (implying we now also know the full-year 2016 figures). The BKPM data show a number of interesting developments that we outline below.

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Together with Indonesian business partner Hary Tanoesoedibjo, the Trump Organization, which was ran by US President Donald Trump between 1971 and 2017, plans to build the biggest and most luxurious hotel on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, complete with an upgraded golf course and ocean view (which includes a view on the 16th century Hindu pilgrimage temple Pura Tanah Lot). However, this USD $1 billion (six-star) resort project met resistance from the local population.

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Kasikornbank, the fourth-largest bank in Thailand, expressed its intention to acquire a bank in Indonesia. However, in line with the content of the ASEAN Banking Integration Framework, this plan cannot be carried out rapidly. Meanwhile, Indonesia's Financial Services Authority (OJK), which regulates and supervises the financial services sectors in Indonesia, only allows a foreign investor to acquire a majority-stake in small Indonesian banks (categorized under the BUKU 1 system) provided the foreign investor purchases two (small) banks and merge these into one entity.

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