Ten Indonesians have reportedly been taken hostage by Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf militants after their Indonesian vessel, en route from Banjarmasin (South Kalimantan) to the Philippines, was hijacked in Philippine waters. According to local media the Indonesian vessel (a tug boat) was found abandoned in the Philippines' Tawi-Tawi province and a USD $1 million ransom has been demanded in exchange for the crew's release. The incident apparently already happened on Saturday (26/03). Indonesia's Foreign Affairs Ministry and State Intelligence Agency (BIN) have confirmed the case.

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Angkasa Pura II, the state-owned airport services company that operates airports in the western part of Indonesia, says the 3rd runway of the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, located just outside Indonesia's capital city of Jakarta, will be finished in late-2017. This third runway, expected to cost IDR 4 trillion (USD $300 million), is part of a big expansion and renovation plan aimed at raising the airport's passenger capacity and flight frequency. Construction of the runway should start in early 2017 provided the land acquisition process has been completed.

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In line with the performance of most emerging stock markets and currencies, Indonesian stocks and the rupiah were under pressure on Monday (28/03). The Jakarta Composite Index fell 1.11 percent, while the Indonesian rupiah depreciated 0.73 percent to IDR 13,343 per US dollar (Bloomberg Dollar Index). This performance is caused by rising speculation that the US Federal Reserve could hike its key Fed Fund Rate as early as April. Several Fed officials have made hawkish comments, while the upward revised 1.4 percent GDP growth of the US economy in Q4-2015 may show that the US is strong enough to cope with another rate hike.

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Research institution Supply Chain Indonesia, which mainly focuses on logistics matters, requests the government to reevaluate its plan to use three ports in Banten (West Java) to take over some of the workload of Jakarta's Tanjung Priok port, Indonesia's largest seaport. Due to inefficiencies at Tanjung Priok, which handles about two-thirds of Indonesia's total international trade, dwelling time at this seaport is high and this gives rise to port congestion and high logistics costs. The government therefore wants three ports in Banten to support Tanjung Priok's trade activities.

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