• Indonesia's Partnerships with Denmark & the United Kingdom

    Indonesia's Agriculture Minister signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the government of Denmark for investment into Indonesia's corn and sugar plantations as well as the cattle industry. Based on the words of Indonesian Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman it involves total Danish investment of at least IDR 2 trillion (approx. USD $152 million) for a period of five years. The deal involves the transfer of Danish agricultural technology, while Indonesia's part of the deal is to provide two million hectares of land. Meanwhile, Indonesia also plans to reaffirm its partnership with the UK in the creative economy industry.

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  • Expansion Alibaba to Indonesia to Cause Rising Trade Deficit with China?

    The USD $1 billion acquisition of Southeast Asia-based e-commerce platform Lazada Group SA by China's e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd may give rise to a larger flow of Chinese products into Indonesia. Lazada is an e-commerce platform that operates in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Southeast Asia is an interesting market for Alibaba as only 3 percent of retail sales are conducted online in this region, implying huge growth opportunities. Meanwhile, Alibaba has been eager to expand abroad as growth in China has been slowing.

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  • Infrastructure Projects Indonesia: Semanggi Flyover Jakarta

    Construction of a new big infrastructure project in Indonesia has started: the Semanggi flyover in Jakarta's central business district. The project involves two additional elevated ramp roads above the existing intersection at Semanggi (hence creating an interchange). Improving the existing road infrastructure at this location is required in order to ease severe traffic congestion that occurs on working days. The project, which requires high-end technology, kicked off on Friday (08/04) and is scheduled to be completed in August 2017, ahead of the 2018 Asian Games.

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  • Joko Widodo Orders Investigation into Indonesian Links in Panama Papers

    Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) called for an investigation into the Indonesian people and companies mentioned in the Panama Papers, the massive leak involving 11.5 million confidential documents from the database of Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca. These documents list names numerous people - including of political figures, businessmen, celebrities and sport stars - who have created secret shell companies and offshore accounts in tax havens (possibly in an effort to avoid tax obligations).

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