• International Relations Indonesia: Tensions after Execution Drug Convicts

    After five foreigners and one Indonesian citizen were executed by firing squad on early Sunday morning (18/01), diplomatic tensions have risen. Despite international appeals from Brazil and the Netherlands, the Indonesian government decided to go-ahead with the execution of six convicted drug traffickers, involving four men (from Brazil, the Netherlands, Malawi and Nigeria), and two women (from Indonesia and Vietnam). Brazil and the Netherlands have recalled their ambassadors from Jakarta.

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  • Indonesia Investment Summit 2015: Structural Reforms Needed

    At the Indonesia Investment Summit 2015, organized in Jakarta on 15-16 January 2015, Bank Indonesia official Arief Mahmud presented several views of the central bank on the current Indonesian economy and the global and domestic challenges that it faces. As is widely known, Indonesia has been experiencing a process of slowing economic growth since 2011 due to sluggish global economic growth in combination with the rebalancing of the domestic economy. However, growth is expected to accelerate in 2015.

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  • ADB Praises Indonesia’s Reform Efforts but GDP Growth Limited in 2015

    Takehiko Nakao, President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), estimates that the Indonesian economy will grow 5.6 percent year-on-year (y/y) in 2015, lower than the target that has been set by the Indonesian government in the 2015 State Budget (5.8 percent y/y). Nakao is slightly less optimistic as he expects a slowdown in government spending this year. On a positive note, Nakao’s forecast implies a sharp improvement in Indonesia’s economic growth in 2015 from an estimated 5.1 percentage point (y/y) GDP growth in 2014.

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  • Virtue Dragon Nickel Industry Invests in Nickel Smelter in Indonesia

    Chinese ferronickel producer Virtue Dragon Nickel Industry plans to invest USD $5 billion for the establishment of a nickel smelter, power plant and a port. Andrew Zhu, President Director at Virtue Dragon Nickel Industry said that these facilities will be built on a 500-hectares estate in Konawe (Southeast Sulawesi). Zhu said that the nickel smelter development involves three phases. In the first phase, which should be finished by the end of 2015, the smelter will have an annual ferronickel production capacity of 600,000 tons.

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