• Newmont Nusa Tenggara's Arbitration Case over Indonesian Export Ban

    Indonesian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Jero Wacik regrets to see Newmont Nusa Tenggara, one of Indonesia largest copper miners, file for international arbitration due to Indonesia’s export ban stipulated by Law 4/2009 on Mineral and Coal Mining (Minerba). This new law includes the ban on exports of ore concentrates from Southeast Asia’s largest economy. Instead, Indonesian miners are required to process the minerals domestically first. The ban was implemented on 12 January 2014.

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  • Why Are Foreign Investors Concerned about a Prabowo Subianto Win?

    The result of Indonesia’s presidential election (scheduled for 9 July 2014), which has become a tight race between Prabowo Subianto and Joko Widodo (Jokowi), will for sure have a large impact on foreign investors’ confidence in Indonesian politics and the economy. A few weeks ago, a survey of Deutsche Bank showed that a majority of respondents (consisting of foreign investors) intend to sell their Indonesian assets if controversial candidate Prabowo Subianto will be elected. What are foreigners’ perceptions of a Subianto win?

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  • Poverty in Indonesia: National Poverty Rate Fell to 11.25% in March 2014

    Head of Statistics Indonesia (BPS) Suryamin announced on Tuesday (01/07) that the number of poor people in Indonesia declined slightly to 28.28 million people (or 11.25 percent of the total population) in March 2014, from 28.60 million (11.46 percent of the total population) in September 2013. However, compared to March last year, poverty has increased by 110,000 people due to high inflation and a slowing economy; economic growth slowed to 5.78 percent in 2013 and this decline continued to 5.21 percent in the first quarter of 2014.

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  • Political Year of 2014: Decline of Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) in Indonesia

    In the first half of 2014, 13 Indonesian companies conducted an initial public offering (IPO), including one relisting, on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). Total proceeds that were raised in the IPOs by these 13 companies was IDR 4.05 trillion (USD $340.3 million). However, both results were weaker than those in the same period last year. In the first half of 2013, 17 new listings were registered on the IDX and which managed to raise a combined total of IDR 10 trillion (USD $840.3 million). Why do we see less IPOs in Indonesia in 2014?

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