• Thailand's Kasikornbank Interested to Acquire Bank in Indonesia

    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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  • Tobacco Advertising on Television Banned in Indonesia?

    Commission I of Indonesia's House of Representatives (DPR) plans to revise Law No. 32/2002 on Broadcasting by adding a full ban on the advertisement of tobacco-related products on television and radio. Indonesia's tobacco industry, a massive industry in Southeast Asia's largest economy, objects to this plan. This ban would also have a big affect on government revenue (excise duties on cigarettes are a key source of government revenue) as well as on revenue generated by media institution because tobacco companies are the fifth-largest advertiser in Indonesia.

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  • Bank Indonesia Sees Widening Current Account Deficit in 2017

    The central bank of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia) expects the nation's current account deficit to widen to 2.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2017 due to expectation of rising imports in Indonesia this year. These rising imports come on the back of growing investment realization in Southeast Asia's largest economy. This projection is significantly higher compared to the estimated USD $17 billion, or 1.8 percent of GDP, current account deficit in 2016.

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  • Why Indonesia's Food & Beverage Industry Should Grow Strong in 2017

    Several players in Indonesia's food and beverage industry are optimistic that their business will do better in 2017 compared to the preceding year. Meanwhile, while the Industry Ministry of Indonesia set its target for growth of the national food and beverage industry in 2017 at the range of 7.5 - 7.8 percent year-on-year (y/y), an industry group is confident that the industry will expand up to 8.5 percent (y/y) this year, similar to last year's performance. Why should Indonesia's food and beverage industry expand stronger than the government's target in 2017?

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