Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe informed Indonesian President Joko Widodo that Japan is eager to be involved in the USD $3 billion Patimban deep seaport in Subang (West Java). This seaport is envisaged to become an international seaport with a 7.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) capacity. President Widodo is in Japan for a two-day visit (26-27 May). On the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit, Widodo and Abe discussed several projects: the Patimban seaport, the revitalization of the northern Java railway, and the Batang power plant.

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Investors from South Korea plan to invest up to USD $18 billion in Indonesia. Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce & Industry (Kadin) Rosan Perkasa Roeslani, Trade Minister Thomas Lembong and Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi witnessed the signing of business agreements and memorandums of understanding (MoU) in Seoul on Monday (16/05), covering bilateral cooperation in infrastructure development such as power plants, gas pipelines and railways as well as trade, creative economy, environment, and maritime affairs.

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According to the Central Java Police Department, executions of 13 convicted drug traffickers - through firing squad - are being prepared and should be completed within a couple of weeks. Names and nationalities of the 13 people on death row in Indonesia have not been published yet. However, it is reported in media that three Indonesian prisoners have been transferred to the island Nusa Kambangan, the location where executions usually take place, on Sunday (08/05).

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The Indonesian government released the 12th economic policy package on Thursday (28/04). This latest edition focuses on enhancing the ease of doing business for the small and mid-sized companies in Indonesia in a bid to attract more investment, hence giving a boost to economic growth. In the 12th package the government announces it has cut a number of procedures and permits, as well as costs, required for the development of a business. Indonesia's Chief Economics Minister Darmin Nasution unveiled the package on Thursday in Jakarta's Presidential Palace.

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Rosan Roeslani, Chairman of Indonesia's Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin Indonesia), is optimistic that investment from the Netherlands into Indonesia will continue to grow in the years ahead as the Indonesian government has been focused on improving the investment climate of Southeast Asia's largest economy. President Joko Widodo's visit to the Netherlands (22-23 April 2016) resulted in about USD $606 million worth of Dutch investment commitments, signed on Friday (22/04) in The Hague.

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On 24 April 2016, Indonesia Investments released the latest edition of its newsletter. This free newsletter, which is sent to our subscribers once per week, contains the most important news stories from Indonesia that have been reported on our website over the last seven days. Most of the topics involve political and economic matters such as Joko Widodo's visit to Europe, the monetary policy of Bank Indonesia, Indonesia's Gini ratio, the palm oil and coal sectors, foreign ownership of property in Indonesia, the problems surrounding infrastructure spending in Indonesia, and more.

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For the first time in 16 years an Indonesian president will visit the Netherlands. Starting on 21 April 2016 Indonesian President Joko Widodo will pay a two-day state visit to the former colonial masters as the last part of his short visit to the European Union. The main aim of the visit to the Netherlands is to enhance economic ties between both nations. Widodo (often called "Jokowi") will be welcomed by Dutch King Willem-Alexander, meet Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, visit Maasvlakte 2 (a major civil engineering project in the port city of Rotterdam), and meet various Dutch businessmen.

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In its bid to enhance connectivity across the Indonesian archipelago, the government of Indonesia is eager to boost toll road development. Enhanced connectivity is key to curtail the nation's high logistics costs hence improving the competitiveness of domestic businesses while also making the investment climate more attractive. Besides business interests, enhanced infrastructure development is also important from a social point of view (for example, people's access to healthcare is improved). In this column we take a look at the developments of the Balikpapan-Samarinda toll road on the island of Kalimantan.

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On 13 March 2016, Indonesia Investments released the latest edition of its newsletter. This free newsletter, which is sent to our subscribers once per week, contains the most important news stories from Indonesia that have been reported on our website over the last seven days. Most of the topics involve economic matters such as the performance of Indonesian blue chip stocks, the impact of negative interest rates in the Eurozone, logistics costs, coal mining, crude palm oil, Japanese investment, and more.

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Today (09/12) millions of Indonesians head to the ballot boxes to vote for new regional leaders i.e. nine provincial governors, 36 mayors, and 224 district heads. These elections are important as the process of decentralization in the post-Suharto era has transferred considerable authority and power to the regions. As such, the regions now have a larger role and greater responsibility regarding economic development. Around 100 million people are eligible to cast a vote in the world's third-largest democracy. Today, 9 December 2015, has been declared a public national holiday.

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As had been predicted previously by various popularity surveys, the outcome of the Indonesian presidential election, a race between Joko Widodo (known as Jokowi) and Prabowo Subianto, was close. In fact, after the unofficial yet reliable quick count results had been collected, both camps claimed a victory. However, the majority of the quick count results show a Jokowi victory with a margin of about five to six percentage points. On 22 July 2014, the Indonesian General Elections Commission (KPU) will announce the official result.

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Indonesian Army Chief of Staff Budiman, without choosing a side, hopes to see a clear victory for one of the presidential candidates - Joko Widodo or Prabowo Subianto - in the election that is scheduled for Wednesday (09/07) as a large win will reduce chances of public disorder caused by disappointed supporters. Budiman said that a gap of at least five percent between the two contenders (based on the quick count results which will be released on the day of election) is considered a safer level.

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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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Senior economist at the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (INDEF), Didier Damanhuri, believes that Indonesia’s two presidential candidates - Joko Widodo (popularly known as Jokowi) and Prabowo Subianto - are both similar in economic approach as both men are primarily focused on high gross domestic product (GDP) growth as the measurement for economic development, while, in fact, many countries that only focus on GDP growth show a high degree of economic inequality.

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The performance of Indonesia’s benchmark stock index (known as Jakarta Composite Index or IHSG) was similar to the performance at the start of last week, possibly influenced by the presidential debates that took place a day prior to the past two Mondays. These debates, between the two presidential candidates (Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto), are broadcast live on national television and are important to outline each candidate’s vision and mission to the people. On 9 July 2014, Indonesians will vote for a new leader.

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Sunday evening (15/06), the second debate between Indonesia’s two presidential candidates - Prabowo Subianto and Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo - was held. This debate was broadcast live on various Indonesian television stations and - once again - managed to become a trending topic on social media. The debate, the theme of which was ‘development of the economy and social welfare‘, was characterized by a nationalistic and protectionist tone. This tone had already been set by Subianto in the past weeks but now Jokowi also stressed protectionism.

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The Indonesian rupiah exchange rate appreciated 0.25 percent to IDR 11,860 per US dollar according to the Bloomberg Dollar Index on Thursday (05/06). However, this is not expected to be the start of an appreciating trend for the currency as there are still various domestic and international factors that place pressure on the rupiah. Contrary to the Bloomberg Index, Bank Indonesia's benchmark rupiah rate (Jakarta Interbank Spot Dollar Rate, abbreviated JISDOR) depreciated 0.54 percent to IDR 11,874 against the US dollar today.

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It had been speculated for a while, but yesterday the official declaration of Indonesia's presidential candidates and their running mates (the vice-presidential candidates) were presented. In the upcoming election, scheduled for 9 July 2014, Jakarta Governor Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo will face Prabowo Subianto, former army general and former son-in-law to president Suharto (Indonesia's second president), in a battle for the country's presidential seat. What is there to tell about this battle?

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Similar to when the market expects the release of positive companies' corporate earnings reports, the benchmark stock index of Indonesia (known as the Jakarta Composite Index or IHSG) gained significantly at the start of today's trading day (19/05) as the market waited for the official declarations of the presidential and vice-presidential candidates that will participate in the presidential election that is scheduled for 9 July 2014. The two pairs that will compete are the Joko Widodo-Jusuf Kalla pair and the Prabowo Subianto-Hatta Rajasa pair.

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After a promising start of the day, the rupiah exchange rate and Indonesian stocks lost all of their earlier gains ahead of closing on Monday day (19/05). Around 10:00 local Jakarta time, the rupiah rate appreciated more than 0.60 percent to IDR 11,346 per US dollar on speculation that Jusuf Kalla would be nominated as Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's running mate in the presidential election (9 July 2014), backed by a coalition consisting of the PDI-P, NasDem, PKB and Hanura. After the official declaration, however, the currency lost all of its earlier gains.

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