Conjunction

Nama  : Rizka Larashati

Kelas   : 1EA19

Big Swedish firms to enter 
RI auto, power and retail 
sectors

Economic cooperation between Indonesia and Sweden has shown remarkable improvement in recent years as indicated not only in the increase in the number of visits between the countries’ senior officials but also in the surge in business-to-business relations.

Swedish Ambassador to Indonesia Ewa Polano said on Friday in Jakarta that several Swedish companies engaged in a wide range of business had made firm commitments to do business in Indonesia.

The ambassador said that investment from her country was growing and was estimated to reach at least US$400 million within the next few years.

Power transmission and industrial automation technology group ABB, furniture chain IKEA, retail store H&M and electric car maker Clean Motion AB have expressed a keen interest in investing in Indonesia, she said.

ABB will soon build two new power plants in Tangerang and Cibitung with a total investment of $25 million each and Clean Motion AB will produce bajaj-like electric car ZBee in a few months with a total investment of up to $100 million, Polano said.

IKEA will open three stores in Indonesia with a total investment of $300 million over the next few years. The first store, worth about $125 million, will open in Alam Sutera in Tangerang, Banten, in July 2014, whereas H&M has committed to opening two stores in September at Gandaria City and Pondok Indah in Jakarta with an unspecified amount of investment.

Currently, Sweden investment is much lower compared to that from other European countries, such as United Kingdom or France. Last year, Swedish investment totaled only $5.2 million in 11 projects, according to Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) data.

Polano said bilateral relations had reached an all-time high, marked by the exchange of high-level state visits by leaders of the two countries.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono last month paid a historic visit to Sweden to meet with Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf and Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt. This followed a visit by the Swedish king to Indonesia early last year and by the prime minister late last year.

“Bilateral relations between Sweden and Indonesia have, in fact, never been so good as it is now with these high-level visits. This has led to a good opportunity to develop our relations, and therefore I see that we now have an excellent platform for deepening our relations,” Polano told The Jakarta Post in an interview.

During Yudhoyono’s visit, the two countries sealed a number of bilateral agreements, either under a government-to-government arrangement or a business-to-business plan. These included agreements on sustainable urban development; research, science and innovation; environmental and healthcare cooperation; and sustainable wood furniture production.

Polano said that in addition to investment, closer economic relations could be achieved by way of trade, which still had enormous room for growth, although neither country had set a specific trade target within a particular time frame.

“Trade feeds trade, and relations in trade between our countries need to develop in areas that Indonesia can export to Sweden,” she said. The Swedish market still offers myriad untapped opportunities for Indonesian exporters, particularly for products in which Indonesia has a competitive edge, such as furniture products, palm products, art products, seaweed and textiles, Polano further said.

Two-way trade amounted to $1.47 billion in the past year, up 28 percent from 2011. Indonesia shipped $166.28 million worth of goods and commodities, including palm oil, furniture and textile products last year, while purchasing goods such as machinery, medical equipment and pharmaceutical products worth $1.3 billion, resulting in a $1.13 billion deficit.

  

English:

Economic cooperation between Indonesia and Sweden has shown remarkable improvement in recent years as indicated not only in the increase in the number of visits between the countries’ senior officials but also in the surge in business-to-business relations.

Indonesia:

Kerjasama ekonomi antara Indonesia dan Swedia telah menunjukkan peningkatan yang luar biasa dalam beberapa tahun terakhir seperti ditunjukkan tidak hanya dalam peningkatan dalam jumlah kunjungan antara pejabat senior negara-negara tetapi juga dalam gelombang dalam hubungan bisnis-ke-bisnis.

English:

During Yudhoyono’s visit, the two countries sealed a number of bilateral agreements, either under a government-to-government arrangement or a business-to-business plan.

Indonesia:

Selama kunjungan Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, kedua negara disegel sejumlah perjanjian bilateral, baik di bawah susunan pemerintahan atau rencana bisnis-ke-bisnis.

Airport tax in Angkasa 
Pura I airports to increase 
in April

State-run airport operator PT Angkasa Pura I is set to increase airport taxes in the five international-class airports it manages on the first day of April.

The airports are I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali, Juanda International Airport in East Java, Sepinggan International Airport in East Kalimantan, Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport in South Sulawesi and Lombok Praya International Airport in West Nusa Tenggara.

PT Angkasa Pura I corporate secretary Farid Indra Nugraha said that the tax would be applied to both domestic and international flights that are served by the airports, Tribunnews.com reported on Friday.

"We have to make the tax adjustment in order to maintain quality for passengers and our customers who use the airport services," Farid said.

For every domestic flight at Bali, East Kalimantan and East Java airports, passengers will be charged Rp 75,000 (US$6.6), while for the international flight services the cost will be Rp 200,000.

In South Sulawesi, the taxes for domestic and international flights will become Rp 50,000 and Rp 150,000, respectively.

Meanwhile, at Lombok Praya International Airport, Farid said that passengers will have to pay Rp 45,000 in airport taxes for domestic flight services and Rp 150,000 for international.

At Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali, he said that the new tariff would be applied on the first day of August, after the renovation of its domestic terminal has been completed. (nfo)

English:

PT Angkasa Pura I corporate secretary Farid Indra Nugraha said that the tax would be applied to both domestic and international flights that are served by the airports, Tribunnews.com reported on Friday.

Indonesia:

PT Angkasa Pura I Sekretaris Perusahaan Farid Indra Nugraha mengatakan bahwa pajak akan diterapkan pada penerbangan domestik dan internasional yang dilayani oleh bandara, Tribunnews.commelaporkan pada hari Jumat.

Yudhoyono undecided to 
attend G20, APEC summit 

As of late Wednesday it was still unclear whether President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would leave for the G20 Summit in Seoul and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Yokohama, Japan.

The President is reportedly still waiting for further developments  in relation to the eruptions of Mt. Merapi which have so far claimed more than 180 lives, before making a final decision about his trip to attend the summit meetings.

Although Vice President Boediono was due to leave Jakarta late Wednesday, his trip was cancelled about an hour and a half before the scheduled flight.

Indonesian journalists who had been asked to take part in Boediono’s visit to Seoul and Yokohama said they had been waiting at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport for hours until the vice president made the cancellation minutes before 10 p.m.

“We were told to go back home. Everyone looks too tired to be grumbling about this,” said one of the journalists, referring to the cancellation.

Boediono’s spokesman Yopie Hidayat said the President was likely still scheduled to attend the 
summits.

“The vice president called off the trip this evening. The President likely remains scheduled to go [to the summits],” he said.

“The reception at the G20 Summit will be held tomorrow [Thursday] evening. So, there’s still time to catch up with that if the President leaves [Jakarta] tomorrow morning.”

But after a three-hour internal meeting at the State Palace, the Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa neither confirmed nor denied that the President would attend the summits.

“We’ll just have to wait for who will be going tomorrow [Thursday] morning from Halim [Perdanakusuma Airport],” he said as quoted by Antara.

Boediono had reportedly prepared for a trip to the summits, along with journalists.

With debates heating  up ahead of the two-day G20 Summit, the world leading economies are expected to address current account imbalances this week.

Economist Aviliani of the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance and Standard Chartered Bank senior economist Fauzi Ichsan said it would make no difference whether the President or the vice president would attend the G20 Summit.

Fauzi said Indonesia’s presence at the G20 Summit would not change anything significantly due to its limited power.

“What Indonesia can do is express its concerns about a currency war as it could create an inflow of hot money from developed countries to emerging markets, including Indonesia,” he said.

“It would finally lead to asset bubbles within the next six to nine months [if no preventive measures are taken].”

Aviliani said Indonesia could help stabilize the currency situation between the US and Asian economic juggernaut China.

“We can take advantage of the currency war between the US and China,” she said.

“We can invite both China and the US to pour [more] investment into Indonesia, but it has to be in the real sector. It could help stabilize the yuan and the dollar.”

English:

But after a three-hour internal meeting at the State Palace, the Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa neither confirmed nor denied that the President would attend the summits.

Indonesia:

Tapi setelah rapat internal tiga jam di Istana Negara, Menteri Koordinator Perekonomian Hatta Rajasa tidak membenarkan atau membantah bahwa Presiden akan menghadiri KTT.