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THE SPIRIT OF INDONESIA 

Display until November 12, 2011 /// N0. 28 

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Ciputra: 

Builder and 

Educator 

At a time when most successful people of his age 

would rest on their laurels and spend precious 

moments watching beautiful sunsets, property 

tycoon Ciputra, 80, is going full steam ahead by 

taking on giant urban projects. 

By Lukman Hakim 

OOne of his companies, 

PT Ciputra 

Development, this 

month allocated Rp 

2 trillion ($224 million) 

to finance the 

Ciputra World superblock and 

high rise residential complex 

Ciputra World 2, both in Kuningan, 

Jakarta. The two projects are 

scheduled for completion by mid 

2012 and mid 2014, respectively. 

It is not for nothing that Ciputra 

has often been compared to his 

American counterpart, New Yorkbased 

Donald Trump. Another of 

his company, PT Ciputra Property 

Tbk., through its subsidiary PT 

Ciputra Balai Property, plans to 

build a new business center in Jakarta 

worth Rp 300 billion ($ 35.1 

million). The new business center, 

Dipo Business Center (DBC), 

would be built on a 7,000-squaremeter 

area on Jakarta’s Jl. Gatot 

Subroto. 

The construction already started 

and is scheduled for completion 

by the second quarter of 2013. It 

comprises 15 home offices and an 

18-storey office building with a total 

building area of 40,000 square 

meters. 

Ciputra Property operates Hotel 

Ciputra in Jakarta and Semarang, 

Mal Ciputra in Jakarta and 

Semarang, and Somerset Grand 

Citra Jakarta. 

Ciputra is also set to launch a 

total of five construction projects 

next year, the majority of which 

would be outside Java. Through 

its three subsidiaries, PT Ciputra 

Development Tbk, PT Ciputra 

Surya Tbk and PT Ciputra Property, 

Ciputra Group has invested 

in 27 cities throughout the country 

and three cities abroad. Instead 

of focusing its investment on 

Jakarta and the surrounding areas, 

they have chosen other cities 

like Kendari, Medan and Ambon. 

They are ready to launch its project 

in Tegal, Central Java, by the 

end of this month. 

Ciputra Group controls publicly 

traded Ciputra Development, 

which in turn controls Ciputra 

Property, which manages hotels, 

office buildings and retail properties. 

Ciputra has properties in 

27 cities across the country and 

in Hanoi, Phnom Penh and Shenyang, 

China. 

Recently, Ciputra Group announced 

its foray into hospital 

construction and management 

by planning to build two to 

three hospitals annually over five 

years. The company is set to invest 

Rp 100 billion to Rp 200 billion 

($11.3 million to $22.6 million) 

for each hospital, which will 

be called Ciputra Hospital. 

It plans to develop the hospitals 

in stages with a target of 10 to 15 

within the next five years, spending 

as much as Rp 3 trillion. The 

company is looking at five cities — 

Jakarta, Surabaya, Palembang, 

Makasar and Manado — for possible 

locations for the medical facilities. 

However, it’s not all business 

to Ciputra, as he is also keen on 

devoting his time on philantropy 

and education. In 2006, Ciputra 

founded Universitas Ciputra 

to develop, he said, “the nation’s 

entrepreneurial spirit”. “We believe 

that the present world and 

the future world need all the entrepreneurs 

who have a burning 

entrepreneurial spirit, excellent 

characters and who will be able to 

be global players.” 

The Surabaya-based school is 

located on Ciputra’s own sub-urban 

satellite city Citra Raya, far 

from the town’s buzzing atmosphere. 

“Entrepreneurship holds 

the key to the future of the developing 

world. Entrepreneurship 

brought me from a state of childhood 

poverty to a life of philanthropy. 

And just as my own experience 

as an entrepreneur reaped 

rewards I never imagined, I believe 

embracing entrepreneurship will 

enable nations to make a "quantum 

leap" from despair to prosperity,” 

says Ciputra. 

“The hardships of my childhood 

gave me the desire to make a better 

life for my family. I was born in 

a remote village of Sulawesi Island 

on August 24, 1931. When I was 

twelve years old, my father was 

taken prisoner by the enemy and 

imprisoned on false charges of espionage. 

He died in captivity. We 

never learned where he was buried. 

My family not only lost our father 

but our small grocery store 

as well. But I vowed not to remain 

poor,” he recalled recently. 

After graduating from senior 

high school in Manado, he entered 

the architecture department at 

ITB in Bandung. In 1957, together 

with Ismail Sofyan and Budi 

Brasali, college friends who would 

later become successful busnessmen 

in their own right, Ciputra 

founded PT Daya Cipta, an architecture 

firm in Jakarta, and later 

PT Pembangunan Jaya. 

In his long and illustrious career, 

Ciputra founded three large 

property development groups in 

Indonesia: Jaya Group, Metropolitan 

Group, and Ciputra Group. 

The groups currently employ 

more than 15,000 people and pay 

taxes in excess of $100 million 

annually. 

“I was so blessed by the invitation 

of President Barack Obama 

to be a panelist at the Presidential 

Summit on Entrepreneurship 

in April 2010 in Washington, D.C. 

Although I could not attend due to 

my health, I am so glad we were 

invited because we learned of the 

Global Entrepreneurship Program 

(GEP), a new opportunity in 

which the U.S. government promotes 

entrepreneurship among 

Muslim-majority countries. Indonesia 

was chosen to be the second 

pilot country,” he said. 

“I estimate that our country 

of 240 million people has just 

400,000 entrepreneurs who build 

scalable, innovative companies. 

That’s less than 1% of the population. 

Compare that to 13% for 

the U.S. and 7% for nearby Singapore,” 

he says. 

He figures his university could 

change the country if he could 

help encourage, create and mentor 

4 million entrepreneurs or 2% 

of the country’s population. 

“How do you do that? Not with 

venture capital, but by changing 

the country’s mindset,” Ciputra 

says. 

That, time will tell, may yet be 

his greatest contribution to the 

nation.

A2 

October 12, 2011 



Opinion 

Great Man, Great King, Great Leader 

By Mohamad Sobary 

A king whom is 

respected, obeyed 

by his people, is also 

called a great king. 

Thus a popular idea 

was launched: “Throne 

for the People” which 

suggested that a 

kingdom and its king 

provide protections – 

in many aspects of life 

– to the people 

TThe people of Solo 

are very proud of 

their great poets because 

Yogyakarta 

never had one. 

Ronggo Warsito is 

one of the great poets it has, whose 

reputation still lives on until today 

and who was admired for his ability 

to ‘read’ the signs of the time 

that were relevant to the current 

condition. His thoughts about the 

“era of madness” had been passed 

down as a way to look at the “value 

system” and the dynamics of 

social changes that are still adopted 

today and very popular among 

all social layers. 

He didn’t actually have the skill 

to see the future; he only analyzed 

the socio-political condition at the 

Solo Palace or locally known as 

Kraton Solo during the Dutch colonial 

era which he thought was 

“devastating” because of an anomie 

condition he described as 

tense and “threatening” to the 

harmony of the Javanese culture 

during that period of time. 

The people of Yogyakarta also 

had their own pride. They are 

proud that Yogyakarta had great 

kings and Solo didn’t. The rich 

cultural colors that both Kraton 

Yogya and Solo have are passed 

down to their generations with enmity, 

or in sociological term called 

“cultural animosity”. The fact was 

that the two Kratons had actually 

“emerged” from the same ancestor: 

Raden Sutawijaya, who 

was later known as Panembahan 

Senapati. 

Panembahan – who was during 

his younger years called Raden 

Ngabehi Loring Pasar – was recorded 

in history as the founder 

of Mataram Dynasty that moved 

Pajang Kingdom to a new central 

government he built in Kota Gede 

called the old Kraton. The founder 

of the Mataram dynasty (1578- 

1601) was a great king. The people 

called him “Wong agung ing 

Ngeksigondo”, the great man, the 

great king, in Ngeksigondo, in the 

Kota Gede area. He was a student 

who chewed everything that his 

teacher, Sultan Hadiwijaya – who 

was known as Jaka Tingkir at 

his younger age because he came 

from Tingkir village – taught him 

in Pajang. 

For the Javanese people, to 

equip oneself with skills and 

knowledge and heritage represent 

their aspirations to become 

an ideal human being. By mastering 

both the inner and physical 

knowledge, Panembahan was 

able to control the world of spirits. 

In Javanese myths, Panembahan 

and all the kings in Mataram after 

him magically married Ratu 

Kidul, the ruler of the Southern 

Sea along the Java Island. 

Here it was crystal clear that 

the greatness of a king – in his 

personal capacity – is measured 

based on how much and how 

deeply the king masters the inner 

and physical knowledge and “kawaskitan”, 

or the ability to understand 

things that are related to 

spirits and every phenomena that 

would happen. Only special people 

will be able to obtain the “laduni” 

knowledge – knowledge obtained 

without having to go through the 

learning process, which is called 

“waskita”. So, Panembahan Senopati 

– as reflected in his title – is 

called “Rojo asariro pandito – the 

king that has the spirit and the 

capacity to become a priest, man 

of religion. 

A king whom is respected, 

obeyed by his people, is also 

called a great king. Thus a popular 

idea was launched: “Throne 

for the People” which suggested 

that a kingdom and its king provide 

protections – in many aspects 

of life – to the people. It would be 

a great shame for the king and his 

kingdom if the whole village from 

one of its areas moved to another 

kingdom to find a better living as 

they consider the other kingdom 

as safer and can guarantee their 

livelihood. 

Once upon a time while in front 

of the Kaaba in Mecca, somebody 

pulled the Sultan’s robe and 

he was surprised to learn that it 

was his own servant that did that 

robe. The Sultan asked his servant 

why he was there and how 

he got there. The servant proudly 

replied: thanks for your majesty’s 

“karton luhringo” prayers. The 

Sultan was obviously in shock. 

This was because he was only 

joking about “karton luringo”. Kar 

means burning. Ton means concrete 

– the seed of a jackfruit – 

Luh means ten, Ri means kari or 

leave, Ngo is “songo”, or nine. So, 

For the Javanese 

people, to equip 

oneself with skills 

and knowledge and 

heritage represent their 

aspirations to become 

an ideal human being. 

the complete meaning is: “mbakar 

beton sepuluh gosong siji kari 

songo” or burning ten jackfruit 

seeds, one is badly burnt, leaving 

only nine. 

Noteworthy: the joke of a great 

man can become a reality. Imagine 

when he is serious. And it did 

not stop there. The Sultan once 

tested his understanding about 

poverty. Was poverty a fate or was 

it a “worldly invention” that can be 

overcome with other “worldly inventions”? 

With this question in 

mind, the Sultan summoned the 

kingdom’s ‘gamel’, a person who 

looks after the Sultan’s horses. 

The gamel was a poor man and he 

lived in a village, outside the kraton. 

After depositing hays for the 

horses, the ‘gamel’ received a watermelon. 

He said to himself that 

village people don’t need watermelon. 

He then went to the market 

and sold the watermelon. He 

bought cendol or traditional dessert 

to quench his thirst from the 

money he got from selling the watermelon. 

Now, we all know that 

the meat of the watermelon had 

been replaced with gold, jewelries, 

diamonds, and other valuable 

gem stones. If these jewelries were 

sold, the ‘gamel’ would have been 

rich. And for sure, he would stop 

working as a ‘gamel’. But a ‘gamel’ 

remains a ‘gamel’. And the Sultan 

concluded: it turned out that 

poverty is a “fate” that had been 

brought down from the “sky”. 

This is a folklore of the Yogyakarta 

people, which has been 

widely passed down and at the 

same time to strengthen the greatness 

of the Sultan among its people 

until today. The greatness of 

the Sultan is also attached closely 

in the people’s hearts because he 

also synchronized the Javanese 

new year “Suro” with the Islamic 

new year “Muharam”. The first 

day of Suro is also the first day 

of Muharam. Suro is Muharam, 

and Muharam is Suro. Java and 

Islam were synchronized to support 

each other and to enrich one 

another. Later on, in our era, this 

spirit is translated as Indonesianization 

of Islam, and indigenizing 

Islam: joint ideas that matches 

with one another, from Gus 

Dur, Cak Nur and Pak Munawir 

Sadzali, without any intention 

to control or dominate but merely 

to regulate and to offer spirituality 

to create a peaceful Indonesia 

both politically and culturally. 

An inclusive great mind that created 

peace was already born during 

the era of the Great Sultan 

and it was amazing. The Sultan 

was indeed a great man and he 

nurtured all sides, including the 

world of spirits due to his marriage 

to Ratu Kidul. The Sultan 

left a trace of “rendezvous”, in the 

form of a ‘Cepuri”, a romantic and 

sacred small “palace” in Parang 

Kusumo, which remains sacred 

until today. 

The Sultan’s greatness was 

written in history when he defeated 

VOC in Batavia. The great Sultan 

was very courageous and daring. 

Even the most wicked VOC 

trembled when they faced the 

great confrontation. It was during 

this era that Mataram reached its 

glory, its golden era, after the era 

of Majapahit. 

However, Mataram experienced 

a major setback after this 

while in the hands of the Amangkurats 

who were unable to fight 

the Dutch. The Trunojyo rebellion 

erupted and shocked the Dutch 

and Kraton that led the Kraton to 

be moved to Kartosuro. When it 

was moved again to Surokarto, 

Paku Buwono II was very weak, 

he let the condition to deteriorate 

further. The Chinese rebellion in 

1740-1743 made the condition become 

worse. This was followed by 

an insurgency by Raden Mas Sudjono, 

or Pangeran Mangkubumi, 

and Raden Mas Said, or Pangeran 

Sambernyowo, who later became 

Pangeran Mangkunegara I. 

Finally in 1755, the kraton was divided 

into two: Solo and Yogya. 

Kraton Yogya was founded in 

1755 under the Giyanti Agreement. 

And Raden Mas Sudjono, 

Pangeran Mangkubumi, took 

the throne with a title: “Sampeyan 

Dalem Ingkang Sinuwun Kanjeng 

Sultan Hamengku Buwono, 

Senopati ing Ngalogo, Abdurrahman 

Sayyidin Panotogomo, Khalifatullah. 

Hamengku Buwono is a 

symbol of a king that serves the 

world and one who protects every 

citizen. Hamengku means a leader 

that has to give more and not 

ask from its people. 

For the Javanese people, the 

Sultan is very ideal because he 

has to understand where human 

beings come from and where they 

will return. Sultan also means 

that he has to build lives in harmony 

to create the “manunggaling 

kawulo gusti” environment. 

It wasn’t a surprise to see 

Hamengku Buwono got this title 

because when he was young; he 

was Pangeran Mangkubumi and 

the title basically has the same 

meaning as Hamengku Buwono. 

The title Mangkubumi was also 

not surprising because he was the 

son of Amangkurat IV, the ruler of 

the universe. 

Ngerso Dalem Kanjeng Sulan 

Hamengku Buwono IX had other 

greatness because he ruled in a 

different era. The Dutch was very 

irritated by him because this Sultan 

always defeated them. Let’s 

not forget about Yogya’s huge sacrifice 

for this republic. If at the 

time the Sultan wanted to remain 

a Sultan, Yogya would be considered 

a foreign country, and that 

means the leaders of this republic 

who happened to be in Yogyakarta 

were in a foreign country – that 

would make this republic running 

without leaders. That would 

have made it easy for the slick 

Dutch leaders to take over and 

abort this republic. But the Sultan 

was “wong agung lan waskito”. 

And it was he who formulated 

the suggestion “The Throne for 

the People”. 

Until now, the Sultan’s greatness 

is still maintained. And 

in Sabdatama, the command 

and words of Ngerso Dalem, The 

throne for the People, will live eternally. 

Only the people who do not 

understand history and those 

who do not know how to return 

favors would insist on eliminating 

Yogyakarta’s special privilege. 

Until now, the 

Sultan’s greatness is 

still maintained. And 

in Sabdatama, the 

command and words 

of Ngerso Dalem, 

The throne for the 

People, will live 

eternally. Only the 

people who do not 

understand history 

and those who do 

not know how to 

return favors would 

insist on eliminating 

Yogyakarta’s special 

privilege. 


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PUBLISHED BY 

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www.thepresidentpost.com The President Post 

October 12, 2011 A3 

The World 

THE CHANGING GLOBAL ECONOMY: 

Emerging Countries Set to Move 

Over the past decade the emerging countries have 

consistently post higher growth rates. According to 

statistics advanced countries average growth rates were 

first 2.9% and the emerging countries 3.6%. This has 

changed to the following comparison: the advanced 

countries 1.9% and the emerging countries 6.6%. 

By Atmono Suryo 

CHANGING WORLD 

IIn this 21st century it is 

becoming increasingly 

evident that a different 

world economic landscape 

is shaping up. As 

it now stands the world 

is still in a stage of transition. 

Countries should be prepared to 

be confronted with a number of 

unexpected developments and to 

make the necessary adjustments. 

In this era of globalization some 

massive changes will be in the 

making. It is being forecast that 

there will be a shift of economic 

power from the West to the East, 

and that the world will become 

a multipolar world with a large 

number of growth poles. Also, that 

the world economic landscape will 

undergo meaningful shifts. 

But one of the most important 

features of change is the rise 

of the developing countries and 

the increasing central role of the 

emerging countries in the global 

economy. 

The developing countries’ difficult 

struggle to improve their economic 

and social conditions actually 

dates back to some 50 years 

ago, the 60’s and 70’s. It was in 

1964 when the Group of 77 Developing 

Countries came into being, 

at the first session of UNCTAD 

(United Nations Conference on 

Trade and Development) in Geneva. 

That was the first attempt of the 

Third World to close ranks among 

the developing countries. The G77 

launched the concept of the New 

International Economic Order at 

the Sixth Special session of the 

United Nations to bring about a 

peaceful, just and prosperous 

world. It also took the initiative to 

begin the North-South Dialogue 

between the developed and developing 

countries. 

However, all those attempts of 

the past have failed. But a new 

momentum is now developing in 

this 21st century. This will give a 

chance for the developing countries 

to achieve growth and welfare 

for their people and to strengthen 

their position in the global economy. 

A highly important development 

in this era of globalization is the 

rise of the developing countries in 

the global economic setting. It will 

be noted that the emerging countries 

have been on the move to reform 

and develop their economies 

to keep up with the developments 

in this interdependent and complex 

world. 

The projected shift of economic 

power will slowly alter the world 

economic landscape. A small 

number of emerging countries 

GEO-ECONOMIC 

LANDSCAPE 

ADVANCED G20 

BRICS 

OTHER EMERGING G20 

OTHER ADVANCED 

OTHER EMERGING 

have been the forerunners of the 

developing countries in their respective 

regions. 

China and India are in the lead 

in Asia, Brazil in Latin America 

and Russia covering the Eastern 

part of Europe extending to 

Asia. The BRIC (Brazil-Russia-India-China) 

were followed by 6 other 

emerging countries, including 

Indonesia, to come to the present 

group of 10 Emerging Countries. 

In addition changes will also 

take place in the strategic areas 

of economic paradigm, economic 

policies and business practices. 

It covers the area of economic 

and social development and trade. 

It also covers the crucial area of 

investments and services and importantly 

the critical area of finance 

which continues to be in 

disarray. 

The emerging countries are the 

ones riding high on the waves of 

these changes or even triggering 

the necessary changes by taking 

advantage of the new opportunities 

open to them. This is happening 

in East Asia with the two giants 

in the lead, China and India, 

taking advantage of the experience 

of their predecessors of earlier 

times, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan 

and the other Asian tigers. 

GEO-ECONOMIC LANDSCAPE 

The map above shows the need 

and importance of developing 

closer cooperation between the 

emerging countries and the more 

advanced countries with the two 

main groupings cooperating under 

the G20 umbrella. 

As is known the G20 consists 

of the advanced countries (of 

the G7/G8 which consist of the 

United States, Canada, Germany, 

France, the United Kingdom 

and Italy – plus Australia and 

South Korea. And the 10 Emerging 

countries are Brazil, Russia, 

India, China, Mexico, Argentina, 

Turkey, Indonesia, South Africa 

and Saudi Arabia. They consist 

of the BRIC countries (yellow) 

plus the other emerging countries 

(blue) which includes Indonesia. 

The G20 grouping represents 

the largest part of the world in 

terms of geographic size but also 

in terms of GDP/economic size. 

It represents 85% of of the world 

GDP, 80% of world trade, and twothird 

of the world population. 

Another important point to 

note is that over the past decade 

the emerging countries have consistently 

post higher growth rates. 

According to statistics advanced 

countries average growth rates 

were first 2.9% and the emerging 

countries 3.6%. This has changed 

to the following comparison: the 

advanced countries 1.9% and the 

emerging countries 6.6%. 

With the 10 emerging countries 

developing at a faster rate (to 

be followed soon by other developing 

countries) this will undoubtedly 

speed up the changes of the 

global economic landscape—to 

become a multipolar world with 

an increasing number of growth 

poles not only in Asia but also in 

Latin America and other parts of 

the world such as the Gulf countries. 

THE BIG TASK AHEAD 

It is of strategic importance for 

the global economy that in the 

coming years the emerging countries 

should be on the constant 

move. Not only to occupy a better 

“place in the sun” in the global 

economy, but also to achieve a 

new world economic order which 

which was the goal of the G77 developing 

countries years ago (Note: 

Indonesia belongs to the Group of 

the 77 developing countries). 

The World Bank, Asian Development 

Bank, BBVA and many 

media predict that the ten big 

emerging countries, located in every 

part of the world, will change 

the face of global economics and 

politics. 

10 BIG EMERGING COUNTRIES 

Latin 

America 

: Mexico, Brazil, 

Argentina 

Asia : China, India, South 

Korea, and Indonesia 

Others : South Africa, Poland, 

Turkey 

• According to BBVA Research 

the high growth rates of the 10 

emerging countries is expect- 

ed to contribute 51% of global 

growth compared to 14% of the 

G7 developed countries. 

• With regard to regional development 

East Asia is being considered 

as the most dynamic region 

in the global economy, led 

by two countries which were for 

centuries considered as one of 

the less-developed countries 

with enormously large populations. 

They were for a long time 

considered as the sleeping giants. 

With the advanced countries 

presently in decline, the emerging 

countries have now the obligation 

to become another big 

power house in the global economy 

alongside the more advanced 

countries. The emerging countries 

should be able to accelerate their 

moves to become the new dynamics 

of the global economy. 

To that end, East Asia should 

become the largest contributor in 

that massive undertaking. It has 

all the potentials to become an 

important driver of growth of the 

global economy. East Asia has a 

very large GDP, an enormous expanding 

market, huge (younger 

age) human resources with increasing 

purchasing power and a 

very large middle income group. It 

has very large exchange reserves 

thanks to China, and an expanding 

industrial growth combined 

with rising “Asian multi-national 

companies”. On top of it, it carries 

the historic call to be the center of 

the global shift from the West to 

the East. 

The writer is former ambassador 

to the EU. 

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and ample landscaped area.

A4 




The Economy 

ECONOMIC UPDATES 

Govt to Offer Retail Bonds 

The government is planning to offer retail state bonds series ORI008 

on October 7-21, 2011 to meet part of financing target in the revised 

2011 state budget. 

The three-year bonds due on October 15, 2014 will be issued at a 

coupon of 7.30% per year, Director General of Debt Management at 

the Finance Ministry Rahmat Waluyanto said in a statement on Thursday. 

The allotment date of the bonds will be October 24, 2011 and the 

settlement date on October 26, 2011. Subscription to the state bonds 

is set at a minimum of Rp5 million and a maximum of Rp3 billion with 

coupon payments on every 15th of the month. 

"Coupon payments will for the first time be made on December 

15, 2011. The coupon will be profitable because it is higher than the 

average deposit rate of state banks. In addition, ORI will be profitable 

because it can be traded," he said. 

He said the aim of issuing ORI008 was to meet part of the financing 

target in the revised state budget as well as to develop the domestic 

market of state debt securities by diversifying financing source instruments 

and expanding investor`s bases. 

Govt Set to Take Over Inalum 

The government is determined to 

take over the management of PT Indonesia 

Asahan Aluminium (Inalum) in 

2013, Industry Minister MS Hidayat said 

here last week. 

"With this decision, North Sumatra 

will be able to become the biggest aluminum 

cluster," he said. 

He made the statement in reply to 

MS Hidayat 

a question from a Regional Representatives 

Council (DPD) member from 

North Sumatra regarding the government`s stance on the issue as the 

plant had been managed by Japan for the past 30 years. The minister 

admitted that Japan still wished and had made a relevant proposal to 

continue operating and managing the aluminium plant. 

"The government is determined to take over Inalum in connection 

with the ban on export of raw materials to be issued by the government 

in 2014," he said. 

He said there would be a negotiating team to discuss the matter 

with the Japanese. The minister however could not yet disclose more 

details on the government`s preparations for the planned takeover, 

especially with regard to the new management system or the company 

that would eventually run the enterprise. "I cannot yet give more 

details on the planned Inalum takeover but I can assure you that the 

government will take it over," he said. 

He said the country, including North Sumatra province where the aluminium 

production facilities were located, would obtain more benefit 

from their existence if they were taken over by the government. 

RI Exports in 

August Reach 

$18.81 billion 

Oil and gas exports in August reached $4.09 

billion while non-oil and gas exports were recorded 

at $14.72 billion. 

IIndonesia's total exports 

reached US$18.81 billion 

in August 2011, up by 8% 

from the previous month. 

Head of Distribution and 

Service Statistics of the National 

Statistics Agency (BPS), Djamal, 

said here on Monday total exports 

in August were also up by 37% 

from the same period last year. 

Oil and gas exports in August 

reached $4.09 billion while nonoil 

and gas exports were recorded 

at $14.72 billion. "Oil and gas 

exports rose 7.59% while non-oil 

and gas exports 8.12% from the 

previous month," he said. 

Djamal said most of the 

country`s exports in August went 

to China worth $1.92 billion, followed 

by Japan ($1.53 billion) 

and India ($1.39 billion). "Exports 

to the three countries comprised 

32.89%," he said. 

Cumulatively the value of exports 

from January to August 

2011 reached $134.85 billion or 

rose 36.58% compared to the 

same period last year. 

In the period the value of non-oil 

and gas exports reached $107.37 

billion with mineral fuels, fat and 

oil contributing the largest respectively 

at $16.97 billion and $13.96 

billion. 

Exports of oil and gas in the 

period were recorded at $27.47 

billion with gas and crude oil 

exports contributing the biggest 

respectively at $15.36 billion 

and $8.76 billion. 

Djamal said Indonesia`s imports 

in August were recorded 

at $15.05 billion, down 7.12% 

from the previous month. Nonoil 

and gas imports dropped 

by 9.37% to 11.25%. The biggest 

non-oil and gas imports 

consisted of electronic goods 

worth $2.09 billion. 

Although imports were lower 

their value was still higher that 

the previous month`s. Cumulatively 

imports from January 

to August 2011 rose 30.90% to 

$114.84 billion from those of 

the same period last year. 

Non-oil and gas imports in 

the first six month period of 

2011 were also up 25.18% from 

those of the same period last 

year to $87.99 billion. 

China was the biggest supplier 

if non-oil and gas imports 

comprising 18.61% of the market 

share worth $16.37 billion. 

Japan followed in the second 

place with exports worth 

$12.10 billion and Singapore 

in the third place with exports 

worth $7.07 billion. 

RI's Economic Growth to 

Reach 6.6% in Q3: Minister 

The Indonesian economy during 

the third quarter of 2011 is 

believed to have reached a growth 

rate of 6.6%, Finance Minister 

Agus Martowardojo said. 

Speaking at the Asian Roundtable 

on Corporate Governance 

here on Monday he said the projection 

was based on growth in 

the investment and consumption 

sectors which had been the 

biggest contributors to economic 

growth for some time. 

"I think if growth in the investment 

and other sectors in Indonesia 

are maintained at the rates 

we have seen lately it is likely that 

Indonesia`s economic growth may 

reach 6.5 to 6.6% in Q3," he said. 

In annual terms however the 

The House of Representatives 

(DPR) has approved the government-proposed 

budget allocations 

of Rp45 trillion for electricity subsidy 

in 2012. 

All factions in the House Commission 

VII expressed their approval 

of the proposal at a working 

meeting with Energy and 

Mineral Resources Minister Darwin 

Saleh here last week. 

However, the House Commission 

gave notes to the 

government`s proposal to raise 

basic electricity tariff by 10% effective 

April 1, 2012. 

The House asked the proposal 

for electricity tariff hike to be re- 

Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo 

minister still holds to the revised 

budget assumption of 6.5% in 

view of the unpredictable impact 

of the current European economic 

crisis. "We are indeed concerned 

over current global economy 

whose growth has been revised 

from 4.4% to 4.0%," he said. 

The minister also warned of a 

global economic slowdown that 

House Sets Electricity Subsidy 

At Rp45 trillion for 2012 

viewed. The government proposed 

an electricity subsidy of Rp45 on 

assumption that basic electricity 

tariff would increase by 10% effective 

April 1, 2012. However, the 

policy did not apply to incapable 

customers with 450 VA. 

With the 10% increase, the 

electricity tariff would go up to 

Rp796 from Rp726 per kWh. The 

electricity subsidy of Rp45 trillion 

would consist of Rp40.5 trillion 

from subsidy in the current year, 

a shortage of Rp4.5 trillion based 

on the results of audit by the State 

Audit Board, and Rp4.5 trillion 

from the transfer of subsidy from 

2012 to 2013. 

could continue until 2012 to make 

the growth to reach only 3.0%. 

"We know that a lot of banks in 

Europe especially are facing liquidity 

and confidence problems, 

having portfolio in Asia including 

Indonesia and so we must prepare 

ourselves well," he said. 

In view of that the minister 

said he could not as yet confirm 

whether or not the 6.7% growth 

assumption for the 2012 draft 

budget would be changed. He 

said however if global conditions 

remained uncertain and affected 

badly on the country`s economy 

the government would consider 

proposing a change in the growth 

assumption in the budget ahead 

of schedule. 

The assumed subsidy was 

among others based on the 

rupiah`s exchange rate of Rp8,800 

per dollar, oil price of $90 per barrel, 

and electricity sales of Rp172.8 

trillion. 

Achmad Riyaldi of the House 

Commission from the Justice and 

Prosperous Party (PKS) said the 

budget allocation of Rp45 trillion 

accorded with the spirit of lowering 

power subsidy in stages. 

Electricity subsidy is expected 

to reach Rp65.5 trillion for 2011. 

"We have agreed on the budget allocation 

of Rp45 trillion but not 

the increase in electricity tariff because 

we still have another alternative," 

he said.


October 12, 2011 A5 

The Economy 

Economist: RI Needs to 

Grow By at Least 9% 

To achieve a 9% growth infrastructure had to be improved. 

AAn economist said Indonesia 

needs to grow 

minimally 9% percent 

in 2015. A growth of 

6.5% would not as yet 

guarantee a better life for the Indonesian 

people, the observer, M. 

Chatib Basri from state University 

of Indonesia, said in a CIMB 

Niaga Economic Outlook Conference 

here on Wednesday. 

He said Indonesia needs to 

grow minimally 9% in 2015 considering 

global volatility and future 

challenges. 

"A target of 6-7% growth I am 

convinced we could realize without 

government intervention. The 

problem is the target is not sufficient. 

We need growth at nine percent 

levels," he said. 

M. Chatib Basri 

He said if Indonesia could grow 

at only 6-7% people would be 

trapped into a potential poverty 

because it would not be able to 

catch up with the emerging markets. 

He said because of the large 

population in the working force 

category it would be easy for Indonesia 

to grow by 7% because domestic 

consumption rate is high, 

he said. 

"That is why companies like Astra 

or Unilever can grow well in 

the middle of current crisis. So 

without government efforts we 

could grow," he said. 

To achieve a 9% growth Chatib 

said infrastructure had to be improved. 

With the settlement of infrastructure 

problems logistic obstacles 

that have so far hindered 

domestic trade would be overcome, 

he said. 

"Why doesn’t Astra want to 

build a plant here? It is because 

the logistics cost between regions 

is far higher than the cost of imports. 

So, if the problem could be 

overcome I believe a 9% growth 

is not impossible to achieve," he 

said. 

FISH LANDING BASE: The government wants to build a Fish Landing Base (PPI – Pangkalan Pendaratan Ikan) at Muara Angke and 

Muara Baru, North Jakarta in 2013. PPI is expected to be the same as those in Japan: a nice fish base that is large, clean and hygienic. 

The President Post/Nandi Nanti 

Govt Targets 5% Growth 

in Annual Rice Production 

The government is targeting an 

annual 5% growth in rice production 

to achieve a surplus of 10 million 

tons in 2014-2015, a minister 

said. 

"A road map was discussed just 

now to achieve the production 

growth with each region setting 

an average annual 5% growth," 

chief economic minister Hatta 

Rajasa said after a coordination 

meeting on food here on Thursday. 

www.beritabatavia.com 

North Maluku (Malut) Governor 

Thaib Armayin said the 

province is expected to become 

a nickel industry center as two 

nickel plants worth Rp84 trillion 

would be built in Halmahera 

island. 

"The two nickel industries 

will be built by consortium PT 

Aneka Tambang and PT Weda 

Bya Nike," the governor said 

North Maluku to Become 

Nickel Industry Center 

in his address on the occasion 

of North Maluku province`s 12th 

anniversary here on Wednesday. 

The governor said that the two 

nickel industries which were expected 

to be operational before 

2020 would provide a big contribution 

to the regional original income 

(PAD) in the form of royalty 

and other form of receipts. 

Thaib said that the nickel in- 

dustry will also provide jobs for locals 

and boost the growth of other 

business sector in the region such 

as transportation and trade. 

He said that the province also 

plans to build a big fish processing 

industry with an investment 

of Rp32 trillion. 

The fish industry is located in 

Pulau Morotai district and is built 

through a `mina politan` (urban- 

based fish cultivation) program 

from the Ministry of Maritime and 

Fisheries Affairs. 

"If the nickel and fish industries 

are already in operations, 

Malut will become one of the economic 

growth centers in Indonesia 

whose contribution would be 

enjoyed not only by the people of 

Malut but also of other provinces," 

the governor said. 

Hatta confirmed the government 

had prepared an investment 

plan to open new agricultural 

lands and build dams as an irrigation 

facility involving state enterprises. 

"We will ensure the availability 

of the funds and create synergy 

among state enterprises that 

are already working now. Efforts 

to increase food production with 

the synergy of state enterprises 

are already underway. The forestry 

minister has prepared the 

land and in the future two million 

hectares more will be made available," 

he said. 

Chief Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa 

"A road map was discussed just now to achieve 

the production growth with each region setting an 

average annual 5% growth." 

Regarding present food supplies, 

Hatta said the national rice 

and food stocks were sufficient 

cuasing inflation in September 

to remain low at only 0.27% and 

2.69% annually. "Our food stocks 

are sufficient to meet the need of 

all regions. There is no shortage. 

Stocks controlled by the National 

Logistics Agency (Bulog) are also 

sufficient. As you know, these 

conditions have kept the inflation 

rate low," he said. 

Hatta said the government had 

taken anticipatory measures to 

meet the upcoming dry season by 

preparing food resilience and food 

stabilization funds. Until now, 

Hatta said, the government had 

already used Rp1.3 trillion of the 

food stabilization funds totaling 

Rp3 trillion to safeguard food resilience. 

"We have used just Rp1 trillion 

for rice for the poor program 

and Rp300 billion for anticipatory 

measures against harvest 

failures. So we still have enough 

funds to overcome problems 

caused by production disruptions," 

he said.

A6 




Around Jababeka 

Jababeka Develops Phase 5, 6 

and 7 Projects 

TThe number of foreign 

investors in Indonesia 

is increasing 

along with Indonesia’s 

rapid economic 

growth, improved legal 

certainty and more stable political 

situation. 

Jababeka sees this as a huge 

opportunity and has since the 

end of 2010 opened an area covering 

1,270 hectares to develop its 

Phase 5, 6, and 7 projects. 

Jababeka Phase 5, better 

known as Jababeka Science Park, 

covers 270 hectares and is attracting 

about 25 major tenants, 

namely Yamaha, Tupperware, Dynaplast, 

Fuji Seimitsu, Sari Takagi 

Elok Perkasa, PT Rodamas, PT 

Alpha Integrated, PT Asahi Indonesia 

and others. Up to now, 97% 

of total areas have been sold. 

Jababeka Phase 5 will have direct 

access to the new toll road 

KM 34.7, which is still under construction 

and is planned for completion 

on November 2012. 

Meanwhile, other major tenants 

are joining Jababeka Phase 

6, which covers 800 hectares, and 

Jababeka Phase 7 (200 ha). Phase 

7 will have access to toll road KM 

29 and is developed differently 

as it focuses more on developing 

a commercial area: office park, 

shopping center, apartments, ho- 

Jababeka is the one and only property company in Indonesia that provides energy 

facilities (Bekasi Power) and the nation’s first dry port (Cikarang Inland Port), both of 

which provide the needs of its industrial area as well as outside the estate. 

Jababeka industrial area is the pilot project in developing Eco-industrial Estate in the framework of technical cooperation with 

the Indonesian government and the Federal Republic of Germany through ProLH GTZ, covering 2,840 hectares of development 

land in the industrial area adjacent to 1,400 hectares of residential area in Jababeka City, Cikarang and Bekasi. 

area in Indonesia. 

Currently the Jababeka industrial 

area is the pilot project in developing 

Eco-industrial Estate in 

the framework of technical cooperation 

with the Indonesian government 

and the Federal Republic 

of Germany through ProLH 

GTZ, covering 2,840 hectares of 

development land in the industritels, 

lifestyle center, meeting point, 

and warehouse park. They will 

complement Jababeka as a comfortable 

city for investment and 

business in east Jakarta. 

PT Jababeka Tbk was established 

in 1989 and is listed as the 

first private company that developed 

an industrial, housing, commercial, 

leisure, and education 

Jababeka’s philosophy 

is 'Beyond Property', 

which helped it develop 

its industrial area into an 

independent city that is 

environmentally friendly 

and reliable. 

Jababeka 

al area adjacent to 1,400 hectares 

of residential area in Jababeka 

City, Cikarang and 

Bekasi. 

Following its success in the 

industrial estate of Cikarang, 

Jababeka is now developing 

another site at Cilegon, specifically 

for heavy industrial area, 

such as steel, petrochemical, 

and oil and gas refinery. The 

company has an office building 

called Menara Batavia at 

the central business area and 

is now developing a second 

building nearby. 

Jababeka’s philosophy 

is 'Beyond Property', which 

helped it develop its industrial 

area into an independent 

city that is environmentally 

friendly and reliable. It has received 

numerous awards and 

remains innovative in order to 

be the best and most reliable. 

It also provides added value 

to the community by offering 

complete facilities. 

Jababeka is the one and 

only property company in Indonesia 

that provides energy 

facilities (Bekasi Power) 

and the nation’s first dry port 

(Cikarang Inland Port), both of 

which provide the needs of its 

industrial area as well as outside 

the estate. 

KIJA Conducts 

Rights Issue 

PT Kawasan Industri Jababeka 

recently held a general 

meeting of shareholders 

and approved the implementation 

of additional capital 

through a right issue involving 

6,036,022177 shares at 

Rp 250 per share. 

Funds obtained from the 

Limited Public Offering II after 

deducting the cost of issuance 

will be entirely used 

to pay off promissory notes 

(PN) issued by the company 

for the purchase of 100% 

shares of PT Banten West 

Java Tourism Development 

(BWJ) and 21.63% shares of 

PT Tanjung Lesung Leisure 

Industry (TLLI). 

The company also issued 

promissory notes to BWJ 

and TLLI shareholders in the 

amount of Rp 1.5 trillion as 

payment for the acquisition 

of the two companies. 

The acquisition was carried 

out on the basis of the 

business synergy of busi- 

ness based on experience 

that owned by both parties 

in developing an area. KIJA 

has experience in developing 

an integrated industrial area 

at Cikarang, while BWJ and 

TLLI have experience in developing 

an integrated tourism 

area, Tanjung Lesung. 

The potential synergy is expected 

to provide long-term 

business for the companies. 

“We see tremendous potential 

of a synergy resulted 

by the company’s ability to 

develop an area with assets 

owned by Tanjung Lesung 

with sound infrastructure,” 

said SD Darmono, President 

Director of KIJA. 

According to him, Jababeka 

as a city developer has the 

reputation and the experience 

in developing an integrated 

area as proven by Jababeka 

City Cikarang, which 

has complete infrastructure 

and world class facilities. 

Jababeka 

President Director of KIJA SD Darmono: Jababeka as a city developer 

has the reputation and the experience in developing an integrated area 

as proven by Jababeka City Cikarang, which has complete infrastructure 

and world class facilities.

A8 




Education 

Encouraging Innovation 

Among University Students 

Dana Siswa Bangsa Sets Aside $5 m to 

Students from Less Prosperous Families 

S.D. Darmono, the 

founder and CEO 

of PT Jababeka, in 

September conducted 

a seminar entitled 

“INNOVATON” at 

President University, 

with A.B.M Witono, 

the Head of Business 

and Administration of 

President University, 

as the host. 

IIn the seminar, Darmono 

underscored the importance 

of innovation in the 

industrial sector. “Innovation 

is essential in order to 

excel against competitors in the 

globalization era, regardless the 

type and size of the industry,” he 

said. He added: “In making innovations, 

its economic value must 

be taken into consideration. No 

matter how innovative a product 

or a service is, it would be pointless 

if it has no economic value”. 

In pursuit of becoming an innovative 

human being, Darmono encouraged 

all students to get their 

hands “dirty” or to have handson 

experience before graduating 

from the University. He said that 

theories learned in classrooms 

and good academic scores were 

not enough to support learning 

experiences, let alone to guarantee 

success in life. 

“Students must also learn practical 

skills which could only be 

obtained by being an intern in a 

company,” he said. 

Moreover, he added, many companies 

within the Jababeka In- 

dustrial Estate are open to President 

University’s students who 

wish to gain working experience 

and earn some pocket money. 

Darmono reminded all students 

of President University that their 

rivals in future employments are 

not limited to local graduates only, 

but also overseas students from 

reputable and world-class universities. 

“Therefore, mastery of English 

is compulsory,” he said. 

During the question and answer 

session, a student asked 

whether Indonesia as an emerging 

force should conduct a revolution 

in its economic sector. Darmono 

President University 

S.D. Darmono, the founder and CEO of PT Jababeka (Right) and Prof. Dr. Ermaya 

Suradinata, the Rector of President University. 

said that in a sense “making 

an innovation is making a revolution”. 

“By innovating in the 

economic sectors in terms of 

introducing new products and 

services, procedures and processes, 

policies, and technologies, 

we help to revolutionize 

Indonesia as a whole,” he explained 

The inspiring seminar, 

which lasted for two hours, 

was attended by Prof. Dr. Ermaya 

Suradinata, the Rector 

of President University, along 

with hundreds of PU’s students. 

Bright students from financially 

disadvantaged 

backgrounds now have bigger 

opportunities to continue 

their higher education studies. 

As one of Putera Sampoerna 

Foundation’s programs, 

Siswa Bangsa provides ‘Dana 

Siswa Bangsa (Siswa Bangsa 

Fund)’, a comprehensive 

support system for Indonesia’s 

brightest students from 

less-prosperous families to 

access quality higher education 

without having to worry 

about tuitions. 

‘Siswa Bangsa Fund’ has 

set aside $5 million in the 

form of student loans through 

a unique public-private-partnership 

between USAID, 

UBS AG (UBS), Raiffesein 

Bank International AG (RBI) 

and Putera Sampoerna. 

According to Putera Sampoerna, 

the loan system or 

Ganti Bantu is the most appropriate 

solution for education 

funding in Indonesia. 

“We are lending funds to 

students until they complete 

their education. After 

that they can return it in installments 

within a period of 

14-15 years, in percentage 

of their income. It is aimed 

to help sustain the education 

of younger generations,” 

said Nenny Soemawinata, 

Managing Director of Putera 

Sampoerna Foundation. 

The management of the education 

loan is in the hands 

of the Siswa Bangsa and Putera 

Sampoerna Foundation, 

both of which have experiences 

in education and pro- 

viding scholarships. The fund will 

be allocated to 300 students. 

Siswa Bangsa will select potential 

students and is the unit that 

will be lending funds to the students. 

Scot Marciel, U.S. Ambassador 

to RI, was present on the MoU 

signing ceremony and stated that 

“the student loan program is our 

commitment to increase education 

opportunities for young Indonesians.” 

Putera Sampoerna said, “I personally 

believe that education 

is the key to improving our society. 

Together with our partners, 

we want to be able to provide access 

to a quality education for so 

many gifted children who are otherwise 

deprived from the opportunity 

because of their economic 

background. With this loan, we 

hope to see more gifted students 

achieve their dreams and to be future 

leaders of this nation”. 

“As such, one of the Foundation’s 

four pillars is Education 

with its core mission to develop 

future leaders for this country by 

providing deserving students from 

the economically disadvantaged 

— who have distinguished themselves 

academically — a value 

system that sits on top of a world 

class secondary and tertiary education,” 

Sampoerna added. 

The Putera Sampoerna Foundation 

is a non-profit organization 

which has distributed more than 

34,600 scholarships, organized 

training programs for more than 

19,000 teachers and principals, 

adopted 23 schools and 5 madrasah 

schools (Islamic schools). 

In 2009, the PSF founded a 

boarding school with international 

standards, the Sampoerna 

Academy. There is also the Sampoerna 

School of Education, an 

advanced school that creates future 

generations of educators, 

which became the first element in 

the establishment of a world-class 

university. 

In 2010, the foundation 

launched the Sampoerna School 

of Business. 

Nenny added there were 200 

students who passed through a 

stringent selection process that 

saw more than 1,000 registrants 

from all over Indonesia, who 

sought to obtain a full scholarship 

with a total value up to $3.15 million 

from the ExxonMobil Foundation. 

The selection process was divided 

into five phases, namely selection 

of documents, academic 

test, psychological test, interview, 

focus group discussion (FGD), 

and home visit to prospective students. 

The Sampoerna Academy consists 

of students from regions 

in Indonesia, including Sumatra, 

Kalimantan, Nusa Tenggara 

(NTT) and to West Papua. A number 

of students also came from 

the operational areas of Exxon- 

Mobil such as Blora, Cepu and 

Bojonegoro, East Java. 

The students are taught international-caliber 

curriculum 

based on the standards of the 

University of Cambridge International 

Examinations. 

The Putera Sampoerna Foundation 

founded Siswa Bangsa, an 

organization that is registered as 

a cooperative. Siswa Bangsa instituted 

the "Siswa Bangsa 

Fund" (Dana Siswa Bangsa), 

a long-term student financing 

program for students, 

aimed at providing access to 

various groups in order to enjoy 

quality education without 

having to worry about funding. 

The Siswa Bangsa Fund 

uses a system of revolving 

soft loans that are formulated 

to help train every student 

to be responsible and have a 

strong commitment to what 

each student wants to accomplish 

without forgetting 

their obligation to contribute 

back to the next generation, 

which will also require student 

loan assistance. 

The focus of Siswa Bangsa 

activities include raising 

funds to run the program, 

distribute educational funds, 

cooperate with organizations 

and educational institutions 

within and outside the country, 

build a dynamic cooperative, 

and provide consultation 

in terms of potential and 

career development to students 

receiving educational 

loans. 

At present, the program 

"Siswa Bangsa Fund" has 

benefited 167 students of the 

Sampoerna School of Education 

and the Sampoerna 

School of Business. In the 

future, Siswa Bangsa will 

continue to forge new cooperations 

with selected institutions 

of higher education in 

Indonesia and abroad for the 

implementation of the ‘Siswa 

Bangsa Fund’.

Business 




B 

BUSINESS BRIEFS 

Medco to Acquire Exxon Block in Aceh 

PT Medco E&P Indonesia intends 

to acquire two oil blocks in Aceh 

namely Block B and North Sumatra 

Offshore offered by ExxonMobil. 

Its president director, Lukman 

Mahfoedz, said here last week his 

side would discuss the plan with 

Exxon soon. “We are waiting for an 

invitation from Exxon to discuss its commercial aspects,” he said. 

He said his side was serious in seeking to take over the Exxon blocks 

because they would be integrated with Block A that his company is 

now operating. “Their locations are close to Block A. So we are serious 

to take the Exxon offer,” he said. Lukman however said he would only 

focus on the Exxon offer for the blocks and not Exxon shares in Arun 

Refinery. 

ExxonMobil Oil Indonesia spokesman Jeffrey Haribowo meanwhile 

said a number of investors had also expressed their interest in them but 

“we could not as yet announce their names.” 

ExxonMobil officially offered the two blocks last August. The 

participating interest in the blocks is 100% owned by ExxonMobil. Exxon 

meanwhile has also offered its 30% stake in Arun Liquified Natural Gas 

Refinery that receives supplies from the two blocks. 

Exxon sells the assets so that it could focus on other projects in 

Indonesia such as Cepu Block in the border between Central and East 

Java, the Natuna Block in Riau Islands and CBM (coal be methane) 

projects in Kalimantan and Sumatra. Exxon also views giving the 

operations of the two blocks to other parties would be more beneficial. 

The Arun project has carried out production since 1971 or more than 

40 years. 

BMW Sales in Indonesia Up 18% 

BMW sales in Indonesia until the middle 

of September were up 18% compared with 

the figure for the corresponding period last 

year, a company spokesperson said. 

“BMW product sales rose 18%. Last 

year BMW was able to sell 1,240 units,” PT 

BMW Group Indonesia communications 

director Helena Abidin said here last week. 

Speaking to the press after signing a cooperation agreement with 

Bank OCBC NISP, she said the BMW sales hike was definitely associated 

with improvements in the country`s economy. Every month, she said, 

BMW car sales always increased. In August 150 units were sold, up 

from 120 in the previous month. 

“The hike is also inseparable from our participation in a number of 

automotive exhibitions in Jakarta,” she said. She said BMW cars that 

have been sold the most are BMW Series 3 reaching 399 units or 41% 

of total sales, followed by BMW Series 5 reaching 256 or 26% and 

BMW Model X reaching 231 or 24%. “A total of 47 units of BMW Series 

7 meanwhile have been sold so far this year,” she said. In Indonesia the 

number of BMW car users reaches 20,000. 

Citilink to Have Four More Planes 

Citilink, a strategic business unit of state-owned airlines PT Gaurda 

Indonesia , will add four A320-200s to its fleet in February next year, a 

Garuda Indonesia director said. 

“As part of its rejuvenation program, Citilink will introduce four 

additional A320-200s in its service to the public in the October 2011 

- February 2012 period,” Garuda Financial Director and Citilink Vice 

President, Elisa Lumbantoruan said recently. 

The new type of A320-200 aircraft offers more comfortable flight to 

passengers with wider passenger cabins and has 180 seats, she said. 

For its introductory flights in September 2011, Citilink is offering a cheap 

ticket price between Rp359,000 and Rp486,000 with destinations 

Balikpapan, Banjarmasin and Medan from Jakarta. 

www.balier.info 

Govt to Cut SOEs 

To 25 by 2025 

The number of SEOs by 

2014 would be decreased 

to 78 and finally to 25 

by 2025. In addition, 10 

SOEs were now known 

to be gradually running 

at a loss; only 131 out 

of 141 companies were 

profitable and only 

67 were able to give 

dividends to the state. 

TThe government is to 

reduce the number of 

state-owned enterprises 

(SOEs) from 141 today 

to 25 by 2025, a 

minister said here last week. 

Speaking at a seminar themed 

“SOEs as Engines of the National 

Economy”, Hatta said there were 

now too many SOEs and this 

caused them to lack focus while 

the businesses of many of them 

overlapped. 

“The ideal number is four to five 

sectoral holding companies handling 

infrastructure, investment 

and transportation,” Hatta said. 

According to the SOEs roadmap`s 

PT Mandala Airlines, Saratoga 

Group and Tiger Airways 

have signed a conditional purchase 

agreement and various other 

commercial as well as legal documents. 

The signing of all the documents 

was done on September 

23, PT Mandala Airlines said in a 

press statement received here last 

week. 

Under the agreement, Saratoga 

Group would act as a financial investor 

and Tiger Airways as a corporate 

strategic investor. Saratoga 

would be the majority shareholder 

controlling 51% of the company`s 

shares and Tiger Airways 33%. 

The rest of the shares was to be 

held by concurrent creditors and 

old shareholders. 

With the signing of the agreement, 

all parties had moved closer 

to a settlement of Mandala`s 

restructuring. Mandala`s press 

statement did not mention the 

value of Saratoga`s and Tiger`s 

stakes. 

Hatta Rajasa 

recommendation from independent 

consultants, the number of 

SOEs had been increasing rapidly 

and becoming inefficient. 

The Ministry of State`s Owned 

Enterprises is planning to conduct 

a right sizing of the SOEs` 

number through mergers, privatization, 

sectoral holding and liquidation 

to form sectoral holdings 

with strong and focused management 

teams. 

As an initial step, the number of 

SEOs by 2014 would be decreased 

to 78 and finally to 25 by 2025. 

In addition, 10 SOEs were now 

known to be gradually running at 

a loss; only 131 out of 141 compa- 

Mandala, Saratoga, 

Tiger Airways Sign Deals 

Sandiaga Uno 

“We are very glad about 

the finalization of the 

transaction documents 

and hope Mandala can 

operate again soon.” 

Tiger Airways Holdings Ltd. 

CEO Chin Yau Seng said “we are 

glad we have reached an agreement 

on this transaction and 

hope Mandala can operate again 

soon.” Sandiaga Uno, one of the 

founders of the Saratoga Group, 

said “we are very glad about the finalization 

of the transaction documents 

and hope Mandala can 

operate again soon.” Dono Nurjadin, 

president director of Mandala 

Airlines, said he was also relieved 

that the long process to arrive at 

the deals had been completed. 

After the change in Mandala`s 

ownership, the new airline company 

would follow a Tiger Airways 

business model, namely offering 

low cost fares on routes to international 

and domestic destinations 

that can be reached in five 

hours` time. Mandala had previously 

stated it would be using Airbus 

A320 planes. 

nies were profitable and only 67 

were able to give dividends to the 

state. 

“We still have a lot of homework 

to do because of the 10 SOEs that 

are continuously losing,” Hatta 

said. To improve the SOEs` performance, 

an acceleration program 

needed to be carried out, 

whereas the SOEs` overall assets 

totaled 30% of Indonesian`s gross 

domestic product (GDP). 

“I`m sure that our SOE`s assets 

will reach over Rp300 trillion 

if they are reevaluated. It is a formidable 

figure and can be of great 

benefit if used wisely and managed 

well,” he said. 

Indonesia`s capital expenditure 

has already exceeds the state figure 

of Rp200 trillion, or greater 

than government spending in the 

state budget. In fact, if the state 

can save two percent, then there 

will be additional funding valued 

at Rp20 trillion to build infrastructure. 

Hatta said that SOEs should 

have allowed to be free to perform 

actions such as private companies, 

and only in that way SOE 

can be a world-class companies. 

MAYOR OF LAUENBURG VISIT: SD Darmono, CEO of PT Jababeka, with Andreas Thiede, Mayor of 

Lauenburg from Germany, during a visit at President Lounge, Menara Batavia. 


PT Telkom Seeks Financial 

Adviser for Buyback Plan 

PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia 

Tbk. (Telkom) will 

conduct a selection on five 

companies interested in becoming 

its financial adviser 

on its planned buyback 

of Singapore Telecommunication 

(SingTel) shares in PT 

Telkomsel. 

“The names of the five 

companies for selection have 

been received and the next 

step will be a `beauty contest`, 

the company`s president director, 

Rinaldi Firmansyah, 

said on the sidelines of the 

signing of a memorandum 

of understanding with other 

state-owned enterprises for 

improving national connectivity 

here recently. 

Rinaldi said five companies 

had been chosen from a 

field of eight companies and 

had registered their interest 

in serving as Telkom`s financial 

adviser in the buyback. 

“They are both foreign and 

local companies. We hope we 

can appoint the most competent 

one,” he said. 

He did not tell the names 

of the companies but said 

that the local company that 

had been confirmed to participate 

in the selection was 

PT Bahana Securities while 

the foreign companies come 

from the US and Europe. 

“Later we will select one local 

and two foreign companies,” 

he said. 

Telkom`s plan to buyback 

its SingTel shares in 

PT Telkomsel which is PT 

Telkom`s subsidiary has 

been supported by the state 

enterprises ministry. “We are 

open. Telkom`s idea to control 

up to 100% of Telkomsel 

shares came from the management. 

Certainly we support 

it,” State Enterprises 

Minister Mustafa Abubakar 

said. 

Rinaldi declined to tell 

the source of funds for the 

planned acquisition. “We do 

not know yet how much it 

would be as the value would 

only be known after the financial 

adviros have been 

appointed,” he said. 

“What needs to be settled 

right now is appointing the 

financial advisors who would 

then calculate the value and 

give input to the management.” 

He said so far it it has been 

decided the acquisition would 

be financed using company`s 

internal cash money and 

proceeds from sales of government 

treasury stock.

B2 




Business 

PT DI, Spain’s EADS- 

CASA to Produce 

C-295 Planes 

The two sides agreed to build six to nine units. Some 

of the planes would be built by EADS-CASA in the 

aircraft manufacturing facility of Airbus Military in 

San Pablo, Sevilla, Spain. 

PPT Dirgantara Indonesia 

(DI) and European 

Aeronautic Defense 

and Space (EADS)-CA- 

SA Spain are to cooperate 

in producing C-295 light 

military transport planes, a DI official 

said. 

“The C-295 plane is the result 

of CN-235 development with its 

fuselage extended by three meters 

while the wings are the same and 

the engine is bigger,” PT DI president 

director Budi Santoso said 

after meeting with Airbus Military 

CEO and deputy minister of defense 

Domingo Urena Raso here 

last week. 

The two sides agreed to build six 

to nine units. Some of the planes 

would be built by EADS-CASA in 

the aircraft manufacturing facility 

of Airbus Military in San Pablo, 

Sevilla, Spain. 

The C-295 that flew for the 

first time in 1998 measuring 

50% bigger than its predecessor 

with PW127G turboprop engine 

made by Pratt & Whitney. Especially 

for C-295 production, Budi 

said, three would be built at PT 

DI and the rest in Spain. He added 

the C-239 varieties would have 

load capacity of up to 9.3 tons and 

could be categorized as a medium 

military lift. 

The C-295 aircraft is more efficient 

in maintenance and fuel 

consumption namely able to fly 

5.300 kilometer long with fuel of 

up to 4.5 tons. Apart from that 

EADS-CASA has also successfully 

developed a C-295 variety MPA 

for maritime patrol and C-295 

AEWCS with a early warning system 

capability and radar in the 

aircraft that could turn 360 degrees. 

PT DI Group to S. Korea for 

Fighter Aircraft Program 

PT DI has sent 35 personnel 

to South Korea to make preparations 

for an Indonesia-South Korea 

cooperation program to develop 

a 4.5th generation fighter 

aircraft. 

“We sent 35 personnel to Korea 

last month. They were sent to 

carry out an assignment given to 

PT DI by the government, in this 

case the defense ministry,” PT DI 

Director of Technology and Business 

Development Dita Ardonni 

Jafri said here last week. 

The program to develop the future 

fighter aircraft was codenamed 

KF-X/IF-X (Korea Fighter 

Experiment)/Indonesia Fighter 

Experiment). The preparations 

would take a long time as the certificate 

would only be issued in 

2020, he said. 

The fighter jet to be made under 

the program would be of a higher 

class than the F-16 or Sukhoi-30 

because it would be of the 4.5th 

generation but still lower than the 

US` F-35 which is a fifth generation 

aircraft. 

The aircraft`would have a fighting 

capability within a radius of 

600 nautical miles, an endurance 

of 4.5 hours and a payload including 

armaments of up to 6,000 kg. 

Through the program which consisted 

of actvities to design, produce 

, integrate and test the aircraft 

, the Indonesian government 

wanted indirectly to develop the 

domestic aviation industry. 

From 2013 to 2020, the program 

will start an engineering 

manufacture development phase, 

conduct a preliminary design, detailed 

design, and prototype production 

certification. Full production 

is expected to done in 2021. 

ELECTRONIC PAYMENT: Most SMEs now use the services of banks to make domestic payments. At least 70% of SMEs are using 

banking services for these needs. SMEs that do domestic payments reach 73%, including giro and electronic payment, while check 

payments reached 76%. 


PT Semen Gresik to Buy Into Coal Mine 

Cement producer PT Semen 

Gresik Tbk. (SMGR) is 

conducting a feasibility study 

with regard to its plan to acquire 

a coal mine in the Riau 

province in Sumatra. 

Its director of business development, 

Erizal Bakar, said 

here last week the acquisition 

was aimed at assuring energy 

supply to the company`s 

plants in Sumatra, Java and 

Sulawesi. 

“The coal mine in Riau is 

expected to be able to meet the 

coal need of Semen Padang,” he 

said after an extraordinary shareholders` 

meeting. Erizal said the 

acquisition process was expected 

to finish in the first semester 

of 2012. 

“Until now the study is still ongoing 

on the mine which is predicted 

to have a coal reserve of 16 

million tons with calorie content 

of 4,800 to 5,500 cal,” he said. 

He said the company is also 

exploring the possibility of conducting 

operations cooperation 

in a coal mine in South Kalimantan 

with a reserve of eight million 

tons and calorie content of 5,800 

to 6.100 cal. “This is a mere production 

cooperation. The portion 

is not yet known. Later it will 

produce one million ton a year to 

meet the need of Tonasa plant,” he 

said. 

Totally Semen Gresik Group 

needs four million tons of coal a 

year for PT Semen Padang (one 

million ton), PT Semen Gresik Tbk. 

(two million tons) and PT Semen 

Tonasa (one million ton). Regarding 

the company`s performance in 

the first semester this year he said 

PT Semen Gresik Tbk. booked an 

revenue hike of 14.11% to Rp7.60 

trillion from Rp6.66 trillion in the 

previous same period. 

With the increasing revenue 

the company booked a net profit 

of Rp1.89 trillion, up from Rp1.62 

trillion in the same period last 

year. Based on that the profit 

per share was up from Rp274 to 

Rp316.


October 12, 2011 B3 

Investment 

State-owned oil and gas 

company PT Pertamina 

is ready to invest Rp359 

trillion mostly for upstream 

sector development. 

“Of the total investment, 85% 

would go to upstream development,” 

the company`s Corporate 

Communication Vice President, 

Mochamad Harun, said 

at the Media Workshop on “Sustainable 

Development Impacts of 

Energy Prices: The Role of Fossil 

Fuel Subsidy Reform in Indonesia 

2011” here recently. 

Pertamina to Invest Rp359 t 

In Upstream Sector 

Canada Keen on Investment 

Partnership with RI 

As the operator 

of subsidized fuel 

oil distribution, 

Pertamina is 

assuring the 

readiness of 

infrastructure and 

oil fuel supply. 

“The investment project will 

be realized in line with the 

company`s role of helping implement 

the government`s policy 

through helping smoothen distribution 

of subsidized fuel oils in Indonesia,” 

he said. 

One of them, he said, is assuring 

the readiness of infrastructure 

and oil fuel supply as his company 

is the operator of subsidized 

fuel oil distribution. 

“However, distribution of fuel 

oils across Nusantara (Indonesia) 

has been hindered by the vastness 

of the archipelago, hard terrain, 

uncertain weather conditions 

and high lands,” he said. 

Now, he said, the distribution of 

fuel oils is supported by 14 transit 

terminals and installations, 51 

terminals and main depots, 85 

land and sea depots. 

With new refineries, he said 

he was optimistic the capacity of 

Pertamina`s refineries could rise 

to 1.711 million barrels in 2017. 

Right now the capacity of its refineries 

could still reach one million 

barrels. 

Canada and Indonesia are 

to strengthen their economic 

development relations by establishing 

a trade and investment 

partnership, a visiting 

Canadian minister said. 

“One of the strategies to 

do that is by forging new and 

deeper trade relationships 

around the world. Indonesia 

and Canada will not only trade 

with each other but also invest 

in each other`s economy,” 

Canadian Minister of International 

Trade Ed Fast said here 

recently. 

Fast said that both countries 

were in negotiations on 

the conclusion of a Foreign Investment 

Protection Agreement 

(FIPA). 

Canada has high technology on 

oil and gas processing and was offering 

it to deepen its partnership 

with Indonesia in sharing expertise 

in the oil and gas industry. 

He said the Canadian government, 

like the Indonesian government, 

was focusing on the achievement 

of economic prosperity. 

“The Indonesian government is 

not different from the Canadian. 

It wants to build a stronger economy 

so that more and more Indonesians 

can enjoy the fruits of 

their labor and enjoy a descent 

life,” he added. 

He said Indonesia had favorable 

conditions for Canada to 

invest, adding that trade between 

Indonesia and Canada 

in 2010 reached a total value 

$2.3 billion. 

Indonesia`s Gross Domestic 

Product (GDP) in 2010 was 

725.8 billion Canadian dollars 

while Canada`s GDP was 

1.624,6 billion Canadian dollars. 

Canada GDP growth 

rate in 2010 was 3.2% and 

Indonesia`s 6.1%. 

Canadian exports to Indonesia 

in 2010 rose by 9.4% to 

1.1 million Canadian dollars 

while Canada`s imports from 

Indonesia also rose 25.2% to 1. 

3 million Canadian dollars. 

Unilever to Invest 

Rp1.1 t in Sumatra 

Gita Wirjawan 

Cosmetics producer Unilever 

plans to build a palm oil processing 

plant at Semangke, North Sumatra, 

at a cost of Rp1.1 trillion. 

The plant would produce fatty 

acid oil chemicals, Head of the 

Investment Coordinating Board 

(BKPM) Gita Wirjawan said after 

accompanying President Susilo 

Bambang Yudhoyono at a meeting 

with the management of Unilever 


Gunung Kidul Govt to 

Build Drini Beach 

The factory was investment 

in the downstream sector particularly 

in the palm oil processing 

plant, he said. 

“It will take two years to 

complete the construction of 

the plant,” he said. 

He said the company was 

also committed to raising its 

investment by $600 million to 

increase the number of plants 

in Indonesia. 

RI is Singapore’s Third Largest 

Investment Destination 

Five other countries which become Singaporean investment destinations were 

China (S$58.1 billion), Malaysia (S$28.1 billion), Hong Kong (China: S$21.5 billion), 

Thailand (S$19.5 billion) and India (S$8.7 billion). 

Singapore’s direct investment 

in Indonesia reached 

about S23.3 billion dollars, 

making Indonesia the islandstate 

the third largest direct 

investment destination after 

China and Malaysia, a spokesperson 

of Singapore International 

Enterprise (IE) said. 

“Indonesia remains our third 

largest investment destination, so 

that Singapore International Enterprise 

(IE) continues to provide 

facilities to our enterprises to engage 

in partnerships with Indonesian 

companies,” IE public relations 

officer Janissa NG said here 

recently. 

“We have taken a number of 

Singaporean businessmen to Indonesia 

and conducted investment 

promotions with the Indonesian 

Chamber of Commerce and 

Industry (Kadin),” Janissa NG told 

Indonesian journalists who made 

a visit to the IE office in Sibgapore. 

In addition to Indonesia, five 

other countries which become 

Singaporean investment destinations 

were China (S$58.1 billion), 

Malaysia (S$28.1 billion), 

Hong Kong (China: S$21.5 billion), 

Thailand (S$19.5 billion) 

and India (S$8.7 billion), he 

said. 

The Gunung Kidul administration 

of Yogjakarta would build 

Drini beach in Saptosari sub-district 

as tourist destination like Tanah 

Lot in Bali. 

Head of Gunung Kidul Culture 

and Tourism Agency Suryoaji said 

Drini beach has the same shape 

as Tanah Lot in Bali making it potential 

for development. “In the 

middle of Drini beach there is an 

area that may attract tourists,” 

said Suryoaji. 

He said the district administration 

would develop Drini beach by 

increasing tourism facilities for 

playing beach volley ball and a 

culinary center. 

According to Suryoaji, Drini 

beach cannot compete with Baron 

beach, which is favorite tourist 

destination. “We think that 

lack of promotion and infrastructure 

to reach Drini beach 

has caused tourists to lose interest 

to go there ,” he said. 

Suryoaji said like Tanah Lot, 

the promotion of Drini beach 

could be a breakthrough in 

creasing the interest of tourists. 

Malaysian Tycoon to Build 

Star-rated Hotel in Sambas 

nessman,” Sarawak Commerce 

and Industry Board spokesman 

Datu Saleh Hj Sulaiman said 


According to him, the investment 

in the construction of the 

hotel was estimated at 12 million 

Malaysian dollars or around 

Rp41.2 billion. 

“The figure does not include the 

A tycoon from Sarawak, Malaysia, 

plans to build a three-star hotel 

in Sambas district, West Kalimantan, 

following the upgrading 

of the border town of Aruk to the 

status of gateway between the two 

countries. 

“There will be a memorandum 

of understanding between the 

Sambas district government and 

the influential Malaysian busicost 

of,” he said, adding that 

preparations for the construction 

of the hotel were already 

being made such as efforts to 

obtain the necessary licenses 

from the Sambas district government. 

“It will probably take 18 

months to build the hotel,” 

Datu Saleh said.

B4 




Executive Highlights 

The rupiah broke the 

psychological level of 

Rp 9,000 to the dollar 

in the third week of 

September 

amid global risk aversion arising 

from the debt crisis in Europe and 

a weak U.S. economy. The rupiah, 

which dropped to a low of 

Rp9,365 to the dollar at one time, 

was trading at a high of around 

Rp8,500-8,600 to the dollar just 

several weeks ago. Foreign ownership 

of Indonesian government 

bonds have fallen to Rp234 trillion 

as of 19 September (the latest 

data available), down 5.3% from 

the start of the month. The yield 

on the 10-year government bond 

has jumped 18 basis points (bp) to 

7.3%. Overseas investors, meanwhile, 

have sold a net Rp4.5 trillion 

in Indonesian stocks as of 21 

September from the start of the 

month. The Indonesian Stock Index 

(IDX) has also plunged more 

than 20% since reaching a record 

high of nearly 4,200 in early 

August. Traders say the current 

volatility is a textbook example 

of global funds leaving Indonesia 

and other emerging markets 

for dollar assets in risk-off mode. 

Bank Indonesia monetary policy 

director Hendar said the central 

bank would intervene in the 

markets regularly to keep the rupiah’s 

movement in line with regional 

currencies. He expects the 

rupiah’s recent decline to be temporary. 

Finance Minister 

Agus Martowardojo 

said the government 

could introduce 

a fiscal stimulus 

package next year 

as concerns mount that a slowdown 

in global growth could impact 

the Indonesian economy. 

Taking lessons from the 2008 

global financial crisis, the minister 

emphasized that the country 

needed to actively anticipate 

a possible slowdown in global 

growth. No details have been put 

forth on the possible fiscal stimulus 

package. Nonetheless, the 

finance ministry’s chief of fiscal 

policy Bambang Brodjonegoro 

said it would likely combine “fresh 

money and policies” and emphasize 

creating sources for domestic 

growth both in terms of consumption 

and investment. As a comparison, 

in 2008 the government 

launched a Rp73 trillion stimulus 

package to mitigate the impact of 

the global economic slowdown. 

The package involved government 

spending and fiscal incentives in 

the form of government-born import 

duties, value-added and income 

taxes to revive business 

activity. At the time Indonesian 

growth declined from 6.1% y-o-y 

in 2008 to 4.5% in 2009. The government 

has yet to revise its official 

forecast of 6.5% y-o-y growth 

this year and 6.7% growth in 

2012. However, a worst case scenario 

projection by the trade ministry 

has growth slowing to 6.2% 

this year and 5.2% in 2012. 

Investors from China’s 

Jilin Province signed 

nine deals worth 

US$9.5 billion in 

Indonesia 

during an economic and trade 

conference earlier this month. 

The signing was witnessed by 

chief economic minister Hatta 

Rajasa and investment board 

(BKPM) chairman Gita Wirjawan. 

The deals included a US$6 billion 

nickel smelter facility in Southeast 

Sulawesi by Jilin HOROC 

Nonferrous Metal Group. This 

project will include a smelter with 

a capacity of 100,000 tons of nickel-in-matte 

and a 1,000 MW coalfired 

power plant to support the 

smelter. Construction of the facility 

will be financed by the Bank of 

China. Other projects signed during 

the conference included investments 

in the mining, agricultural, 

pharmaceuticals and food 

and beverages sectors. Jilin provincial 

government representative 

Sun Zhengcai said the deals 

reflected efforts by businesses in 

Northeast China to expand into 

Southeast Asia’s largest economy. 

State power utility 

PLN has appointed 

Barclays Capital and 

Citi to arrange a 

planned US$2 billion 

global bond issue. 

PLN finance director Setio Anggoro 

Dewo said the firm was looking 

to raise the funds this year, 

and plans to meet with a number 

of global fixed income investors in 

a road show starting 27 September. 

He said a final decision on 

whether to issue the global bonds 

would depend on demand and 

conditions in the currently volatile 

global financial markets. The 

funds will be allocated to finance 

a 10,000 MW power plant expansion 

program that PLN is currently 

undertaking. Projects in the 

pipeline include the Indramayu 

2,000 MW coal-fired power facility 

in West Java; the 110 MW Hulu 

Lais coal-fired plant in Bengkalis, 

Riau; the 110 MW Sungai 

Penuh coal-fired facility in Jambi; 

the Kotamobagu 80 MW coalfired 

plant in North Sulawesi; and 

the Tulehu 20 MW coal-fired facility 

in Ambon, Maluku. PLN has a 

credit rating of BB from Standard 

& Poor’s, Ba1 from Moody’s and 

BB+ from Fitch. 

Engineering firm 

Petrosea has signed 

an eight-year coal 

mining contract with 

Admitra Baratama 

Nusantara worth 

US$930 million. 

The new contract is a revision to 

an earlier five-year deal signed in 

2009, worth around US$200 million, 

for mining services at Admitra’s 

mine in Sanga-Sanga, East 

Kalimantan. Admitra produced 

three million tons of coal in 2010 

from Sanga-Sanga and is looking 

for Petrosea to help boost production 

to four million tons this 

year and five million tons in 2012. 

Petrosea said the latest deal represented 

its largest contract to 

date and would provide a significant 

boost to its revenue stream 

from mining services. The company 

also provides mining services 

to coal miners Gunung Bayan 

Pratama and Santan Batubara. 

Petrosea is a subsidiary of integrated 

energy firm Indika Energy. 

India’s GMR Energy 

has acquired a 30% 

stake in local coal 

miner Golden Energy 

Mines in a deal worth 

US$550 million. 

As part of the agreement, GMR 

Energy will be able to purchase 

up to 10 million tons per year over 

the next 25 years. GMR Energy 

chief executive officer Raaj Kumar 

said the deal would provide 

the Indian firm access to quality 

coal from one of the lowest cost 

producers in Indonesia. He added 

that the deal would also provide it 

with fuel security for its plants in 

India that are under construction. 

Golden Energy Mines has three 

coal blocks in Kalimantan and 

two blocks in Sumatra with coal 

reserves totaling more than 860 

million tons and coal resources 

estimated at more than 1.9 billion 

tons. It currently exports 

coal to China and India with a client 

base that includes Sumitomo 

Corp., Glencore International and 

Ace Trading Group. Golden Energy 

Mines is affiliated with Indonesian 

conglomerate the Sinar Mas 

Group. 

Thailand-based 

Siam Cement will 

acquire a 30% stake 

in top petrochemical 

producer Chandra 

Asri for US$442 

million. 

Siam Cement will purchase a 23% 

stake in Chandra Asri from Singapore 

sovereign wealth fund Temasek 

Holdings. The remaining 

7% stake will be purchased from 

diversified conglomerate Barito 

Pacific. The latter will retain 

a majority 65% shareholding in 

Chandra Asri following the deal. 

Siam Cement said the acquisition 

represented a unique opportunity 

to invest in Indonesia’s leading 

petrochemical franchise and 

further expand its business in a 

highly attractive growth market. 

The Thai firm also owns a polyvinyl 

chloride (PVC) plant in Indonesia 

with a capacity of 120,000 tons 

per year. Chandra Asri currently 

operates Indonesia’s only cracker, 

producing 520,000 tons of petrochemical 

products including polyethylene, 

polypropylene, styrene 

monomer and various other olefins. 

Siam Cement is also reportedly 

in talks to purchase Indonesian 

chemical producer Sulfindo 

Adiusaha in a potential US$700 

million deal. 

Scorpa Pranedya 

has been awarded 

an engineering, 

procurement and 

construction (EPC) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

contract worth 

US$255 billion for 

the Cepu Oil and Gas 

Block. 

The contract was announced by 

upstream oil and gas regulator 

BP Migas, and is for one of five 

supporting infrastructure facilities 

needed to take the block to 

full production capacity. Cepu 

operator Exxon Mobil has already 

awarded a US$750 million EPC 

contract to a consortium led by 

Samsung Engineering and Tripatra 

Engineering to support infrastructure 

development at the oil 

and gas field. Cepu currently produces 

around 20,000 barrels per 

day (bpd) of crude oil. The new 

infrastructure facilities are slated 

to boost Cepu’s production to 

165,000 bpd over the next several 

years. 

French oil and gas 

giant Total has signed 

a deal with canadian 

producer Talisman 

Selected Instant Indicators 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Energy to farm into 

three deep-water 

blocks in Indonesia. 

Under the agreement, Total will 

a acquire a 50% interest in the 

Sageri production sharing contract 

(PSC), a 35% interest in the 

South Sageri PSC and a 20% interest 

in the Sadang PSC. All 

three blocks are located in an area 

of 10,700 km in the Makassar 

Straits between Sulawesi and Kalimantan, 

in water depths ranging 

from 400-2000 m. The deal 

sees Total committing to extensive 

seismic plans and a program 

of exploration wells with an initial 

spud expected before the end 

of the year. Jean-Marie Guillermou, 

Total’s senior VP for Asia Pacific 

exploration and production, 

said the latest acquisition reflects 

its strategy to further expand its 

acreage in new exploration areas 

in deep offshore and to continue 

investing in Indonesia. Total 

is the largest gas producer in 

Indonesia, with the bulk of production 

currently coming from its 

Mahakam PSC offshore East Kalimantan. 

State miner Tambang 

Batubara Bukit 

Asam has secured a 

US$220 million loan 

facility from Bank 

Negara Indonesia 

(BNI). 

Company spokesman Achmad 

Sudarto said the funds would be 

used to construct the Banjasari 

2x110 MW coal-fired power facility 

near Lahat, South Sumatra. 

The power facility will be used to 

support Bukit Asam’s coal mine 

expansion in the area. Achmad 

said the China National Electric 

Engineering Co. has been awarded 

the engineering, procurement 

and construction (EPC) contract 

for the power facility. Local engineering 

firm Citracontrac has 

been awarded the contract to 

build the plant’s transmission infrastructure. 

The Banjarsari facility 

is scheduled to start commercial 

operations in 2014. Bukit 

Asam is looking to boost coal production 

to 50 million tons per 

year over the next five years from 

around 12 million tons per year 

currently. 

Leading Chinese 

heavy equipment 

manufacturer Sany 

Group said it would 

invest US$200 

million for a new 

production facility in 

Indonesia. 

The group said it plans to make 

Indonesia its base for manufacturing 

mining, construction and 

heavy equipment for the Southeast 

Asian and Australian market. 

The plant will be built in the 

Karawang industrial estate in a 

venture with local firm Jakarta 

International Machinery Center 

(Jimac). The latter is also the 

authorized distributor for Sany’s 

products. The Chinese firm 

said the Karawang facility would 

produce a range of items including 

concrete machinery, excavators, 

crawler and truck cranes, 

pile driving machinery, machinery 

for highway construction and 

machinery for the ports. Jimac 

president director Benny Kurniajaya 

said the venture aimed to sell 

300-500 units per year in the domestic 

market over the next several 

years. 

Astratel Nusantara 

has acquired a 95% 

stake in an East Java 

toll road in a Rp750 

billion deal. 

The 40.5-km toll road links Kertosono 

and Mojokerto, two cities 

located near East Java’s major 

urban center Surabaya. The 

controlling stake was acquired 

from local firm Natpac Graha 

Arthamas. The Kertosono-Mojokerto 

toll road forms part of the 

Yogyakarta-Solo-Surabaya corridor 

of the Trans Java highway. 

The acquisition adds to Astratel’s 

current portfolio of toll roads, 

which includes the 72.5-km toll 

road linking Merak and Serpong 

in Banten and the 12.5-km toll 

road linking Serpong and Kunciran 

near Tangerang. Astratel 

is a subsidiary of diversified conglomerate 

Astra International. 

Company spokesman Arief Istanto 

said the acquisition reflects the 

Astra Group’s strategy to expand 

into the toll road and infrastructure 

sectors. 

British American 

Tobacco (BAT) raised 

Rp740 billion from 

its 13.4% stake sale 

in cigarette producer 

Bentoel Internasional 

Investama to UBS AG. 

BAT will retain an 86% stake in 

Bentoel following the deal. BAT 

acquired the cigarette maker from 

the Rajawali Group in 2009. Bentoel 

is currently Indonesia’s thirdlargest 

cigarette producer, representing 

around eight percent of 

Indonesia’s 300 billion cigarettes 

per year market. The company 

reported revenues of Rp4.7 trillion 

for the first half of the year, 

up 8% from a year earlier. Bentoel’s 

profits for the period totaled 

Rp235 billion, more than double 

the Rp113 billion posted in 2010. 

Business Highlights 

are contributed to 


by CASTLEASIA/ 

PT Jasa Cita from 

information supplied 

to members of their 

CEO Forum, the 

Indonesia Country 

Program. They are 

reprinted here with 

permission. For 

more information 

about CASTLEASIA 

programs, please 

contact Juliette or 

Wijayanti at 62 21 

572 7321 or email 

castle@castleasia. 

com subject CEO 

Forum

B6 




Property 

3.000 New Condominium Units 

Available by End of 2011 

With the growing 

economy, stable 

mortgage rate, stronger 

buying power, and 

improving trend to 

live in the high rise 

residential that are close 

to the activity center, 

condominium market 

will still have space to 

grow, especially the 

middle segment market. 

Indonesia’s economy remains 

strong with a 

growth of 6.6%, surpassing 

the government target 

of 6.5%. This strong figure 

is well supported by strong domestic 

consumption, investment 

as well as healthy exports. In 

the last month of the third quarter, 

the Rupiah experienced significant 

depreciation against the 

USD at the rate of Rp8,940/USD, 

reflecting a QoQ change of -3.8%. 

During the 3rd quarter, prices 

have increased by 0.93% therefore 

making the YoY inflation figure to 

4.79%. Year-to-date FDI realization 

totaled $9,180 million, while 

the 9 month’s SBI rate during the 

quarter averaged at 6.28%. 

The Euro-zone and US economic 

crises, the Rupiah’s weakening 

against US Dollar, and the 

drop of stock market have not directly 

impacted the condominium 

market’ sales activities. During 

3rd quarter 2011, sales activities 

remained active especially in the 

pre-sales market. Slowing down 

only occurred near the end of Ramadhan 

month and Idul Fitri celebration 

in the middle of the review 

quarter. 

Sales activities in the review 

quarter were dominated by middle 

segment condominiums. With 

their massive number of units in 

one project, almost 80% from the 

total net take-up recorded in the 

review quarter came from this 

segment. 

In the existing condominium 

units, sales rate has slightly 

dropped by 0.4% from the previous 

quarter to 94.5%. The number 

of unsold units increased from 

4,170 units in the last quarter to 

4,641 units. Meanwhile, the cumulative 

take-up at the end of 

third quarter 2011 was 79,873 

units, and was still dominated by 

middle segment. 

In contrast, pre-sales rate experienced 

an increase by 2.4% 

to 65.5% with the number of presold 

units of 25,626 units. Projects 

developed by reputable developers 

and contractors continued 

to record high take-up, even on 

their early bird marketing, such 

as Ciputra World’s 2 in Satrio, Setiabudi 

SkyGarden in Setiabudi, 

and Botanica in Simprug. All of 

these projects are planned to be 

launched soon. 

Compared to the previous quarter, 

both sales rate and pre-sales 

rate of low-cost condominium 

also slightly increased by 0.3% 

to 92.7% and by 4.1% to 83%, respectively. 

One of the factors for 

the better demand is stronger 

buying power from the middle 

class and stable mortgage rates. 

The total cumulative supply 

of Jakarta condominium in the 

third quarter of 2011 stood at 

84,514 units, following the completion 

of Kebagusan City tower C 

in Kebagusan, Urbana Karawaci 

tower Berkley, Oxford, and Yale in 

Karawaci, Green Central Tower 

Adenium in Gajah Mada, Central 

Park Tower Amandine in Podomoro 

City, Tanjung Duren, Centro 

City tower B in Daan Mogot, and 

Cosmo Terrace in Thamrin. 

New projects launched during 

the 3rd quarter of 2011, were Raffles 

Residence in Ciputra World 

development in Satrio, Tower 

Montblanc in Belmont Residence 

in Meruya, Kubikahomy, a strata 

title dormitory concept in Bumi 

Serpong Damai area, Park View 

Condominium above Depok Town 

Square Mall in Depok, Titanium 

Square in Pasar Rebo, Tower 

Grand Royal of Kebagusan City in 

Kebagusan, the 2nd tower of Pakubuwono 

Terrace in Cipulir, and 

H Residence in Cawang. These 

8 projects brought the total proposed 

condominium supply in the 

greater Jakarta to about 39,123 

units. Most of the newly launched 

projects were middle segment 

condominium, with only 1 upper 

class segment which was Raffles 

Residence. 

Future projects are still concentrated 

in South Jakarta, followed 

by North Jakarta with its massive 

under-construction projects, 

Green Bay Pluit and Green Lake 

Sunter (both by Agung Podomoro 

group), with total supply of about 

7,400 unit and another 3 towers 

in GreenBay Pluit to be launched 

soon. 

No newly launched or newly 

completed of low-cost condominium 

projects were recorded during 

the review quarter. 

This 3rd quarter 2011 still 

showed a rising trend on the average 

price of condominium unit. 

One of the factors was the growth 

of land price, especially in the 

CBD and prime area. The average 

condominium price in CBD 

area as of 3rd quarter 2011 was 

recorded at Rp.18.75 Million per 

sqm, increased by 3.8% from 

that in the previous quarter and 

by 14.3% from that in the previous 

year. Meanwhile, the average 

price in prime area was recorded 

at Rp.17.93 million per sqm, increased 

by 3.7% from in the previous 

quarter and by 13.7% from in 

the previous year. 

Due to the expensive land cost, 

condominium price in CBD and 

prime are projected to increase. 

The buyers for this segment are 

mostly investors or end-users for 

their second or third home. Reasonable 

prices of condominium 

outside CBD area but not-too-far 

from CBD will be more favorable 

About Cushman & Wakefield 

especially for investor and middle 

segment end-user. 

If all the planned projects are 

on schedule, there will be 3,000 

condominium units to be completed 

until end of 2011, and the 

occupancy rate in this market is 

projected to further decrease. 

With the growing economy, stable 

mortgage rate, stronger buying 

power, and improving trend 

to live in the high rise residential 

that are close to the activity center, 

condominium market will still 

have space to grow, especially the 

middle segment market. 

Cushman & Wakefield is the world’s largest privately-held commercial real estate 

services firm. Founded in 1917, it has 230 offices in 60 countries and more 

than 13,000 employees. The firm represents a diverse customer base ranging 

from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies. It offers a complete range of 

services within five primary disciplines: Transaction Services, including tenant 

and landlord representation in office, residential, industrial and retail real estate; 

Capital Markets, including property sales, investment management, investment 

banking, debt and equity financing; Client Solutions, including integrated real estate 

strategies for large corporations and property owners, Consulting Services, 

including business and real estate consulting; and Valuation & Advisory, including 

appraisals, highest and best use analysis, dispute resolution and litigation support, 

along with specialized expertise in various industry sectors. A recognized leader in 

global real estate research, the firm publishes a broad array of proprietary reports 

available on its online Knowledge Centre at www.cushmanwakefield.com.


October 12, 2011 B7 

Technology 

Industry Experts: 

RI Organizations to Benefit 

from Next Generation Business 

Intelligence Solutions 

Organizations are increasingly turning to business intelligence appliances which 

fuse applications, infrastructure and productivity tools into a single system which 

help organizations optimize employee productivity and decision-making, while 

simplifying the delivery of applications for IT. 

IIndonesia’s businesses 

stand to benefit greatly 

from the next generation of 

business intelligence solutions. 

This is the message 

heard by dozens of leading information 

technology executives at 

an information session in Jakarta 

hosted by Microsoft featuring industry 

analyst firm Forrester Research, 

Inc. and co-sponsors HP 

and Intel Corporation. 

John Brand, Vice President at 

Forrester Research, was a featured 

speaker at the business intelligence 

event. 

According to a recent Forrester 

report, “No other software segment 

enjoys the same positive 

market dynamics of advancing 

technologies, business innovation, 

and companies’ implementation 

plans.” 

Microsoft’s approach to business 

intelligence is to offer a 

cloud-ready information platform 

to help customers more effectively 

take command of their expanding 

data in order to optimize their 

operations, find greater efficiencies 

and capitalize on new opportunities. 

Today the company’s solutions 

help their customers drive 

insights throughout their information 

work base so that all employees 

are empowered to gain 

strategic value from vital information. 

They do this by delivering 

business intelligence solutions 

through the market’s leading productivity 

and collaboration platforms, 

Microsoft Office and Microsoft 

SharePoint, while providing 

powerful management tools built 

for IT professionals on the SQL 

Server platform. 

In Microsoft’s goal to deliver 

pervasive business intelligence 

to organizations as quickly and 

efficiently, they have also partnered 

with HP to create a range 

of data management appliances 

from self-service BI to the highest 

end of Data warehousing that 

meet transforming organizational 

needs. 

Increasingly, organizations are 

turning to business intelligence 

appliances which fuse applications, 

infrastructure and productivity 

tools into a single system 

which help organizations optimize 

employee productivity and 

decision-making, while simplifying 

the delivery of applications for 

IT. 

“Today, business intelligence 

appliances are becoming an increasingly 

important vehicle in 

our journey to the cloud. Customers 

get the flexibility they need in a 

solution that delivers results right 

out of the box,” said Dan Kogan, 

Senior Director SQL Appliances 

solutions, Microsoft Asia Pacific. 

“Looking ahead, business intelligence 

will be more pervasive. 

Business intelligence shouldn’t 

be a specialty. It should be a natural 

part of everyone’s job. In the 

future, companies that best manage 

explosive data growth and derive 

the best insights from it will 

be the most competitive.” 

As data volumes continue to 

grow at exponential rates, the upcoming 

SQL Server “Denali” will 

give customers even greater confidence 

in their mission critical applications 

and help them unlock 

breakthrough insights across the 

organization. 

The technology itself is designed 

to quickly build solutions across 

traditional servers, appliances, 

and private and public clouds. 

“The cloud not only makes 

managing the oceans of data easier 

and less expensive, it can help 

companies create new capabilities 

and products that weren’t before 

possible,” said Novi Tandjung, Microsoft 

Indonesia. 

“We see business intelligence 

becoming more pervasive. Business 

intelligence shouldn’t be a 

specialty. It should be a natural 

part of everyone’s job.” 

Papua is committed to accelerate 

its development and 

accomplish a higher goal to 

coordinate steps with national 

development with other 

provinces in the country. 

A smart step far from conventional 

approach is taken 

to improve the performance 

capabilities of the provincial 

government through an optimum 

utilization of IT. 

The Head of Information 

Technology and Communication 

Management (DPTIK) 

of Papua Province, Kansiana 

Salle stated, “Papua 

would like to own an access 

to broad information that 

comes with autonomy management 

and is beneficial 

for the residents and Provincial 

Government. Other 

than becoming an information 

resource for the people, 

this facility needs to become 

a reflective evaluation 

tool for the Provincial Government 

regarding its development 

performance. On 

the contrary, we need to put 

into account a wise economic 

and investment scale considering 

the vast geographical 

area the province has, 

reaching out to a total population 

of 2,851,999 people 

and a number of other priorities 

that must not be set 

aside.” 

Papua Builds Cloud-based 

Integrated Knowledge Centre 

DPTIK Papua Province 

and Papua Central Statistic 

Agency (BPS) as the agents 

of the Provincial Government 

spearheaded the initiative 

and present cloud-base portal 

www.papuadev.info which WAS 

introduced widely to public on 10 

October. The portal will function 

as ‘Knowledge Centre’ and is expected 

to become a source of reference 

for local leaders and decision-makers. 

The investment 

to build the platform is an initial 

step for Papua information and 

communication system to moving 

forward towards Cloud Computing 

- fully supported by Microsoft 

Indonesia technology. 

“We are completely aware of the 

strategic role played by technology 

in supporting Business Process 

Re-engineering (BPR) within 

the Provincial Government administration. 

Only by utilizing an 

appropriate IT support will Papua 

Province be able to do a quantum 

leap,” claimed Totok Asbi Irianto, 

Head of Network Technology Development 

and Data from DPTIK 

Papua Province. 

The decision to take the route 

through Cloud Computing takes 

into consideration the Province’s 

current situation and sound investment. 

“Cloud Computing is 

essentially a new computing style 

where data sharing, information 

and other IT elements are provided 

through a service run by external 

party and is paid per-use. 

The service is scalable and elastic, 

which translates into a flexible 

capacity of usage according to 

user’s demand. The capacity scale 

can be lifted or reduced anytime,” 

explained Amalia Fahmi, SMS&P 

Director Microsoft Indonesia. 

“Through this approach, Papua 

Province does not have the necessity 

to invest on hardware and 

maintenance room. These truly 

bring economic value to the government, 

since the service is provided 

by a group of sources in 

sharing mode. Users also benefit 

from various available payment 

solutions, with a complete track 

record and credible measurement,” 

she added. 

Kansiana shared the mutual 

feeling, “This breakthrough is 

definitely reducing our IT investment, 

as capital expenditure for 

hardware, software, communication 

network, data server and 

other tools can be eliminated significantly. 

We can thus prevent 

redundancy in the provision of IT 

equipments in every working unit. 

The lack of IT experts in Papua 

can also be managed by building 

upon external party who is more 

experienced. The remaining human 

resources can be allocated 

to the working units, to focus and 

contribute in other development 

sectors.” 

The main objective to present 

the public with complete information 

and valuable knowledge 

about Papua Province in a timely 

and accurate manner, through an 

affordable effort, can be positively 

achieved by Cloud approach. “The 

direct benefit is not limited to only 

budget efficiency by shifting capital 

expenditures into operational 

expenditure. The Government is 

now able to concentrate on achieving 

their primary goals, to do an 

effective regional development, to 

establish a more simple operational 

system management, 

to achieve a more secure 

collaboration in a more 

lean organization, and a 

more secure yet centralized 

data management, as well 

as easier applications maintenance 

since they no longer 

need to be installed in the 

connected computer network,” 

Amalia further elaborated. 

Totok said the Central 

Statistics Agency recorded 

millions of Papua people 

still have low income, 

but on the other hand there 

are untapped potentials including 

small-medium businesses 

in Papua who do not 

have the power to purchase, 

maintain and secure their 

own information system. 

They only have minimum 

access and capability to process 

data and information 

in order to support their independent 

business development. 

Cloud Computing 

has become very appealing 

to local business community 

and is the right solution 

to deal with technology complexity 

as well as to keep up 

with rapid technology innovation 

– even before they hit 

their Return on Investment 

(ROI). 

“We believe, in a near future, 

Papua business community 

can step ahead to 

Cloud as demonstrated by 

the Provincial Government,” 

declared Totok.

B8 




Pictorial Events 

All text and photos by Nandi Nanti 

Marine and Fishery 

Former Minister of Marine and Fishery Fadel 

Muhammad was the speaker at an event on 

Financial Club, themed: “Unlocking Our Natural 

Resources: Marine and Fishery”. The event was 

attended by professionals, among others Abdul 

Gani, Alibasjah Suryo and others. 

MOU Jababeka- 

PT Pertamina 

MOU Signing: SD Darmono, President Director of PT 

Jababeka, with Dr. Mardjo Soebiandono, President 

Director of PT. Pertamina Bina Medika, after the 

signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for 

the construction of a world-class hospital in Jababeka 

Medical City. 

Ernest&Young Woman 

Enterpreuner Winners 2011 

The four winners are Anastassia Florine Limasnax 

from PT E-Motion Entertainment, Anne Avantie 

(Designer), Donda Lucia Yuniar, PT Deva Datta, 

Susantie Alie from PT. Bersama Olah Boga. Present 

at the awarding event were Minister of Cooperatives 

and SMEs Syarifudin Hasan, CEO Ernst & Young, 

Giuseppe Nicolosi, Mien R. Uno, judges and finalists. 

APINDO and Microsoft 

Cooperation 

Dedi Wijaya, Head of APINDO West Java, and Sutanto 

Hartono, CEO of Microsoft Indonesia, are in a joint 

cooperation to enhance capability, productivity, and 

efficiency of companies and the use of Microsoft’s legal 

software. 

Mining Indonesia 2011 

Faisal Basri, Chief of Advisory Board of Indonesia 

Research & Strategic Analysis, Muliawan Margadana 

from BHP Hilton Indonesia and representative from 

Director General of ESDM spoke at seminar on 

Mining Indonesia 2011. The event was participated by 

investors, businessmen, especially those who work on 

energy, mining, and oil sectors. 

TIME 2011 

Tourism Indonesia Mart & Expo 2011 (TIME) was 

held at Bandar Lampung on 12-14 October 2011. 

It was participated by 77 buyers from 27 countries 

and 84 sellers from several provinces in Indonesia. 

Governor of Lampung Sjachroedin ZP stated on the 

opening ceremony, “TIME will be a momentum to 

promote tourism development in Lampung and as the 

main instrument to facilitate local development and 

enhancing people’s welfare. I believe the event may 

open international eyes on the greatness of our country 

which has variety of tourism destination and cultural 

uniqueness.” 

Peace, Love & Harmony 

Mercantile Athletic Club and Syair.org held a charity dinner 

themed “Peace, Love & Harmony”. Classic guitar maestro 

Jubing Kristiano and legendary singer Fariz RM performed 

at the event. A Rio Ferdinand’s Manchester United jersey 

and a painting of Rio Ferdinand by Liany Wati were sold at 

the auction. Total donations generated at the event stood at 

Rp16.8 million.


Tourism 



SECTION 

C 

“Stunning natural beauty, 

the people’s genuine, warm welcome 

are Indonesia’s tourism appeals” 

SD Darmono, Chairman of PATA Indonesian 

Chapter, recently had a conversation with Paul 

Preston of PATA Compass Magazine. 

Excerpts: 

Indonesians are travelling 

like never before both domestically 

and internationally-why is 

this and what has changed? 

The past 14 years of a democratic 

Indonesia has coincided 

with explosion of the internet age 

which brings with it a new generation 

of Indonesians who are ‘tech 

savvy’, and have all the information 

they need just a click away, 

and as Indonesia continues to see 

economic growth while much of 

the rest of the world is bordering 

on recession, greater numbers of 

the population have the disposable 

income that allows for travel 

whether it is domestic or international. 

Also, I believe that the 

prevalence of social networking in 

Indonesia has an enormous impact 

on broadening the minds of 

the many who may otherwise be 

contented ‘staying at home’. 

Which markets are stronger 

and where do trends appear to 

be heading? 

The obvious busy travel times 

of Idul Fitri, when Indonesians 

customarily return to their family 

homes, and Haj, when Muslims 

make their pilgrimage to Mecca, 

will continue to be of major importance, 

but there is a notable 

increase in many Indonesians desire 

to visit some of the beautiful 

locations at home for example, Belitung, 

Danau Toba, Gunung Bromo, 

Mentawi Islands, Bunaken or 

Lombok, which for so long seem 

to have only been on ‘foreigners’ 

itinerary. Where overseas travel 

is concerned, aside from business 

and student needs (which 

will surely continue to grow), 

there is still a strong desire to visit 

landmark western destinations, 

like London, Paris, Rome or New 

York, and this appeal continues 

amongst young and old alike. 

Terrorism seems to have not 

slowed tourism arrivals, in fact 

they’re now stronger than before 

the Bali bombings, and 

Australians still seem to have 

the market share. What new 

trends are emerging? 

There has been a huge impact 

on many businesses in Bali, and 

many have struggled to survive, 

but it is true that arrivals are back 

on the increase. Bali holds a great 

deal of mystique for foreign travellers, 

since ‘the Island of the Gods’ 

is still synonymous with ideas of 

tropical paradise. 

Surfing has increased in popularity 

worldwide, and a large number 

of Australian visitors, even if 

not surfers themselves are regularly 

exposed to the surf scene, 

which recognizes Bali as one of 

the premier destinations in the 

world. The truth of the matter is 

that there are many other Indonesian 

surf locations of equal word 

class status, but current lack of 

infrastructure means that they 

are only visited by dedicated and 

adventurous travellers. The mere 

mention of Bali overseas evokes 

thoughts of a beautiful paradise 

Island, and hopefully, one day the 

rest of Indonesia will be thought of 

in the same way. 

Bali was once the far away destination 

for the rich and famous, 

but is now able to be enjoyed by a 

much larger cross section of foreign 

travellers. 

Bali seems to be getting a 

rough time lately in the media 

with criticisms of the lack of 

infrastructure (roads, airport), 

rubbish disposal, and others. Is 

Bali in danger of losing the vital 

Australian market? 

There are definite infrastructure 

issues that remain to be addressed, 

but I believe the political 

will is there to continue to make 

improvements. It should be remembered 

that other world destinations 

of similar attractiveness 

like the West Indies, Seychelles 

or Pacific Islands have at least as 

many Infrastructure problems 

and probably less opportunity to 

overcome them. 

With regard to the speculation 

about entrapment, I think this 

isolated incident has been somewhat 

over-played, particularly 

with Indonesia’s clear policy about 

drug enforcement. I don’t think 

that it will have any lasting effect 

on Australians’ desire to come to 

Bali, and we should always try 

to steer clear of political posturing. 

One could just as easily enquire 

whether the imprisonment 

of Indonesian crew members (also 

juveniles, on a ship carrying refugees) 

would have an effect on Indonesians 

desire to go to Australia. 

The government can allow the 

proper legal process to take place, 

and ensure a fair and balanced 

approach to media coverage. 

There is much to be proud of 

even more to offer in this rich and 

culturally diverse archipelago. 

Outside of Bali what are 

some of the newer Indonesian 

destinations that are showing 

growth for an international 

market and where are they 

coming from? 

There are many beautiful destinations, 

each with their own appeal 

which are already on foreign 

visitor’s itineraries. Often they are 

sites of outstanding beauty and 

the number of visitors is on the 

increase, but our current challenge 

is to establish better infrastructure 

support for each of the 

destinations, to make them more 

accessible, and maybe more importantly 

have a strong clear message 

that will drive the desire for 

foreign visitors to make the trip. 

How is Indonesia pursuing 

this market and where is everyone 

going? Is this market more 

a ‘visiting friends & relatives’ 

market or are Indonesians taking 

more vacation time? 

There are vast demographic differences 

across the Indonesian 

population with the majority being 

those with limited facility for 

travel and therefore only in the 

‘visiting friends & relatives’ market. 

However, while I don’t believe 

there is more vacation time 

being taken, I do believe that Indonesians 

(more than foreigners), 

will readily accept long journey 

times for a relatively short stays at 

their destination. This translates 

to an enormous potential market 

for any destination in Indonesia 

which ‘markets’ itself well. I say 

this since even amongst Indonesian 

nationals there is an underlying 

perception that ‘Bali’ is Indonesia’s 

holiday destination! I am 

sure that once this domestic perception 

is changed then the whole 

tourism sector will benefit. 

As for the tourism products 

which appeal to the Indonesian 

market, they are probably the 

same as those sought anywhere 

around the world. 

Indonesia’s domestic airline 

industry has taken a beating 

over the years – how has this 

improved? 

Indonesia is still emerging as 

an international destination, and 

as with any emerging nation there 

have been some valid criticisms. 

They should however be taken in 

context with other comparable nations. 

Purely because of the size of 

the population, and the accelerated 

growth of the airline industry, 

problems arose that may well 

have been arrested in more developed 

countries, and while there 

have been some company failures, 

the industry has recently become 

stronger and is now maintaining 

International Flight Safety Standards. 

It is incumbent upon Indonesian 

carriers to make it known 

across the world, that the airline 

industry here has undergone the 

necessary improvements and will 

maintain their international standards. 

Outside of Bali, most Australian’s 

are not aware of other 

tourism offerings in Indonesia – 

are there any plans for promotion 

of the country as a whole? 

Of course, the current wish of 

PATA (Indonesian Chapter) is to 

establish 100 destinations, each 

with their own distinctive appeal, 

which can then be promoted in 

a concerted ‘Tourism Marketing 

Plan’. 

Singapore is so close to Indonesia 

– are Singaporeans travelling 

to Indonesia and where do 

they most visit? 

Singaporeans have been travelling 

to Indonesia for years and 

of course many have business interests 

here, but many will travel 

here for leisure activities. For instance, 

there are 58 golf courses 

to choose from, many designed by 

international stars like Sir Nick 

Faldo, and at most, not only are 

you playing in beautifully manicured 

tropical playgrounds complete 

with golf carts, you also are 

accompanied by beautiful, well 

trained caddies. All for a fraction 

of the cost of golfing in Singapore! 

Bali’s spa business appears 

to be blooming – how big is 

this area of business and is it 

spreading to other parts of Indonesia? 

The spa business in Bali is 

definitely helped by visitors’ ongoing 

love of all things ‘Island of 

the Gods’. Arrivals feel the need 

to pamper themselves, and the 

spa businesses naturally benefit. 

What is less well known is that 

massage of many different varieties 

is an everyday part of Indonesian 

culture, and most definitely 

not reserved for holidays. Spa 

businesses, of the resort type, will 

naturally flourish in every new 

destination that is opened up to 

visitors. 

What flight routes do you believe 

could benefit Indonesia’s 

tourism industry? 

New flight routes will continue 

to become available as the tourist 

Industry grows, and yes more 

are needed, but will be introduced 

along with the appropriate infrastructure 

support, that will allow 

the continued safe operation 

of expanding domestic airline operators. 

What are occupancy levels 

and how do they vary region to 

region? 

Occupancy rates are generally 

40%-75%, dependent on the location 

and the brand of the hotel, 

with averages of approximately 

60% in Bali, 55% in Jakarta, 50% 

in Riau and 45% in other areas. 

There are of course some hotels 

with considerably higher averages. 

Where the figures are consistently 

high, it can be seen that Investors 

are taking the opportunity 

to develop new hotel projects. 

What would you say is the 

greatest appeal for international 

visitors for Indonesia? 

Apart from the stunning natural 

beauty of the archipelago, 

I would have to say – “The genuine, 

naturally warm welcome and 

hospitality given by the Indonesian 

people” 

What countries do Indonesians 

travel to internationally 

the most and what trends do 

you see appearing? 

The wealthiest Indonesians, 

some 10% out of the population of 

240 million, will continue to travel 

to the top worldwide destinations, 

and some will enjoy several 

trips annually. By contrast, maybe 

for a once in a lifetime trip, the 

majority Moslem population of the 

working class go to Mecca for Haj 

and Umroh (pilgrimage). 

Singapore, regarded as the ‘China 

Town’ of Indonesia, will likely 

continue to be one of the most frequently 

visited. 

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Tourism 

www.presidenri.go.id/Abror 

International Marine Tourism 

Seminar Promotes Babel 

The World Batik Summit (WBS) themed “Indonesia: Global Home of Batik” was officially opened by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. 

Indonesia Set to Become 

Global Home of Batik 

Since the inclusion of 

batik by UNESCO in 

“Intangible Cultural 

Heritage of Humanity” 

items on September 30, 

2009, the government 

has been actively 

promoting batik 

domestically and 

internationally. 

The Indonesian Batik 

Foundation (YBI) in cooperation 

with the government 

recently held at 

the Jakarta Convention 

Center (September 28 to October 

2, 2011) the Batik Summit which 

consisted of two main events: the 

World Batik Exhibition (WBE) 

and the World Batik Conference 

(WBC). 

The World Batik Summit (WBS) 

themed “Indonesia: Global Home 

of Batik” was officially opened by 

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. 

The biennial World Batik Exhibition 

had three themes, namely 

:”Multi-Partnership: Bringing Batik 

To The World”, “Batik`s Contribution 

to the Creative Economy”, 

and “Batik as a Cultural Heritage: 

Conservation and Modernization”. 

“641 people from a number of 

countries took part in the summit. 

It is double the figure last 

year,” a spokesman of the organizer 

said. 

The WBE is designed to become 

a promotion forum for batik producers, 

practitioners, craftsmen, 

and businessmen. 

The organizing committee of 

the World Batik Summit (WBS) 

sees a record Rp22 billion worth 

of transactions during the fiveday 

event. 

The conference was highlighted 

with a cultural night and a fashion 

show to be participated in by 

national and international batik 

designers. 

Some master pieces of Indonesian 

designer Iwan Tirta were 

displayed in the batik exhibition 

to honor the noted designer who 

died in July 2010. 

Since the inclusion of batik by 

UNESCO in “Intangible Cultural 

Heritage of Humanity” items on 

September 30, 2009, the government 

has been actively promoting 

batik domestically and internationally. 

Because batik is now getting 

popular and on high demand, 

the government is mulling a master 

plan for the mass production 

of batik as a culture-based industry. 

The master plan being prepared 

by the industry ministry, 

would be ready in the next two 

months, Industry Minister MS Hidayat 

said. 

The value of Indonesia`s batik 

market reaches only Rp3 trillion 

currently. And therefore, the batik 

production must be directed toward 

mass products if the nation 

wanted to raise the batik market 

value, the minister said. 

No batik industry in Indonesia 

has so far made mass productions 

although prominent batik companies 

such as Danarhadi and Batik 

Keris have exported their batik 

products to several countries in 

Asia. Several regions such as Yogyakarta, 

West Java, Central Java, 

and East Java will be prepared to 

support the planned batik mass 

productions. 

According to data of the Indonesian 

Batik Foundation, the interest 

of Indonesian people in batik 

has increased 40% since 2009. 

“Indonesian batik has a specific 

character which does not exist 

in other textiles with batik designs. 

It has its own philosophy, 

production process and designs,” 

Indonesian Batik Foundation 

Chairperson Jultin Ginandjar 

Kartasasmita said. 

Because of its high quality 

standards, Indonesian batik continues 

to be in high demand although 

its prices are higher than 

similar products from other countries, 

she said. 

So far Batik is mostly produced 

in Pekalongan, Solo (Central 

Java), Yogyakarta and Cirebon 

(West Java), but now batik production 

has developed in at least 

23 provinces of Indonesia. 

Batik, which has been developed 

for centuries particularly on 

Java Island, is cloth which traditionally 

uses a manual wax-resist 

dyeing technique. But, thanks to 

modern advances in the textile industry, 

the term has been extended 

to include fabrics which incorporate 

traditional batik patterns. 

UNESCO (United Nations Education, 

Scientific and Cultural Organization) 

describes Indonesian 

Batik as: The techniques, symbolism 

and culture surrounding 

hand-dyed cotton and silk garments 

known as Indonesian Batik 

permeate the lives of Indonesians 

from beginning to end: infants are 

carried in batik slings decorated 

with symbols designed to bring 

the child luck, and the dead are 

shrouded in funerary batik. 

The two-day seminar on international 

marine tourism in 

Bangka-Belitung (Babel) provincial 

city of Pangkalpinang 

promoted the abundant tourism 

potentials in the province. 

Bangka and Belitung islands 

province is blessed with 

pristine, pollution-free white 

sandy beaches with blue sea 

waters, fine coral reefs, and giant 

granite rock formations 

In an effort to more intensively 

promote such potentials, 

both national and international 

tourism players held 

the seminar at Novotel Hotel 

in Pangkalpinang from September 

21-22, 2011 as part of 

Sail Wakatobi-Belitung 2011 

event. 

“The seminar was held as 

part of Sail Wakatobi-Belitung 

2011 in a bid to promote Babel 

tourism potentials to the participants 

of the international 

marine event,” Babel Culture 

and Tourism Office spokesman 

Yan Megawandi said in 

Pangkalpinang over the weekend. 

He said at least 14 domestic 

and foreign speakers from 

among others Malaysia, Fiji, 

Australia, and Canada spoke 

on marine-based development 

in the two-day seminar. 

The province is made up of 

two major islands, Bangka 

and Belitung, and hundreds 

of other smaller islands with 

exotic beaches for swimming, 

diving, and snorkeling. 

Belitong alone has exotic 

beaches such as Tanjung 

“Besides marine 

tourism, historical 

attractions also have 

a great potential to 

attract and increase the 

number of domestic 

and foreign tourists to 

visit the island,” 

Kiras beach, Tanjung Pendam 

beach, Tanjung tinggi, Tanjung 

Kelayang, Tanjung Binga fisherman 

village, Panyaeran beach, 

Tanjung Kubu, Gembira bay and 

Tanjung Ru, which are ideal sites 

for diving, scuba, snorkeling, fishing 

and sailing. 

The island also has other tourist 

attractions such as Golf Babute 

driving course, Lengkuas island, 

Gurok Beraye waterfall, Batu 

Baginde hill, Tirta Marundang 

natural pool and Dayang Seri 

Pinai Pool for the participants of 

Sail Wakatobi-Belitung 2011. 

The outdoor activities in Belitung 

island included cruise 

ships and yachts rally, underwater 

world chess record 

breaking, international beach 

volley ball tournament, Singapore-Belitung 

Cruise, seaweed 

planting activity, turtles conservation 

activity, and fishing 

competition. 

“Besides marine tourism, 

historical attractions also have 

a great potential to attract and 

increase the number of domestic 

and foreign tourists to visit 

the island,” Pangkalpinang 

culture and tourism office 

spokesman Ahmad Elvian has 

said in Pangkalpinang. 

The historical attractions on 

Bangka island, according to 

Ahmad, are among others Museum 

Timah (Tin Museum), 

Rumah Residen (Resident`s 

House), Dutch Cemetery, Perigi 

Pekasem (Pekasem Well), 

and Tugu Pergerakan Kemerdekaan 

(monument of independence 

movement). 

www.tourismhoteltraveling.com 

French Public Impressed 

With Indonesia at Travel Mart 

Indonesia attracted 

the French public 

at the International 

French Travel Market 

(IFTM) Top Resa at the 

exhibition hall Paris 

Porte de Versailles 

on September 20-23, 

Executive Coordinator 

of Indonesian Team 

to IFTM, Molly Prabawaty, 

said. 

On the occasion, Indonesia 

is represented 

by some tourism industries 

including CV 

Matahari, Pearl Tour 

& Travel, PT Tanjung 

Perak Tours and Travel, 

Bhara//Essence of 

Bali and Panorama 

Destination, Molly told 

ANTARA here recently. 

According to her, it is 

for the second time that 

the Indonesian Culture 

and Tourism Ministry 

took part in IFTM Top 

Resa in its efforts to attract 

French tourists 

as only about 160,000 

of them came to the archipelagic 

country in 

2009. 

The Indonesian Central Agency 

of Statistics recorded that 98,853 

French tourists visited Indonesia 

in 2006, a number that increased 

to 104,473 in 2007, 125,216 in 

www.world-tourism-news.eu 

2008, 159,924 in 2009, Molly 

said, adding that France is only 

second to the UK in contributing 

the biggest number of European 

tourists to Indonesia. 

Meanwhile, Senior Promotion 

Manager of Interface 

Tourism France, Jerome 

Mariot, said most 

French people preferred 

Bali. 

“Two thirds of French 

tourists visited Bali,” 

said Jerome who represented 

the Tourism 

Ministry in France. 

Jerome said the 

French Culture and 

Tourism Ministry has 

made various efforts to 

promote tourist objects 

in Indonesia including 

sending French mass 

media there with a diversity 

of tourist sites 

in Bali and other places 

like Raja Ampat 

in West Papua where 

tourists can enjoy diving 

tours. 

Molly said TV station 

in France TF1 is 

now running a reality 

show entitled Koh Lanta 

about Raja Ampat 

which is well known 

among international 

divers. 

Koh Lanta Director 

Thiery Graff said Raja 

Ampat is the most beautiful tourist 

site in the world. 

“I found a new paradise in Raja 

Ampat and not many people, even 

Indonesians, know it,” the director 

said.


October 12, 2011 C3 

Tourism 

Enormous Potentials Behind 

Spiritual Wealth at Muntilan 

Mayor of Lauenburg Andreas Thiede and his delegation from Lauenburg local 

government recently visited Borobudur and Prambanan temples as part of a 

series of efforts to explore the possibility of establishing cooperation between 

Lauenburg and Jababeka city as sister cities 

LLauenburg is a town 

in the state of Schlesweig-Holstein, 

Germany, 

situated at the 

northern bank of the 

Elbe river. 

During the visit, Thiede stated, 

“It is my first experience in visiting 

the magnificent Borobudur Temple. 

I really enjoy this trip especially 

because of the friendly people 

here. There are so many holy 

places and historical sites in this 

area.” 

3 

They also visited a devotion 

place of Pran-Soeh (the Java original 

religion, Kejawen) at Muntilan, 

where the delegation received explanations 

about the rituals, and 

drank holy water from Jalatunda 

Well. Thiede added, “I have visited 

several holy places in many countries, 

but this time I feel a different 

spiritual experience.” 

The delegation also watched the 

Sendratari Ramayana. 

1 

4 5 

Muntilan is located in Magelang, 

8 km east of Borobudur 

and has many religious shrines 

and pilgrimage sites, among others 

the Pabelan Islamic boarding 

school, Vin Lith Church and 

Catholic School, the century-old 

Hook An Kiong temple, and Goa 

Maria “Sendang Sono.” 

These spiritual places are great 

potentials to be developed and 

promoted as Spiritual Tourism. 

PHOTO CAPTIONS: 

1. Mayor of Lauenburg Andreas Thiede and his delegation in front of Balai Suci. 

2. Delivery of Javanese traditional Sword Keris. 

3. Borobudur Temple. 

4. Pabelan Islamic Boarding School. 

5. Goa Maria ‘Sendang Sono.” 

6. Vin Lith Church and Catholic School. 

7. The century-old Hok An Kiong temple. 

2 

6 7

A 

GRA 

ROY 

WEDD 

“KPH Yud 

I marry y 

my daugh 

Bend 

C4 


Photo Essay 



TEXT PHOTOS AND 

GGKR Bendara, the 

youngest daughter of 

Yogyakarta Sultan 

Hamengkubuwono X, 

was married to KPH 

Yudhanegara on October 

18 at the palace’s Panepen 

Mosque. 

“KPH Yudhanegara, I marry you 

with my daughter, GKR Bendara,” the 

Sultan said in the highest form of the 

Javanese language krama inggil. 

After the vow, the groom returned 

to the Kesatrian prince hall, while the 

Sultan and the guests moved to the 

main Kencana hall for the next ritual, 

panggih. 

Panggih is the peak of the ceremony 

where the bride and groom meet 

for the first time as man and wife. 

The royal wedding was shown on 

six giant screens set up across the 

city. 

On Monday the bride and groom 

underwent the siraman , or shower, a 

ceremony in which close relatives and 

elders shower the couple with flowerscented 

water to symbolically cleanse 

their body and soul. 

Bendara’s mother, Sultana Hemas, 

led the ritual, accompanied by her eldest 

daughter, Gusti Kangjeng Ratu 

Pembayun. The bride and groom were 

adorned with flowers and bathed in a



Photo Essay 

ND 

AL 

ING 

BY NANDI NANTI 

mixture of sacred water taken from 

seven wells in the palace compound. 

Also participating were elder members 

of the royal family. Family members 

of Yudanegara, who was born to 

a commoner family, were present for 

his siraman. 

Later in the evening, the bride underwent 

midodareni procession, 

where she stayed awake until late. 

The purpose of the midodareni is to 

wait for angels to come down to this 

world to make up the bride so she will 

look pretty on her wedding day. 

The grand royal wedding took place 

in the morning and the reception was 

held in the Kepatihan hall in the evening. 

The royal couple left the palace’s 

northern gate in a procession of royal 

horse-drawn carriages, escorted by 

royal guards as well as the cavalry. 

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono 

and First Lady Ani Yudhoyono 

attended the royal wedding. Also present 

at the auspicious event were Vice 

President Boediono and his wife, Herawati 

Boediono, former First Lady 

Shinta Nuriyah Wahid, former Vice 

Presidents Jusuf Kalla dan Hamzah 

Haz, prominent figures such as Aburizal 

Bakrie, Cabinet ministers and 

foreign ambasaadors. All in all, over 

1,015 guests attended the reception. 

hanegara, 

ou with 

ter, GKR 

ara.”

C6 




Tourism 

The President Post/Akmal 

Kota Tua Jakarta 

Queen of the East 

Kota Tua Jakarta, or Jakarta Old Town, is a small 

area in the Indonesian capital city that covers 

about 1.3 square kilometres of both North Jakarta 

and West Jakarta. 

Dubbed “The Jewel of Asia” and 

“Queen of the East” in the 16th 

century by European sailors, Old 

Jakarta was once a center of commerce 

for the whole continent due 

to its strategic location and abundant 

resources. 

In 1526, Fatahillah, sent by 

Sultanate of Demak, invaded Hindu 

Pajajaran’s port of Sunda Kelapa, 

after which he renamed it into 

Jayakarta. This town was only 15 

hectares in size and had a typical 

Javanese harbour lay-out. 

In 1619 the VOC destroyed 

Jayakarta under the command of 

Jan Pieterszoon Coen. A year later 

the VOC built a new town named 

“Batavia” to honor Batavieren, the 

Dutch ancestors. This city was 

centered around the east bank of 

the Ciliwung river, around present 

day Fatahillah Square. 

In 1635 the city expanded towards 

the west banks of Ciliwung, 

on the ruins of former Jayakarta. 

The city was designed in European 

Dutch style complete with 

a fortress (Kasteel Batavia), city 

wall, and canals. The city was arranged 

in several blocks separated 

by canals. 

The city of Batavia was completed 

in 1650. It became the 

headquarters of the VOC in the 

East Indies. The canals were filled 

up due to outbreaks of tropical 

diseases within the city walls because 

of poor sanitation. 

The city began to expand further 

south as epidemics in 1835 

and 1870 forced more and more 

people to move out of the cramped 

city, to the Weltevreden area (now 

the area surrounding Merdeka 

Square). The city later became 

the administrative center of the 

Dutch East Indies. In 1942 during 

the Japanese occupation, Batavia 

was renamed Jakarta, and 

still serves as the capital city of Indonesia. 

In 1972, the Governor of Jakarta, 

Ali Sadikin, issued a decree 

that officially made the Jakarta 

Kota area into a heritage site. The 

governor’s decision was necessary 

in order to preserve the city’s architectural 

roots. 

Despite the Governor’s Decree, 

the old town remains neglected. 

Even though the majority 

was pleased just by the issuing 

of the decree, not enough was being 

done to protect and conserve 

the legacy from the Dutch colonial 

era. 

Nowadays, many remaining 

historical buildings and architecture 

are steadily deteriorating; at 

best, “dilapidated”, such as Jakarta 

History Museum (former city 

hall of Batavia, the office and residence 

of VOC governor general), 

Maritime Museum of Indonesia, 

Sunda Kelapa harbour, and The 

Batavia Hotel which formerly wellknown 

as Omni Batavia Hotel. 

However, there is still much 

hope in restoring the area, especially 

with various non-profit organizations, 

private institutions, 

and even the government recently 

stepping up to the plate to rejuvenate 

Old Jakarta’s legacy. 

In 2007, several streets surrounding 

Fatahillah square such 

as Pintu Besar street and Pos 

Kota street, were closed to vehicles 

as a first step towards the rejuvenation. 

There are now 284 old and historic 

buildings in the area, among 

them of Lloyd Insurance, Standard 

Chartered Bank, PT Samudra 

Indonesia, PT Bhanda, PT 

Graha Raksa, Bank Indonesia, 

Wayang Museum, and Jakarta 

History Museum.



Living 

www.ellidavis.com 

Why Men 

Are in 

Trouble 

For the first time in history, women are better 

educated, more ambitious and arguably more 

successful than men. 

By William J. Bennett 

NNow, society has 

rightly celebrated 

the ascension of one 

sex. We said, “You 

go girl,” and they 

went. We celebrate 

the ascension of women but what 

will we do about what appears to 

be the very real decline of the other 

sex? 

The data does not bode well for 

men. In 1970, men earned 60% 

of all college degrees. In 1980, the 

figure fell to 50%, by 2006 it was 

43%. Women now surpass men 

in college degrees by almost three 

to two. Women’s earnings grew 

44% in real dollars from 1970 to 

2007, compared with 6% growth 

for men. 

In 1950, 5% of men at the prime 

working age were unemployed. As 

of last year, 20% were not working, 

the highest ever recorded. 

Men still maintain a majority of 

the highest paid and most powerful 

occupations, but women are 

catching them and will soon be 

passing them if this trend continues. 

The warning signs for men 

stretch far beyond their wallets. 

Men are more distant from a family 

or their children then they 

have ever been. The out-of-wedlock 

birthrate is more than 40% 

in America. In 1960, only 11% of 

children in the U.S. lived apart 

from their fathers. In 2010, that 

share had risen to 27%. Men are 

also less religious than ever before. 

According to Gallup polling, 

39% of men reported attending 

church regularly in 2010, compared 

to 47% of women. 

If you don’t believe the numbers, 

just ask young women about men 

today. You will find them talking 

about prolonged adolescence 

and men who refuse to grow up. 

I’ve heard too many young women 

asking, “Where are the decent 

single men?” There is a maturity 

deficit among men out there, and 

men are falling behind. 

This decline in founding virtues 

– work, marriage, and religion – 

has caught the eye of social commentators 

from all corners. In her 

seminal article, “The End of Men,” 

Hanna Rosin unearthed the unprecedented 

role reversal that 

is taking place today. “Man has 

been the dominant sex since, well, 

the dawn of mankind. But for the 

first time in human history, that 

is changing—and with shocking 

speed,” writes Rosin. The changes 

in modern labor – from backs to 

brains – have catapulted women 

to the top of the work force, leaving 

men in their dust. 

Man’s response has been pathetic. 

Today, 18-to-34-year-old 

men spend more time playing 

video games a day than 12-to-17 

-year-old boys. While women are 

graduating college and finding 

good jobs, too many men are not 

going to work, not getting married 

and not raising families. Women 

are beginning to take the place 

of men in many ways. This has 

led some to ask: do we even need 

men? 

So what’s wrong? Increasingly, 

the messages to boys about what 

it means to be a man are confusing. 

The machismo of the street 

gang calls out with a swagger. 

Video games, television and music 

offer dubious lessons to boys who 

have been abandoned by their fathers. 

Some coaches and drill sergeants 

bark, “What kind of man 

are you?” but don’t explain. 

Movies are filled with stories of 

men who refuse to grow up and 

refuse to take responsibility in relationships. 

Men, some obsessed 

with sex, treat women as toys 

to be discarded when things get 

complicated. Through all these 

different and conflicting signals, 

our boys must decipher what it 

means to be a man, and for many 

of them it is harder to figure out. 

For boys to become men, they 

need to be guided through advice, 

habit, instruction, example 

and correction. It is true in all 

ages. Someone once characterized 

the two essential questions 

Plato posed as: Who teaches the 

children, and what do we teach 

them? Each generation of men 

and women have an obligation to 

teach the younger males (and females 

of course) coming behind 

them. William Wordsworth said, 

“What we have loved, others will 

love, and we will teach them how.” 

When they fail in that obligation, 

trouble surely follows. 

Man’s response has been pathetic. Today, 

18-to-34-year-old men spend more time 

playing video games a day than 12-to- 

17-year-old boys. While women are 

graduating college and finding good jobs, 

too many men are not going to work, not 

getting married and not raising families. 

We need to respond to this culture 

that sends confusing signals 

to young men, a culture that is 

agnostic about what it wants men 

to be, with a clear and achievable 

notion of manhood. 

The Founding Fathers believed, 

and the evidence still shows, that 

industriousness, marriage and 

religion are a very important basis 

for male empowerment and 

achievement. We may need to 

say to a number of our twentysomething 

men, “Get off the video 

games five hours a day, get yourself 

together, get a challenging job 

and get married.” It’s time for men 

to man up. CNN 

Why Do People Smoke? 

The core reason people smoke is because they 

are addicted to nicotine and can’t stop—it’s 

a simple as that. Or is it? Though nicotine 

addiction is certainly the biological reason for 

why people smoke, there are a host of other 

factors that are also at play. 

The Centers for Disease Control 

and Prevention (CDC) report 

that as of 2009, more than 46 

million Americans smoke. About 

443,000 people in the United 

States die from smoking-related 

illnesses each year. Smoking cigarettes 

causes more deaths than 

alcohol, car accidents, suicide, 

AIDS, homicide and illegal drugs 

combined. Despite this, one in five 

people still indulge—some have 

attempted to quit smoking and 

failed, and others have not considered 

quitting at all. 

The risks of smoking are well 

known—now let’s dig into why 

people smoke despite them. 

Nicotine addiction not only perpetuates 

one’s desire to smoke, 

but it makes it difficult to try to 

apply mind over matter and quit. 

When smokers start to cut down 

on cigarettes, they begin to go into 

withdrawal, which causes a variety 

of unpleasant symptoms including 

headache, fatigue, irritability 

and cravings. The fastest 

way to mitigate them? Smoking 

another cigarette. 

Most smokers attempting to 

quit imagine that they will experi- 

ence those initial feelings of withdrawal 

for the rest of their lives. 

Actually, within a very short period 

of time after putting out that 

last cigarette, physical withdrawal 

symptoms will start to abate, 

with urges becoming weaker and 

shorter in duration. The intervals 

between urges will soon lengthen. 

Finally, they will become very infrequent 

before stopping altogether. 

Those who quit will eventually 

get past the discomfort, feel better 

and have renewed energy. The 

key, of course, is knowing that— 

and committing to ride it out. 

Ask several smokers this question, 

and they’re likely to have different 

answers. While generalities 

cannot be made, there are some 

factors that many people say are 

or have been at play in their picking 

up their first pack and establishing 

their smoking habit. 

Many people start smoking in 

their teens and are addicted by 

the time they are adults. The most 

often reported reasons that teens 

take up smoking include looking 

mature, a desire to experiment 

with something “forbidden” and 

peer pressure. 

www.cigarettesflavours.com 

Many people start smoking in their teens and are addicted by the time they are adults. The 

most often reported reasons that teens take up smoking include looking mature, a desire 

to experiment with something “forbidden” and peer pressure 

Adults often smoke for other 

reasons. They may have personal 

or financial problems and pressures 

that cause them to seek the 

temporary escape and numbing 

of feelings that smoking can provide. 

Many adult smokers say that 

cigarettes can almost act like a 

crutch to lean on during difficult 

times. 

Emotions beyond stress can 

also factor in. Loneliness, for example, 

is often cited as a reason 

for lighting up. You are never 

alone when you have your little 

“buddy” with you, some say—a 

comfort that comes as quickly as 

a flame can be lit. Some smokers 

even say that the act of having a 

cigarette in their mouth and taking 

a drag gives them a sense of 

pleasure and comfort not unlike 

sucking your thumb as a child. 

Others say they “reward” themselves 

with smoking. Whenever 

they have accomplished a task, a 

cigarette can be like a pat on the 

back for a job well done. The first 

cigarette of the day can be a way 

to ease into the daily grind, while 

the last one before bed can serve 

as a sense of completion. In between 

are little rewards for taking 

care of all the tasks of everyday 

living. 

There are those who may even 

smoke to control their weight. 

On average, smokers weigh seven 

pounds less than non-smokers. 

Smoking reduces appetite 

and decreases the sense of taste 

and smell. 

The social aspect of smoking, of 

course, cannot be ignored. Many 

smokers feel part of a “club;” identifying 

with a group who, say, 

goes out for smoke breaks at work 

gives a sense of belonging and 

bonding. 

Understanding all of the factors 

that go into why people choose to 

smoke can help you better understand 

someone who lights up despite 

all we know about how bad 

smoking is for us. If you are a 

smoker, you may or may not be 

acutely aware of these and other 

factors that may be factoring in 

to why you can’t kick the habit. 

If you are trying to quit, consider 

the above and look for substitutes 

and changes that you can make 

to take cigarettes out of the equation. 

CNN

C8 




Health 

How to Steer Toward the Path 

of Least Treatment 

Patients often worry about the cost of 

overtreatment but fail to recognize the 

potential harm of undergoing too many 

tests and procedures 

TThe first doctor Lynn 

Munroe consulted 

about her hyperactive 

thyroid gland recommended 

radioactive 

iodine treatment 

to destroy the gland, followed by 

a lifelong regimen of thyroid hormone 

replacement pills. 

The second physician she consulted 

said that he could operate, 

removing the gland without radiation, 

but that she would still need 

to take the pills. 

A third doctor suggested a more 

cautious approach, prescribing 

medication to depress the gland’s 

activity. It worked: Ms. Munroe, 

49, a publicist in West Nyack, N.Y., 

no longer has symptoms of hyperthyroidism, 

even though she has 

been weaned off the medication. 

“And I still have my thyroid intact,” 

she said. “Thank God for 

third opinions.” 

Has American health care become 

overly aggressive? Many primary 

care doctors think so, according 

to a survey published last 

week in Archives of Internal Medicine. 

More than 40% of 627 primary 

care doctors who responded 

to the survey thought their own 

patients were overtreated; only 

6% thought the patients received 

too little care. 

Why so many tests and referrals? 

Limited time to spend with 

patients, fear of being sued and 

financial incentives to do more 

were among the reasons cited by 

the physicians. 

Patients often worry about the 

cost of overtreatment but fail to 

recognize the potential harm of 

undergoing too many tests and 

procedures, said Dr. Brenda 

Sirovich, lead author of the study 

and a faculty member of the outcomes 

group at the Veterans Affairs 

Medical Center in White River 

Junction, Vt. 

“I think we don’t talk with patients 

enough about the fact that 

there is an optimum amount of 

medical care, and when you start 

giving too much, there’s definitely 

a risk that it’s going to be harmful,” 

Dr. Sirovich said. 

In Ms. Munroe’s case, all three 

of the options presented to her are 

appropriate treatments for a hyperactive 

thyroid, and all have 

pros and cons. But despite its invasiveness, 

irradiation is more 

commonly used than medication 

to suppress production of thyroid 

CT Scan: If a CT scan is recommended, ask about an alternative that might result in less radiation exposure. 

hormone. Irradiation is considered 

the definitive treatment; it is 

also more lucrative. 

Dr. Rita Redberg, editor of Archives 

of Internal Medicine, a journal 

that has been publishing a series 

of papers on overtreatment, 

said the trend in medicine has 

been toward running more diagnostic 

tests and using more invasive 

procedures, even when tests 

may not be called for and equally 

effective, less invasive treatment 

alternatives may be less risky and 

less costly. 

“Why is the most aggressive 

treatment becoming the standard 

of care?” Dr. Redberg asked 

in a telephone interview. “We 

know that when patients are given 

a choice between surgery and 

a medical treatment, they almost 

always opt for the least invasive, 

least aggressive treatment.” 

Dr. Redberg and other experts 

have also been critical of what 

www.kerigirl.wordpress.com 

they see as the overuse of medication, 

including the increased 

use of opioids for chronic pain; the 

long-term use of proton pump inhibitors, 

linked to severe magnesium 

deficiency and other side 

effects, to manage acid reflux disease; 

and the widespread prescription 

of statins for patients 

without coronary artery disease, 

despite well-known adverse effects 

of the drugs. 

In one study published in the 

journal, doctors who reviewed the 

charts of elderly patients were able 

to discontinue nearly half of their 

medications without any detriment 

to the patients. 

But the idea that less is more 

is controversial, especially when 

it comes to heart disease. Many 

cardiologists say that cholesterollowering 

statins, for instance, can 

save healthy patients with risk 

factors from developing heart disease 

in the future. 

“If you don’t interrupt the atherosclerotic 

process, it builds up 

over decades,” said Dr. Roger S. 

Blumenthal, director of the Ciccarone 

Center for the Prevention of 

Heart Disease at Johns Hopkins. 

“You don’t want to sit back and 

wait until people have a fatal heart 

attack or stroke, because you often 

don’t get a second chance.” 

On the other hand, Dr. Blumenthal 

agrees that computerized tomography 

(CT) coronary angiograms 

of asymptomatic people 

do not improve care or outcomes. 

Here are a few things consumers 

can do to ensure they’re getting 

appropriate treatment. 

THE RIGHT QUESTIONS 

Patients often want to know 

whether a test or procedure is 

covered by insurance, but other 

questions are more important, 

said Dr. Steven Woloshin, co-director 

of the outcomes group at 

the Vermont V.A. hospital and an 

author of several studies on overtreatment. 

“A patient should ask, ‘Why do 

I need this test? What do I get out 

of it? What’s my chance of something 

bad happening if I don’t get 

the test, or if I do get the test?’ ” Dr. 

Woloshin said. 

Make sure you know about all 

of the different treatment options 

available, and the pros and cons 

of each. Remember that medication 

may be as effective as more 

invasive treatments. 

SCREENING ALTERNATIVES 

Balance the risks of any test or 

procedure against the potential 

benefit, given your medical history. 

Less-invasive, low-tech screenings 

with a lower risk of complications 

— a fecal occult blood test, 

for instance, instead of a colonoscopy 

— may be appropriate for 

some patients. 

If a CT scan is recommended, 

ask about an alternative that 

might result in less radiation exposure. 

TOO MANY MEDICATIONS 

If you take medications on a 

regular basis, have your doctor 

review your drug regimen periodically. 

Ask whether you may be 

able to wean yourself off a drug 

like a proton pump inhibitor if 

you make diet or lifestyle changes. 

Drugs that have been on the 

market longer often are better understood 

and have better safety 

records than newer drugs, whose 

adverse effects may not come to 

light until they have been available 

for some time. NYT 

How Exercise Can 

Strengthen the Brain 

Earlier studies 

have shown that 

exercise sparks 

neurogenesis, or 

the creation of 

entirely new brain 

cells. But the South 

Carolina scientists 

were not looking 

for new cells. They 

were looking inside 

existing ones to 

see if exercise was 

whipping those cells 

into shape, similar 

to the way that 

exercise strengthens 

muscle. 

A 30-minute jog: The effort required to round your brain cells into shape. 

www.topnews.in 

Can exercise make the brain 

more fit? That absorbing question 

inspired a new study at the University 

of South Carolina during 

which scientists assembled mice 

and assigned half to run for an 

hour a day on little treadmills, 

while the rest lounged in their 

cages without exercising. 

Earlier studies have shown that 

exercise sparks neurogenesis, or 

the creation of entirely new brain 

cells. But the South Carolina scientists 

were not looking for new 

cells. They were looking inside existing 

ones to see if exercise was 

whipping those cells into shape, 

similar to the way that exercise 

strengthens muscle. 

Past experiments have shown 

persuasively that exercise spurs 

the birth of new mitochondria in 

muscle cells and improves the vigor 

of the existing organelles. This 

upsurge in mitochondria, in turn, 

has been linked not only to improvements 

in exercise endurance 

but to increased longevity in animals 

and reduced risk for obesity, 

diabetes and heart disease in 

people. It is a very potent cellular 

reaction. 

Like muscles, many parts of 

the brain get a robust physiolog- 

ical workout during exercise. “The 

brain has to work hard to keep 

the muscles moving” and all of 

the bodily systems in sync, says 

J. Mark Davis, a professor of exercise 

science at the Arnold School 

of Public Health at the University 

of South Carolina and senior 

author of the new mouse study, 

which was published last month 

in The Journal of Applied Physiology. 

Scans have shown that 

metabolic activity in many parts 

of the brain surges during workouts, 

but it was unknown whether 

those active brain cells were actually 

adapting and changing. 

To see, the South Carolina scientists 

exercised their mice for 

eight weeks. The sedentary control 

animals were housed in the 

same laboratory as the runners to 

ensure that, except for the treadmill 

sessions, the two groups 

shared the same environment 

and routine. 

At the end of the two months, 

the researchers had both groups 

complete a run to exhaustion on 

the treadmill. Not surprisingly, 

the running mice displayed 

much greater endurance than 

the loungers. They lasted on the 

treadmills for an average of 126 

minutes, versus 74 minutes for 

the unexercised animals. 

The finding is an important 

“piece in the puzzle implying that 

exercise can lead to mitochondrial 

biogenesis in tissues other than 

muscle,” says Dr. Mark Tarnopolsky, 

a professor of medicine at Mc- 

Master Children’s Hospital, who 

was not involved with this experiment 

but has conducted many exercise 

studies. 

“There is evidence” from other 

studies “that mitochondrial deficits 

in the brain may play a role 

in the development of neurodegenerative 

diseases,” including Alzheimer’s 

and Parkinson’s diseases, 

Dr. Davis says. Having a larger 

reservoir of mitochondria in your 

brain cells could provide some 

buffer against those conditions, 

he says. 

Of course, this experiment was 

conducted with animals, and 

“mouse brains are not human 

brains,” Dr. Davis says. 

Best of all, the effort required to 

round your brain cells into shape 

is not daunting. A 30-minute jog, 

Dr. Davis says, is probably a good 

human equivalent of the workout 

that the mice completed. NYT

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