Indonesia Morning News For November 13

Current Account Deficit Indonesia Widens to 3.37% of GDP in Q3-2018
In line with expectations, Indonesia’s current account balance showed a wide deficit in the third quarter of 2018 (and one that has widened compared to preceding quarters).
— Indonesia Investments (media release)

Morrison plays down Israel embassy spat ahead of Indonesia trade talks
Scott Morrison has said he cannot say when he will sign a free trade agreement with his Indonesian counterpart, Joko Widodo, with the timing for that in Jakarta’s hands, but he has suggested trade should not be conflated with other issues.
— The Guardian

BI revises down inflation rate projection to 3.2 percent
Bank Indonesia has revised down its inflation rate projection to 3.2 percent year-on-year (yoy) from its initial projection of 3.4 percent this year, after studying the latest inflation figures.
— The Jakarta Post

Australian, Indonesian businesses press governments to sign trade deal
Business is pressing the Australian and Indonesian governments to sign a bilateral trade deal by pushing ahead with plans for the agreement despite diplomatic tensions over Australia’s Israel embassy review.
— Financial Review

Indonesia to issue preliminary Lion Air crash report in late November
Indonesia will issue a preliminary report on Nov. 28 or 29 on its investigation into the crash of a Lion Air plane that killed 189 people on board, Soerjanto Tjahjono, head of the transportation safety committee (KNKT), said on Monday.
— Channel NewsAsia

Indonesia c.bank launches auction for onshore NDF market
Indonesia central bank injected the equivalent of $73 million of liquidity into the domestic non-deliverable forward (NDF) rupiah market through an auction on Monday, Bank Indonesia’s (BI) head of monetary management Nanang Hendarsah said.
— Nasdaq

Jakarta fears for death-row workers in Saudi Arabia
Activists from dozens of NGOs protest in front of Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Jakarta on Nov. 2, 2018 demanding the country abolish the death penalty.
— La Croix

Indonesia’s sustainable districts bet on corporate deforestation pledges
Overcoming financing hurdles, local authorities in Indonesia’s forest districts engaged with palm oil companies to support sustainable growth.
— Eco-Business

Inside President Jokowi’s huge plan to bust tech silos
Indonesia’s President has issued a new decree to link up disparate tech systems used across ministries and departments.
— Gov Insider

Garuda Indonesia Again Records Best OTP Achievement, According to OAG Flightview
The flag carrier Garuda Indonesia again scored the achievement of On Time Performance (OTP) by recording the global airline’s best OTP achievement in Asia Pacific with the number of flights over 10 thousand flights based on independent OTP rating agency report Official Airline Guide (OAG) Flightview.
— Netral News

Indonesia warns signing of FTA with Australia affected by Palestine
Indonesia said Monday it will delay signing a free trade deal with Australia if it acts to move its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
— Nikkei Asian Review (paywall)

Indonesia to free heroin-trafficking gang member
The only female member of the “Bali Nine” heroin-trafficking gang will be freed from an Indonesian prison next week, a corrections official said Monday, after serving 13 years in a case that caused a diplomatic furore.
— Devdiscourse

Jakarta Provincial Gov’t Prepares Vertical Drainage Program to Anticipate Floods
Jakarta Provincial Government prepares a vertical drainage program in anticipation of flooding during the rainy season.
— Netral News

Surabaya designates old city as tourist destination
The Surabaya Municipality is renovating old buildings as part of its program to designate its old city located in northern Surabaya as a tourist destination.
— Antara News

BNPB: Millions of People Live in Landslide Prone Areas
he Head of the Data Center, Information and Public Relations of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said millions of people live in areas prone to landslides under cliffs and hills.
— Netral News

Philippines, Indonesia to jointly intensify fight against illegal trade
The Philippines and Indonesia have agreed to cooperate and intensify their fight against illegal trading in the region, the Philippine government said on Monday.
— Xinhua

BNI Distributes KUR to Over 2,000 Farmers to Support Social Forestry
PT Bank Negara Indonesia (Persero) Tbk (BNI) supports the Social Forestry Program which is now being developed in West Java.
— Netral News

Indonesia urges more training for pilots after Lion Air crash
Indonesian investigators said on Monday more training was needed for Boeing 737 MAX pilots after discovering the situation believed to have faced the crew of a doomed Lion Air jet was not contained in the aircraft’s flight manual.
— Reuters

Watch: People forced to climb down ferris wheel after near-fatal malfunction in Indonesia
The ferris wheel is usually among the least intimidating amusement rides out there, but some fair-goers in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta must now be grateful to have survived what could have been a fatal ferris wheel…
— Coconuts Jakarta (paywall)

Air Transportation DG Discharged after Lion Air Crash
Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi reshuffled today officials in the ministry’s Directorate General of Air Transportation following the Lion Air crash in the waters of Karawang, West Java last month. Minister Budi Karya discharged Air Transportation director-general Agus Santoso.
— Tempo.co

Anies Baswedan Deploys Volunteers to Battle Hoaxes on Floods
Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan has deployed 1,400 verified volunteers to monitor information and anticipate flooding in the capital. The volunteers are also assigned to disseminate early warnings when flooding occurs.
— Tempo.co

Netflix generation not impressed by Indonesia’s `dirty’ politics
They’re the largest voting bloc in the country’s presidential election and yet they are the generation most profoundly disenchanted with the political establishment.
— Free Malaysia Today

Ternate Prepares Kora-kora Festival to Greet Year-end Holidays
Ternate Culture and Tourism Agency head Samin Marsaoly said the region planned to hold the Kora-kora Festival in the end of December 2018.
— Tempo.co

Indonesian Embassy fails to meet fishermen arrested in Myanmar
A meeting failed to be arranged with the 16 fishermen, hailing from the Indonesian Province of Aceh, that were arrested by the Myanmar authorities since last week, a spokesman stated.
— Antara News

Low productivity hampers economic growth: Bappenas
Low productivity led to the economic growth still being below the seven percent target of the National Medium Term Development Plan, the Ministry of National Development Planning/National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas).
— Antara News

Over 100 job seekers tricked into paying millions for bogus vacancy
One-hundred-and-twenty-eight job seekers have fallen victim to fraud after responding to an advertisement by an entity posing as state-owned railway company PT KAI. The perpetrators promised the victims jobs at the company after they transferred money.
— The Jakarta Post

Garuda to reopen Jakarta-London route
Flag carrier Garuda Indonesia president director I Gusti Ngurah Askhara said on Monday that the airline would reopen its Jakarta-London route after reviewing its costs.
— The Jakarta Post

Thousands join anti-LGBT protest in Bogor, mayor agrees to demands for more discriminatory legislation
The protest’s leader said that LGBT people in Indonesia now have more courage to be open about themselves because “they take refuge behind human rights”, which is increasing the threat of HIV/AIDS — a completely backwards statement on all…
— Coconuts Jakarta (paywall)

World Bank Outlines Ways to Become High-income Country
Lead economist of World Bank Indonesia, Vivi Alatas, said the government must encourage the middle class to boost economic development in a bid to shun the middle-income trap.
— Tempo.co

Indonesian, Singapore armies conduct joint exercise
Indonesian and Singapore armies are conducting a joint exercise in East Java`s Situbondo District on Nov 12-19.
— Antara News

Getting richer, more Indonesians shift to premium rice
Following the consumption trend of middle-income consumers, rice producers have started to distribute more premium rice instead of medium-quality rice, a report submitted to the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) says.
— The Jakarta Post

Merpati Airlines Eyeing to Fly Again in 2019
PT Merpati Nusantara Airlines (MNA) President Director Asep Ekanugraha publically announced its intention to reestablish the airliner’s operations in 2019 after a hiatus since 2013.
— Tempo.co

Feature photo Cahaya Maulidian

This week’s Indonesia morning news feature photo acknowledges International Day for Tolerance, November 16.

Find our previous morning news feature photos in the AEC News Today Morning News Feature Photos gallery where you will find a pictorial display of daily life throughout the Asean Economic Community (AEC).

Indonesia morning news by AEC News Today is your one stop source for Indonesia news on matters of governance and policies affecting Asean business communities and is published M-F by AEC News Today: Governance, not government; policies not politics.

Indonesia morning news for November 13 added by Stella-maris Ewudolu on November 13, 2018
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Stella-maris Ewudolu

Journalist at AEC News Today

Stella-maris graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, Education from Ebonyi State University, Nigeria in 2005.

Between November 2010 and February 2012 she was a staff writer at Daylight Online, Nigeria writing on health, fashion, and relationships. From 2010 – 2017 she worked as a freelance screen writer for ‘Nollywood’, Nigeria.

She joined AEC News Today in December 2016.