Indonesia Morning News For October 9

Sulawesi Eartquake,Tsunami Death Toll Nears 2,000
Nearly 2,000 bodies have been recovered from Palu since an earthquake and tsunami struck the Indonesian city, an official said on Monday (Oct 8), warning the number would rise with thousands still missing.
— Indonesia Expat

IMF management, employees to donate Rp 2b to Lombok, Palu survivors
The management and employees of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) plan to donate Rp 2 billion (US$131,026) to survivors of the earthquake and the tsunami in Central Sulawesi and to survivors of the earthquake in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, a statement says.
— The Jakarta Post

IFC’s Inaugural Komodo Green Bond Raises $134m for Climate Investments in Indonesia
The International Finance Corporation, the private-sector arm of the World Bank Group, has raised Rp 2 trillion ($134 million) from its inaugural rupiah-denominated Komodo green bond to fund investment projects focused on tackling climate change.
— Jakarta Globe

Survey Shows Jokowi’s Re-election Prospects Rising, While Support for Prabowo Weakens
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s chances of winning re-election next year have increased, while support for rival Prabowo Subianto has weakened, the result of a new survey showed on Sunday (07/10).
— Jakarta Globe

Indonesia’s Opposition slams ‘lavish’ IMF-World Bank meeting in Bali amid quake disaster
Indonesia’s Opposition has slammed the ruling Government over an upcoming meeting between the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, accusing them of spending “lavish” amounts of money amid a national crisis.
— ABC News

Bank Mandiri to coordinate Rp 200t in direct investments for 21 SOEs
State-owned lender Bank Mandiri will coordinate direct investments worth Rp 200 trillion (US$13.10 billion) for 21 state-owned enterprise (SOE) projects expected to be approved during the Indonesia Investment Forum in Nusa Dua, Bali on Tuesday.
— The Jakarta Post

Indonesia to issue waqf-linked sukuk to finance home construction for earthquake victims
Indonesia’s government will issue a waqf-linked sukuk on October 14 to build affordable homes for victims of the recent earthquakes in Lombok and Palu, Nanda Putra Setiawan, executive director at waqf institution Wakaf Al-Azhar, told Salaam Gateway.
— Global Islamic Economy Gateway

Indonesia’s retail sales growth up 6.1pc y/y in August
Retail sales in Indonesia grew at a much stronger pace of 6.1 percent in August from a year earlier compared with July’s 2.9 percent growth, fuelled by greater demand due to the Asian Games and activities related to independence day, a central bank survey showed on Monday.
— Business Recorder

Sri Mulyani Asserts Indonesia Not Applying Loan to IMF
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani asserted the 2018 International Monetary Fund and World Bank (IMF-WB) Annual Meeting was not an event to apply for a loan and that Indonesia merely became the host of the meeting.
— Tempo.co

Australia to maintain cattle trade relations with Indonesia
Australia’s meat industry has confirmed that it will continue its “strong” trade relations with Indonesia over cattle exports.
— Global Meat News

Indonesia to seek policy co-ordination at IMF-World Bank meet
Indonesia plans to use meetings between global finance ministers and central bank chiefs on the island of Bali this week to push for more clarity on the path of interest rates in advanced countries, the country’s central bank governor said yesterday.
— Gulf Times

Indonesia is in rubble. Why so little help from America?
On the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, nearly 1,800 people are confirmed dead, and more than 5,000 people could still be missing after a 7.5 magnitude earthquake triggered a devastating tsunami less than two weeks ago.
— CNN (video)

Indonesia To Assist Fiji With Broadband Connectivity
Like Indonesia, Fiji is one country that faces the challenge of high costs associated with connecting islands together through broadband network.
— Fiji Sun Online

Welcome to Rupiah’s New Normal, Indonesia Policy Makers Signal
Indonesian policy makers wrestling with a weaker currency have a message for the market: welcome to the new normal.
— Bloomberg

Indonesia’s Patent Office Clamps Down on Unpaid Annuity Fees for Abandoned Patents
On August 16, 2018, the Directorate General of Intellectual Property (DGIP) issued a circular regarding the obligations of patent holders, and their proxies, to pay outstanding annual patent fees.
— Lexology

Indonesia sets Oct HBA thermal coal price at $100.89/mt, down 3.7% on month
Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources set its October thermal coal reference price, also known as Harga Batubara Acuan or HBA, at $100.89/mt, down 3.7% month on month, but up 7.3% year on year.
— S&P Global Platts

Rupiah loses more value against dollar
The Indonesian currency rupiah lost more value in inter-bank transaction on Monday morning trading at the level of 15,183 per U.S. dollar from 15,150 earlier.
— Antara News

Unicorns rising in Indonesia
An Internet gold rush is afoot in Jakarta, with start-ups disrupting business and improving Indonesian lives
— The Straits Times

Weakening of Rupiah due to US Economy, Finance Minister Says
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati confirmed that the weakening of the Rupiah against the US dollar was due to the influence of improving economic conditions in the US.
— Netral English

Google to establish Cloud Platform region in Indonesia in 2019
Google plans to establish a Google Cloud Platform region in Indonesia in 2019 to strengthen its business and capture a larger customer base, Jakarta Globe reports, citing Rick Harshman, managing director of Asia Pacific at Google Cloud.
— Telecompaper

Stigma, discrimination hamper leprosy eradication
Stigma and discrimination continue to hinder people with leprosy from having a normal life, according to World Health Organization (WHO) goodwill ambassador for leprosy elimination Yohei Sasakawa.
— The Jakarta Post

‘Innovate or become irrelevant’: Indonesian trade body, food scientists and regulators weigh in on state of nation’s industry
International and local investment into Indonesia’s food and beverage industry is continuing to rise, but a trio of experts have underlined a series of challenges – from innovation to collaboration and food safety – that the sector has to confront to fulfil consumer needs and harness further growth.
— FoodNavigator-Asia.com

Indonesia mulls setting up logistics bases in safe areas to respond faster to natural disasters
JAKARTA – Indonesia is considering setting up several logistics bases in safe regions to ensure aid can reach people faster when there is an earthquake or a tsunami.
Each logistics base would have on standby excavators, food, water filters, power generators and navy ships that can be deployed promptly any time.
— The Straits Times

State civil apparatuses should have knowledge of crisis management: vp
Vice President Jusuf Kalla highlighted the need for equipping the state civil apparatuses with knowledge of crisis management to ensure better management when a disaster or conflict strikes their respective area.
— Antara News

Schools in Disaster-Struck Palu Begin Counting How Many Children Will Return
Children in Palu, Central Sulawesi, began returning to school on Monday to tidy up their classrooms and to help gather data on how many of them will be coming back 10 days after a major earthquake and tsunami hit their city.
— The Jakarta Globe

Businessmen, landowners named suspects in South Sumatra forest fires
Police have named seven suspects over forest fires that plagued the province of South Sumatra over the past week.
South Sumatra Police chief Insp. Gen. Zulkarnain Adinegara said two of the suspects were businesspeople, while five were local landowners.
— The Jakarta Post

OJK reports Rp 500t in excess liquidity
The Financial Services Authority (OJK) has reported that banks in Indonesia have recorded Rp 500 trillion (US$32.94 billion) in excess liquidity.
— The Jakarta Post

Fruit exports grow, imports decrease
Indonesia’s fruit exports increased by 24 percent in September from the same month last year, according to the Agriculture Ministry.
The ministry’s fruit and floriculture director, Sarwo Edhy, said that most export recipients were non-tropical countries, where demand had shifted toward organic fruits.
— The Jakarta Post

Jokowi Statue to Be Built as Tourism Branding
Jakarta – East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Tourism Agency head Marius Ardu Jelamu confirmed the community in the cross-border of Belu district planned to build a statue of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. According to Marius, the sculpture will serve as tourism branding.
— Tempo.co

Jakarta gov’t issues canine ID cards for good dogs that get microchipped
While it’s not often you see dogs walking the streets of Jakarta, plenty of people here are pet lovers with canine companions. Unfortunately, conditions for dogs in the Indonesian capital can be ruff as rabies remains a real concern.
— Coconuts Jakarta

Global finance chiefs descend on Bali
A decade after the guardians of the world economy united to save it from depression, the scope for such shock-and-awe policies has all but dried up.
— The Asean Post

Feature photo Anorak

This week’s Indonesia morning news feature photo acknowledges World Mental Health Day, October 10.

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 October 9 added by Stella-maris Ewudolu on October 9, 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.