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Indonesia imposes moratorium on new palm oil plantations
Indonesia’s president has signed a moratorium on new palm oil development and ordered a review of existing plantations, an official said Thursday, in a blow to an industry blamed for environmental destruction and worker exploitation.
— Associated Press

Amazon in market entry talks with Indonesian government: Report
US-based e-commerce giant Amazon has been in talks with the Indonesian government about entering Southeast Asia’s largest market, which could see the company finally execute a plan that has reportedly been in the works for over two years.
— DealstreetAsia

Officials try to calm anger stoked by viral video of Chinese workers measuring land in Bekasi
To meet his goals of rapidly expanding the country’s infrastructure, President Joko Widodo has accepted a great deal of assistance from China to fund and develop numerous projects.
— Coconuts

Jakarta Police to Test Electronic Traffic Ticketing System From Next Month
The Jakarta Police plan to test its new electronic traffic ticketing system, known as e-tilang, from next month.
— Jakarta Globe

What About Indonesia’s GDP Growth in 2019 and Beyond?
Damhuri Nasution, Head of Economic Research at the Danareksa Research Institute, said the Indonesian economy will grow at a robust pace in both 2018 and 2019 on the back of strengthening exports and investment.
— Indonesia Investments

Singapore Gov’t Suspends Agency Behind Online ‘Sale’ of Indonesian Migrant Workers
The Singaporean Ministry of Manpower said on Wednesday (19/09) that it has suspended an employment agency for advertising Indonesian migrant workers for sale on online marketplace Carousell.
— Jakarta Globe

Indonesia Textile Industry Targets Export Value of US$14 Billion in 2018
The Indonesian textile and textile products industry is believed to be able to contribute significantly to foreign exchange (forex) revenues from exports this year.
— Netral News

Walhi Rips PSI’s Argument for Palm Oil, Says Party ‘Does Not Understand’ the Issue
Indonesia’s oldest environmental advocacy group has criticized an argument in support of sustainable palm oil by one of the country’s newest political parties, saying it was misleading.
— The Jakarta Globe

Groups welcome Jokowi’s palm plantation moratorium
Environmental groups welcomed President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s instruction to halt the issuing of permits for palm plantations, calling it a long-awaited step towards sustainability.
— The Jakarta Post

Indonesian city orders top staff to ‘pray or get a new job’
An Indonesian city has ordered its top civil servants to visit their local mosque for dawn prayers or risk being sacked, underscoring the growing influence of religion across the world’s biggest Muslim majority country.
— Channel NewsAsia

Aceh governor finally allows measles-rubella vaccine program to resume after haram scare
The government’s much-delayed measles-rubella (MR) vaccine drive now has the full backing of provincial administrations throughout the country — the last hold out being the ultra-conservative province of Aceh — though it remains to be seen if the backing of the regional governments will be able to overcome religious-based anti-vaccine paranoia.
— Coconuts

Health Minister: Measles and Rubella are Deadly Diseases
Indonesia Minister of Health Nila Moeloek says the Ministry of Health would be fully responsible for eliminating the impact of measles and rubella (MR).
— Netral News

Apology to President Yudhoyono and the Democrat Party of Indonesia
Asia Sentinel wishes to retract a story that ran on September 10, 2018 on the website about the former Yudhoyono government and the Bank Century case in Indonesia.
— AsiaSentinel (press release)

Democrat to Take Asia Sentinel to Court over SBY Article
Following the news piece published by Asia Sentinel linking the Bank Century case with Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY), the Democrat Party announced that it would take legal steps despite the Hong Kong-based news agency had apologized and took the original article down.
— Tempo

Indonesia urged to utilize its seat at UNSC to end Rohingya crisis
The Coalition of Indonesian Civil Society Organizations urged the government to utilize Indonesia`s position as non-permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) to help put an end to the humanitarian crisis against Rohingya people in Myanmar.
— The Jakarta Post

Police bust Bali spa sex trafficking operation
A man arrested in Jakarta earlier this month for human trafficking was sending victims to Bali as work as spa therapists, Jakarta Police revealed on Thursday.
— Coconuts

Government cancels import of 600,000 tons of rice
Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution has stated that the government has canceled the import of 600,000 tons of rice.
— The Jakarta Post

Indonesian auto marketplace Rajamobil in talks to raise up to $5m
Indonesian online marketplace for new and used cars, Rajamobil.com, is in talks to raise up to $5 million by selling a minority stake in the company, according to two people familiar with the development.
— DealstreetAsia

ANZ Bank said to hire Morgan Stanley to sell stake in Indonesia’s PaninBank
Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. recently hired Morgan Stanley to help sell its stake in Indonesian lender PT Bank Pan Indonesia, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
— DealstreetAsia

Indonesia promotes IAEA’s nuclear program for peaceful purposes
Indonesia continues to promote technical cooperation programs developed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
— Antara

Indonesia aims to coax, not compel, exporters to convert dollar revenue –finmin
Indonesia’s finance minister said on Thursday the government aims to “persuade” exporters to keep earnings onshore and convert them into rupiah, rather than make this mandatory, amid confusion over a plan floated by another minister.
— Reuters

Indonesia’s Teater Potlot takes on the plight of the Sumatran tiger
For those worried about the plight of the Sumatran tiger, of which only a few hundred remain, concern typically flows from a sense that all life is worth saving.
— Mongabay

Indonesia’s ‘Paris of Java’ on high-tech mission to cut emissions
At the entrance to the spaceship-like command centre for the Indonesian city of Bandung, all workers remove their shoes before starting their shift, the better to keep the carpets clean.
— Thomson Reuters Foundation

What’s in store for Indonesia’s coal market?
The 2013 commodity slump led to the start of turmoil in the coal industry globally. The industry reacted by reducing operating costs, enhancing production to stabilize revenues and reducing investments to preserve cash.
— GreenBiz

Indonesia riding a coal export wave
Indonesia has benefited from China’s supply-side reforms and tight coal market conditions in wider Asia since 2016, according to Wood Mackenzie.
— Australia’s Mining Monthly

Preparations for Asian Para Games nearly completed
Preparations for the implementation of the third Asian Para Games has reached 95 percent completion, according to Bayu Rahadian, secretary general of the Indonesian Organizing Committee of Asian Para Games (INAPGOC) 2018.
— Antara

Semen Indonesia Sales Reach 20.67 Million Tons in August 2018
State-owned cement manufacturer Semen Indonesia (IDX:SMGR) has been able to obtain positive sales performance amid tight competition in the domestic cement industry.
— Netral News

President to distribute three million hectares of forestry land
President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) is targeting to distribute 3 million hectares of land to the community through this year`s social forestry activities.
— The Jakarta Post

Euromonitor International to host first conference in Indonesia
Indonesia is a highly promising, growing economy, offering a big marketplace for industries across the world.
— The Jakarta Post

Seychelles learns from Indonesia how to take care of elderly
The Seychelles, an archipelagic nation off the coast of East Africa, plans to adopt Indonesia’s elderly development program to empower its own elders.
— The Jakarta Post

Oracle helps Jasa Raharja send Indonesians Home for Hari Raya
Leveraging the power of Oracle Cloud Platform to support the Mudik Bareng BUMN 2018* program, Jasa Raharja, the organization responsible for coordinating the program, has helped over 204,000 homecoming Indonesians this year.
— AEC News Today/PRNewswire

Feature photo: Patrik M. Loeff

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.

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