Wednesday, April 27, 2011 10:12 AM

Business
KPPU investigates Chevron tender
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 04/27/2011 9:28 AM | Business

The Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) is investigating a tender conducted by Chevron Pacific Indonesia. KPPU acting spokesman Zaki Zein Badron said the commission had noted potential indications of unfair practices in a tender for the Chevron-operated Gendalo-Gehem project in the Makassar Strait. The investigation being carried out is a KPPU initiative, Zaki said. We have found [potential] indications of violations [of articles under the 1999 Law on the prohibition against monopolitistic practices and unfair business competition] governing tenders and market controls that discriminate against other business institutions," Zaki said as quoted by kontan.co.id. The commission plans to summon all related parties involved the tender in 90 days for investigation purposes, he added. Chevron Pacific Indonesia president director Abdul Hamid Batubara said his firm had followed the rules in carrying out the tender. He added that Chevron would be ready to face legal processes based on the KPPU finding.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011 10:16 AM

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World
RI, China, to improve work on trade
Mustaqim Adamrah and Linda Yulisman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 04/26/2011 9:40 PM | World

Chinese and Indonesian leaders are expected to sign an MoU on strengthening bilateral trade this week, one year after the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA) came into effect. Indonesian Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said Tuesday the MoU would serve as a framework for bilateral trade cooperation, which was strong, balanced and sustainable. How do we get there? Thats what [related] ministers are going to address. We have agreed on some steps, some of which have been followed up with direct investment for example, she told reporters after a seminar organized by The Jakarta Post and Asia News Network. The MoU will be signed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Premiere Wen Jiabao on the sidelines of the latters three-day visit to Jakarta. Wen is scheduled to arrive Thursday. Apart from the MoU, Indonesian and Chinese business associations are also exploring opportunities to cooperate in trade and investment to minimize ACFTA impacts on Indonesian products, Mari said. Were also inviting [China] to participate in our development program of economic corridors, particularly special economic zones, she said, underlining that the program would much relate to investment in infrastructure. She said Indonesia was also inviting China to invest in resource-based sectors, such as mining and agriculture, from upstream to downstream. China and Indonesia also have an agreement on a quarantine for signing, Mari said. The Industry Ministrys international industrial cooperation director general Agus Tjahjana earlier said there were three MoUs to be signed by the ministry: One MoU with the Chinese Industry Ministry to promote cooperation in the industrial sector; an MoU with Chinese heavy equipment maker Sany Heavy Industry Co. to optimize the

quality of local products and exchange of facilities owned by both parties to increase human resources competency; and an MoU with the Bank of China to support investment and business financing in the industrial sector. Sany has said it will build a heavy equipment plant in Cikarang, West Java, this year with a total investment of up to US$200 million. Separately, economist Anggito Abimanyu said the government should optimize existing measures such as import duties, safeguards and anti-dumping duties and label requirement, to protect local producers from cheap Chinese imports instead of trying to re-negotiate the free trade agreement. He added Indonesia should not focus on trade deficit with China because Indonesia records surpluses with other countries. Meanwhile, economist Winarno Zain said in his opinion piece published by the Post on Tuesday there had been a significant rise in Indonesias non-oil trade deficit with China since 2006. The deficit stood at $5.4 billion in 2010 and was nearly $1 billion in the first two months of this year, he said. He added that Indonesias non-oil exports to China rose by 57 percent last year, compared to imports from China that increased by 46 percent. But despite the ACFTA, there has been no marked shift in the structure of Indonesian trade with China, he said. Since 2009, in the first two months of 2011, Indonesian non-oil exports to China remains at 11 percent of the total of Indonesian non-oil exports, Winarno said.