Acara : Pelatihan Wirausaha
Pengisi Acara : Ibu Indah Morgan
Hari/ tanggal : Minggu, 19 Februari 2012
Tempat : Aula KBRI
Pukul : 09.30 – 18.00
Pakaian : Rapi dan Sopan
Acara : – Seminar/Pelatihan
– Games
– Makan Siang/Snack Sore Bersama

Pada kesempatan ini KBRI juga akan membuka Warung Konsuler pada pukul 10.00-14.00 bagi para masyarakat yang memerlukan pelayanan konsuler.

Demikian, atas perhatian dan kehadirannya diucapkan terima kasih.

A.n. Kepala Perwakilan RI

Jani Sasanti
Pelaksana Fungsi Pensosbud

Wahyuni Kamah, Jakarta Post

The island of Madura gets a bad rap on Java. The stereotype is that all Madurese are crass, ill-mannered and quick to anger, while the island itself is hot, dirty and simply not worth visiting.

The Javanese prejudice against Madura has knocked the island off the list of destinations for most domestic tourists, who in turn discourage foreigners from visiting. But as is the case with most stereotypes, not everything people say about Madura is true.

Located just northeast of Surabaya in East Java, Madura is easily accessible by boat across the Madura Strait. Since 2009, it has also been accessible by road, thanks to the Suramadu Bridge connecting the island to mainland Java.

But local accounts differ as to how long it actually takes to get across to the next big town. I checked four car rental places in Surabaya, and each gave different estimated travel times, ranging from six to 12 hours for the trip between Surabaya and Sumenep, in Madura’s east. One operator explained that the trip takes 12 hours whenever the cattle market is open because of the resulting kilometers of congested traffic.

The island is divided into four regencies: Bangkalan in the west, Sampang and Pamekasan in the middle and Sumenep in the east, and the island itself is under the administration of East Java.

Crossing Suramadu Bridge at full speed, I found that it only took only 20 minutes to reach Madura. With a crossing fee of Rp 30,000 ($3.40), the bridge has separate lanes for motorcycles (which are often loaded with big sacks) and four-wheel vehicles. Another option is to take the public ferry from Tanjung Perak harbor in Surabaya to Kamal harbor in Bangkalan, which takes about 40 minutes.

During the first two-hour trip through Bangkalan regency, I saw nothing but abandoned, unfertile-looking terrain, and understood why many Bangkalan residents choose to search for jobs off the island. We passed two cattle markets in different locations, which took up half of the main road with parked motorcycles and pick-up trucks, leaving the commuting buses and cars stuck in traffic.

Cows, goats and lambs are sold in this kind of crowded cattle market. Cows are important in Madura, which is known for its popular cow-racing festival. The goats in the market were very young, some as young as 4 months old. The driver told me that a popular local dish is sate kambing muda (young goat satay).

Looking at the young and tender goats, I was excited to taste it for myself.

Entering the crowded market, I had the peculiar sensation of being a foreigner in my own country. The people there were speaking in their strong, local dialect, and I didn’t hear any Indonesian words nor understand a thing that was said. The men were dressed in traditional sarongs and conducted their business solely in cash.

Continuing on the southern route, we passed several decent-looking kampungs (dense neighborhoods), and some very nice, big houses (the bigger concrete abodes were coated in brightly colored advertisements for mobile phone providers).

The first big town we passed was Sampang, the main street of which was lined with government offices, schools and public facilities. But beyond the main street was nothing but kampungs and open terrain. Looking at the dry soil, I had a flashback to geography lessons at school, where we were taught that the staple in Madura is not rice but corn, because is it more suited to the soil.

The dry terrain did eventually open up to a clear view of the sea, and the turquoise water of the Camplong Beach was very enticing. It is a popular recreation spot for locals, but also an area known for sand fields and salt production. Since colonial times, Madura has been an important salt-producing region, known in Java as the Island of Salt.

When we arrived in Pamekasan, I was surprised to find the main road bustling with commercial activity. Contrary to the stereotypes, it was also a very clean city, with a well-maintained Catholic church facing a grand mosque just across the street — apparently coexisting in peace, despite the island’s chaotic reputation.

From there I proceeded to Sumenep, an area known for its tobacco production. I also saw several assembling factories as we drove through, giving me the impression that the area is quite economically well-developed.

Entering the main town (after a three-hour drive), I found Sumenep itself to be clean, cultured and affordable. I made the obligatory visit to the Grand Sumenep Mosque, the town’s best-known attraction.

The structure, built in 1779, showed a fascinating combination of Chinese, Javanese, Indian, Portuguese and Arab influences in its architecture. The interior of the mosque likewise displayed the influence of those cultures in the ceiling, wooden windows, pillars and mihrab. But the most beautiful part of the mosque is its concrete gate, which has a European touch.

A few hundred meters to the east of the mosque is Kraton Sumenep, the sultan’s palace and the only one of its kind in East Java. The palace is said to have been established in 1269, when its authority covered all of Madura, as well as the many islands scattered around it. The head of the kadipaten, or sultanate, was known as the adipati.

Unlike Yogyakarta’s kraton in Central Java, the kraton complex in Madura is no longer occupied by traditional families serving the adipati (the last sultan ruled in 1929). The complex surrounding the palace was built in 1762 by Adipati Sumenep Tumenggung Ario Notokusumo, or Panembahan Somala (1762-1811).

He enlisted the famous Chinese architect Law Piyango to design both the kraton and the Grand Mosque on the 12 hectares of his property (Law Piyango’s family escaped from Semarang, Central Java, because of the bloody unrest there).

In front of the kraton there is a pendopo, or open-air pavilion, which is now used for government events. For Rp 2,000 (22 cents), visitors can tour the kraton museum, which previously served as the adipati’s office.

The museum holds artifacts like utensils used by the royal family, royal robes and heirloom weapons. One piece of particular interest is a handwritten Koran penned by Sultan Abdul Rahman (1811-1854).

Like in any kraton in Java, a big banyan tree can be found growing in the courtyard. There is also a taman sare, a pool used for bathing by the princesses. Locals still believe in the spiritual power of the pool, and bathe there in hopes of receiving blessings.

Across from the kraton complex is a building now used to keep the royal thrones and carriages, one of them a gift from the United Kingdom. Pictures of the various adipatis of Sumenep are also displayed, but the presentation is poor.

My trip to Sumenep changed my view of Madurese people. What I experienced was totally different to what I had previously imagined; the people were not unfriendly and the towns were not dirty.

Erfandi, a guide at the Sumenep Kraton Museum, put my impression into words: “I know that people are reluctant to visit Madura because they think it is dirty and the people are rude and foul,” he said.

“But as you see, Sumenep is a fine destination with many attractions. And, most importantly, it is very cheap.”

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Wednesday that state enterprises should play a more active role in boosting the country’s economic growth.

“We have to start with a clear objective and goal. Our target should not be anything other than that we want state enterprises that can really become an important part in efforts to increase our economic growth,” Yudhoyono said.

Speaking while opening a limited cabinet meeting on the economy at the presidential office, Yudhoyono said the performance of state enterprises could still be improved through a reorganization that has measurable targets, orientation and aims

The government wants growth this year of up to 6.7 percent, he said, adding that state enterprises could play an active role in supporting such growth.

“We want state enterprises to take an active role, especially in the investment field and more especially according to what has been planned in the Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Economic Development [MP3EI],” Yudhoyono said.

The MP3EI, which covers the period from 2012 to 2025, aims to sharply raise the country’s per capita income from the current $3,000 to an estimated $14,250 to $15,500 by 2025.

Healthy performance by state enterprises, Yudhoyono said, would help expand job opportunities and therefore steps to improve their performance should continue to be taken in line with measurable indicators.

Another sector where state enterprises are expected to play an important role is in the use of corporate social responsibility programs in enhancing the prosperity of residents in and around their operations areas, he said.

He said that according to a report from State Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan, the CSR programs of state enterprises were already at a high level.

Yudhoyono added that as a social program, a company’s CSR should be utilized appropriately and with the involvement of the local population.

“I want CSR programs to be used more, together with the government and other parties, to reduce poverty in our society,” Yudhoyono said.

He also said that companies belonging to the state should serve as role models in green business and growth and not neglect the environment.

“If state enterprises can provide the example, the private sector and others will certainly not be careless in maintaining the environment in our country,” he said.

The country’s 142 state enterprises have long been associated with poor service, as well as a lack of quality governance and integrity on the part of management.

Rampant corruption and meddling by political parties have been blamed for poor performances by many companies.

However, under Dahlan’s stewardship, the government has engaged in a drive to increase the level of good governance among state enterprises to raise their performance and competitiveness.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Investment is likely to remain the main engine of Indonesia’s economic growth in 2012 which is projected to reach 6.7 percent, a Finance Ministry official said.

“Our focus in 2012 will be on spurring investment growth, either in the private or public sector by optimizing capital spending,” acting chief of the ministry’s fiscal policy board Bambang Brodjonegoro said here on Monday.

To encourage private investment, the government must maintain the conducive investment climate by improving industrial relations between employers and employees, assisting investors in clearing land and ensuring business certainty, he said.

“What we must pay attention to are industrial relations, investment climate in general, and legal certainty from local governments. If investment permits have been issued, then local governments should not do something harmful.”

He said the government must take advantage of the momentum of investment grade to attract more investment.In addition, he said the government would make an optimum effort to grant fiscal incentives to investors wishing to engage in the downstream industry and provide fiscal stimulus to boost the economy.

Investment would play a greater role in boosting the economic growth in 2012 now that the country’s exports were expected to fall this year, he said. The other engine of the economic growth in 2012 would be domestic consumption, he added.

Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo said earlier in the day the domestic economic growth in 2011 was mostly driven by investment which grew by 8.0 percent. herefore, he said the government would continue to increase investment growth up to around 10 percent to achieve the target of economic growth target of 6.7 percent for 2012.

The minister said “it is more important for us now to ensure that government can increase private investment in view of its role in the economy.” The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reported on Monday the Indonesian economy expanded 6.5 percent in 2011.

Sumber :antara

Jimmy Hitipeuw

UNITED NATIONS, KOMPAS.com – Indonesia on Monday formalized ratification of the nuclear test ban treaty at the United Nations and its foreign minister called on eight key holdout nations to take a “calculated risk” and sign on.

Indonesia is the 157th country to adopt the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) but eight more nations in a core group of 44 nuclear countries — China, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, Russia and United States — must still ratify to bring the global ban into force. Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said a “trust deficit” over the intentions of other nuclear states often holds back countries.

“These countries must have the courage to step out of their comfort zone and to take some kind of a calculated risk that their positive moved will be reciprocated,” Natalegawa told reporters after formally handing over Indonesia’s ratification documents to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Indonesia had resisted ratification for many years but the minister said the government saw “a window of opportunity to advance the disarmament agenda” and so parliament unanimously agreed to adopt the treaty in December.

Natalegawa said Indonesia hoped its ratification of the CTBT “will propel others to do likewise.” “I guess we need to communicate with the countries concerned to be able to listen what it is that is holding them back.” The 44 countries which must ratify the treaty to bring it into force all have nuclear weapons or atomic programs.

Natalegawa also said he hoped a Southeast Asian nuclear arms free zone would come into force this year.The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) completed its talks on the regional weapons free zone last year and the 10 member states are now completing ratification of that treaty.

The Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone treaty commits ASEAN’s 10 member states “not to develop, manufacture or otherwise acquire, possess or have control over atomic weapons.”

It also prohibits the storage or transit of nuclear weapons in the association’s zone. The treaty prevents the testing of any nuclear device and dumping of radioactive waste in the region.

The declared nuclear powers — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — co-sponsored a resolution on the Southeast Asian zone in the UN General Assembly last year, giving implicit recognition to the initiative.

Sumber :AFP

Jimmy Hitipeuw

SINGAPORE KOMPAS.com – The Indonesian corporate sector will likely be well placed in 2012 to weather potentially greater volatility or a weaker Indonesian rupiah, said Standard & Poor’s in a report today. The report, titled “The Indonesian Corporate Sector Has The Strength To Weather A Potentially Weaker Rupiah This Year,“ is based on Standard & Poor’s study of the 50 largest Indonesian corporations listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange.

“The conditions today are unlike those during the Asian financial crisis, and, to a smaller extent, the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, when a rapidly
declining rupiah hastened corporate defaults,“ said Standard & Poor’s credit analyst Xavier Jean. “Rising foreign direct investments and foreign exchange
reserves accumulation would theoretically support the value of Indonesia’s rupiah. But the currency could become more volatile if global confidence and
economic conditions deteriorate.“

The use of foreign-currency debt in Indonesian companies is significantly lower than during the Asian crisis and the 2008-2009 global financial crisis.

“As Indonesia’s domestic capital markets deepen further in 2012, we expect domestic bonds and bank loans to become more widely available, reducing
reliance on foreign funding,“ Mr. Jean said. Positive growth prospects in Indonesia in 2012 will also support companies’ cash flows and provide an
adequate cushion against potential rupiah weaknesses.

Different sectors will fare differently if the rupiah suddenly depreciates, according to the report. The airline, telecom, and heavy manufacturing sectors
would be most exposed to a decline in the rupiah.

“If you sell your products in Indonesian rupiah but your expenses and debts are denominated in U.S. dollars, for example, a large and sudden weakness in
local currency can rapidly squeeze your cash flows,“ Mr. Jean said.

Indonesian companies are still likely to be willing to take on foreign exchange risks in 2012. “Are Indonesian corporations becoming more conservative? Declining foreign debt levels since 2007 seem to indicate so,“ Mr. Jean said.

“Still, low interest rates for U.S.-dollar funding and associated cost savings will remain attractive in 2012. This could undercut the improvements the corporate sector has made to reduce foreign-exchange risk.“ Standard & Poor’s

Jakarta Globe, Aditya Suharmoko and Neil Chatterjee

Indonesia’s economy expanded 6.5 percent in the fourth quarter over a year earlier, as surging domestic consumption and investment offset weakening exports growth, giving the central bank room to hold rates steady this week.

The rise in gross domestic product (GDP) was slightly above the median forecast in a Reuters poll of 6.4 percent. It marked the fourth straight quarter of 6.5 percent expansion.

The data also showed the economy shrank 1.3 percent from the previous quarter, a slightly smaller contraction than the 1.5 percent forecast.

Full-year 2011 growth of 6.5 percent, the strongest pace since 1996 when the economy expanded 8.0 percent, IMF data shows.

The Indonesian figures show the G20 economy is being shielded from a global slowdown by domestic demand from the world’s fourth largest population and they cap a year during which Indonesia won a return to investment grade status.

“Indonesia is one of the least exposed economies in the region, with a vast domestic market and a relatively small share of exports to GDP, so is anyway insulated from volatility in the global economy,” said George Worthington, economist for IFR in Sydney. IFR is a unit of Thomson Reuters.

“In that context, the steady pace of growth and core inflation both argue for similarly steady policy settings from the central bank this week.”

Economists expect full-year growth to slow to 6.1 percent in 2012, below a central bank forecast ranging from 6.3 percent to 6.7 percent.

Opinions are divided on whether Bank Indonesia will cut rates again in coming months to shore up growth. The central bank has kept its benchmark overnight rate steady for the past two months, after slashing it by 75 basis points in October and November to a record low 6 percent to shield the domestic economy from the chill of the euro area debt crisis.

It meets to review policy on Thursday, and will weigh the risks to growth from a sluggish global economy against rising inflation expectations.

The quarterly contraction came after exports grew an average 9 percent in the fourth quarter, sharply down from growth of about 40 percent in the third quarter.

Exports such as coal, coffee and palm oil make up a quarter of the economy.

The last quarter-on-quarter contraction was in the last three months of 2010, when GDP shrank 1.4 percent. Despite a slowdown in exports growth, domestic consumption and investment grew at a double-digit pace in the fourth quarter.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) surged 25 percent, while commercial bank loan growth rose 26 percent in the latest figures for November.

Domestic consumption from the world’s fourth-largest population, where an emerging and youthful middle class is snapping up cars and smartphones, makes up over half of the economy.

Retail sales grew an average 27 percent in the fourth quarter, though growth moderated throughout the quarter and retailers now see rising prices because of government plans to lift subsidised fuel costs later this year.

“Looking ahead, we would still be cautious to be too exuberant at this stage,” said Gundy Cahyadi, an economist at OCBC Bank in Singapore.

“The recent plunge in export growth is a clear indication that the economy is far from immune from the global economic slowdown and we expect this to remain prevalent in 2012.”

Reuters

Indonesia’s government plans to create one of the world’s largest palm oil and rubber firms in March by combining state planters with total assets of $5.6 billion, a government minister said on Thursday.

A planned listing of the firm will tap investor interest in a country with a recently acquired “investment grade” rating and create a rival to top regional planters such as Malaysia’s Sime Darby and Singapore’s Wilmar.

The government will consolidate the assets of 15 state firms, whose revenues last year stood at around Rp 40 trillion ($4.45 billion), under parent company PT Perkebunan Nusantara III.

“This holding will become one of the largest plantation firms in the world with one million hectares of palm oil and rubber,” State Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan said in an interview.

The sprawling archipelago of 17,000 islands is the world’s biggest exporter of palm oil, second biggest producer of rubber and robusta coffee and third biggest producer of cocoa . The state firms produce all these commodities as well as tea, rice, cassava and sugar.

Analysts said the consolidation of the state firms would produce some economies of scale but would not have a dramatic impact on commodity supply.

“They have been producing. It is not new supply coming into the market. This is just a rationalization of government linked assets,” said Carey Wong, an analyst with OCBC Bank in Singapore.

The last mega-plantation merger was in 2008 when Malaysia’s government pushed for the tie-up of three state-linked planters to form Sime Darby, which it touted as the largest plantation firm by assets.

Borneo Rice Bowl

Indonesian state plantation firms will combine to produce an extra 500,000 tons of rice from planting 100,000 hectares of new paddy fields in east Kalimantan on Borneo island, Iskan said, without giving a timeframe for the production.

Indonesia, the world’s fourth largest country by population, is trying to become self-sufficient in production of its staple grain. But it surprised regional markets last year with hefty imports from Thailand and Vietnam. Expanding paddies could help its aim not to import again this year.

“I expect Indonesia could produce an additional 280,000-300,000 tons of paddy from the newly planted areas of 100,000 hectares,” said Chookiat Ophaswongse, the honorary president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association.

Plantation firms have been restricted this year from expanding in forested areas such as Borneo by Indonesia’s two-year moratorium on new forest clearance and land acquisition is in any case seen as a hurdle in a country known for red tape.

Indonesia in December passed a land bill designed to speed up land acquisition for state projects deemed in the public interest and the law could enable the new firm to get access to land for rice.

Top Landbank

Iskan said the combined profits of the firms to be amalgamated were around Rp 3.6 trillion. The government plans to first list one of the firms, Perkebunan Nusantara VII, as a unit of the holding firm this year on Jakarta’s stock exchange.

“After PTPN VII, we’re open for other units to list on the stock exchange but eventually we will list the parent company and I don’t think we should retain a majority stake once it is listed,” Iskan said.

The combined palm oil and rubber landbank of the holding company Perkebunan Nusantara III will be bigger than that of the main existing listed regional planters. Sime Darby currently tops the list with 525,795 hectares for palm oil and has a market value of $18.2 billion.

Analysts said the new Indonesian merger’s hefty landbank would pull in investors.

“It is massive. They are talking about a million hectares. That would be massive. I’m sure the stock market will be very excited,” said John Rachmat, a palm oil analyst at the Royal Bank of Scotland in Singapore.

Reuters

Jakarta Globe, Arientha Primanita

Indonesia next month for an international defense meet and to visit the new peacekeeping center in West Java.

Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro told reporters at the president’s office on Friday that Ban was scheduled to open and deliver the keynote speech at the Jakarta International Defense Dialogue on March 20.

The UN secretary general will also visit the Indonesian Peacekeeping Center in Sentul, West Java, which was inaugurated on Dec. 19.

The center, which that will house a regional counter-terrorism and disaster relief training center, the Indonesia Defense University, as well as a standby force that can respond rapidly to natural disasters and UN peacekeeping missions, will be ready by 2014.

Ban and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono were also scheduled to attend a reunion of UN peacekeeping forces that served in Bosnia. Yudhoyono served as a peacekeeping officer in Bosnia-Herzegovina from 1995 to 1996.

“This is a remarkable achievement as many other countries needed more than five years to do it,” Gita said in an expose on Indonesia`s export performance at his office here Wednesday.

Gita said Saudi Arabia needed 26 years to double its exports, Singapore 10 years, South Korea 9 years, Malaysia and China seven and six years respectively.

Countries that equalled Indonesia in this respect were Belgium, , Russia, Switzerland, the United States and Brazil.

He said the constant increase in Indonesia`s exports was fueled by an upward trend in the value of its oil/gas and non-oil/non-gas commodities.

Within the last five years, the value of Indonesia`s oil/gas exports rose 96.09 percent from 21.21 billion US dollars in 2006 to 41.59 billion US dollars in 2011 while that of non-oil/non-gas exports increased 103.59 percent from 79.58 billion US dollars in 2006 to 62.02 billion US dollars in 2011.

The minister admitted that Indonesia`s exports over the past five years mainly consisted of natural-resource-based commodities such as coal, crude palm oil, ruubber and rubber goods.

“But we are now striving to increase the proportion of commodities with added value by pushing export of industrial goods such as footwear, electronic goods and textiles,” he said.

He was optimistic that within the next five to 10 years Indonesia`s exports would no longer be dominated by raw materials but by products with high added value. (*)
Editor: B Kunto Wibisono