SBY: 'No Need to Panic'

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Friday there was no need for panic about the economy, as the local stock market plunged more than 4.0 percent amid a global market meltdown.
The leader of Southeast Asia’s biggest economy sought to reassure investors that Indonesia’s fundamentals were strong and it could weather any further reverses in the world economy. Yudhoyono told senior economic officials there was “no need to panic as our current conditions are better than in 2008”.
“We managed to minimise the impact of the 2008 global economic crisis,” he added. “We hope what’s happening in the US and Europe doesn’t lead to another crisis, but it’s our responsibility to anticipate and prepare ourselves.”
Jakarta’s main stock index was down 4.4 percent in afternoon trade, off its intraday low, while the rupiah declined slightly to 8,550 to the dollar versus 8,505 at Thursday’s close. Asian stock markets plummeted on Friday following carnage in the US and European markets over fears the world was heading towards another financial crisis.
Official data released Friday showed Indonesia’s economy grew 6.49 percent year-on-year in the three months to June, thanks to rising exports and investment and strong domestic consumption.
“The global exports situation in the world is weakening, but those are in the US, Europe and Japan,” national statistics agency head Rusman Heriawan said.
“On the other side, Indonesia’s exports to China have been excellent because there was an appreciation of the yuan to rupiah. Indonesian goods to China have become cheaper,” he said.
Indonesia’s economy softened in 2009 amid the global economic downturn, but it still increased output 4.5 percent on the back of domestic demand and a relatively healthy banking system. The country’s foreign exchange reserves stand at around $122 billion compared with $51.64 billion at the end of 2008.

Indonesia's Economy Grows 6.5 Pct in 2nd Q

Vendors set up their makeshift stalls next to a railway track in Jakarta March 3, 2011. Indonesias inflation slowed in February as food prices went down for first time in four years, easing pressure on the central bank to raise its key overnight benchmark interest rate on Friday for a second month in a row after a 25 basis points rise in February to 6.75 pct

Indonesia’s economy grew 6.5 percent year-on-year in the second quarter this year, according to the National Statistics Agency (BPS).
"The growth figure is the same as that of the first quarter which was also 6.5 percent," BPS chief Rusman Heriawan said here on Friday.
He said considering the decimal fractions the exact growth figure in the second quarter is 6.49 percent which is higher than the first quarter’s figure of 6.47 percent.
"The second quarter is a little better than the first semester. Cumulatively the economic growth in the first semester this year compared to the same period of 2010 is at an average of 6.48 percent or 6.5 percent when rounded off," he said.
The Gross Domestic Product reached Rp1,811.1 trillion for the second quarter period and so in the first semester this year it reached Rp3,549 trillion. Rusman said the three sectors that record the highest growth are hotel and restaurant at 4.8 percent, consumption 4.2 percent and electricity, gas and clean water 4.0 percent.
"The year-on-year growth figure for the transportation and communication sector is 10.7 percent, hotel and restaurant 9.6 percent and consumption 7.4 percent," he said.
He said processing industries remained the biggest contributor to the GDP for the second quarter, contributing 24.3 percent, agriculture 15.4 percent and hotel and restaurant 13.9 percent.
"Transportation and communication contributes 10.7 percent to the year-on-year rate of GDP growth, real estate and corporate services 6.9 percent and processing industries 6.1 percent," he said.
The GDP growth in the second quarter of 2011 was up 2.9 percent compared to that of the first quarter, driven by household spending which was up 1.3 percent, government spending 26 percent, gross fixed capital accumulation 3.9 percent, exports 7.4 percent and imports 6.0 percent.
Year-on-year the growth in the second quarter of 2010 was driven by household spending which was up 4.6 percent, government spending 4.5 percent, gross fixed capital accumulation 9.2 percent, exports 17.4 percent and imports 16 percents.
"The government spending rose to create a positive economic growth of 4.5 percent," he said.
Rusman said BPS’ investment figures are different from those issued by the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) because BKPM took into account foreign capital investment plus domestic investment while BPS only recorded the whole investment by the government and the community to produce real growth of capital formation.
"The gross fixed capital formation was at 9.2 percent. This figure must be differentiated with that from BKPM which is 22 percent. The BKPM figure only covers foreign and domestic capital investment and only measures dollar or rupiah hikes and not the real capital accumulation," he said.
On the whole the GDP of the first semester this year was dominated by household spending with its contribution reaching 54.3 percent, followed by gross fixed capital accumulation of 31.6 percent, government spending 8.3 percent, net exports 1.9 percent out of export growth of 27.3 percent and imports 25.4 percent.
In terms of growth areas provinces in Java still dominate contributing 57.7 percent to the GDP, followed by Sumatra 23.5 percent, Kalimantan 9.5 percent, Sulawesi 4.7 percent and other islands 4.6 percent.

Aussies Head Overseas in Growing Numbers Incl in Indonesia

Foreign tourists carry a turtle to be released at the beach in Kuta in the Indonesian resort island of Bali July 4, 2011. Balis Marine Police are releasing about 18 turtles after they were seized from an illegal poacher

The number of Australians travelling overseas jumped 10 percent in the past year, with official figures showing outbound trips booming as the local currency soars.
Australian Bureau of Statistics figures recorded Australians went on 7.44 million short-term overseas visits over the 2010-11 fiscal year as the Aussie dollar hit historic highs — an increase of 9.9 percent on 2009-10.
Chief of industry body Tourism and Transport Forum, John Lee, said Friday Australians were happy to take advantage of the strong currency, which has soared around 30 percent over the past year and is well above the greenback.
Lee said Australian travellers were heading to resorts and beaches, with the number of journeys to Indonesia jumping by 153,000 over the year, and to the United States rising by 116,000.
“A lot of it is what we would say is about cultural tourism, it’s about pleasure tourism,” he told AFP. “It’s people enjoying Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia.”
The Aussie dollar has been strengthening against the greenback since last year on the back of Australia’s mining boom, and hit its highest level against the US currency since its 1983 float of 110.62 US cents in late July. In terms of inbound tourism, arrivals from Asia were also higher with those from China up 26.8 percent over the 2010-11 financial year, Lee said.
Growth in arrivals from Malaysia was 13.7 percent, while visits from Indonesia were up 12.4 percent and India 11.3 percent higher. Meanwhile, arrivals from those regions under debt pressure were lower, with visits from the United States down 4.7 percent, while those from Britain dropped 3.1 percent and Ireland was down 10.2 percent.

Malaysia Being Left behind from Indonesia

Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim speaks during an interview in Lumpur, Malaysia, Wednesday, July 20, 2011. Anwar said the recent opposition-backed demonstration had stirred public anger and greater political awareness over allegations of electoral fraud and the governments refusal to allow large-scale street demonstrations.

Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim warned Friday his country was being left behind as a wave of democratisation sweeps the world.
Speaking at a forum during a visit to the Philippines, Anwar warned Kuala Lumpur against tampering with elections and said the “Arab Spring” proved that popular clamour for democracy could not be suppressed.
“The entire world, including the most conservative Muslim heartland, the Middle East has now transformed and is clamouring for change and reform. Why must Malaysia be lagging so far behind?” he asked.
“We are lagging far behind the Philippines and Indonesia in terms of building credible (democratic) institutions,” he said at a forum hosted by his friend, former Philippine president Joseph Estrada.
Anwar also fretted that the Malaysian economy was even starting to slip behind Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam in areas like competitiveness. Anwar said that unlike in Arab countries, he did not expect violence in Malaysia, which has been hit by pro-democracy protests in recent weeks.
But he said Malaysians now wanted more political freedoms and fair elections. “We are not demanding the toppling of the regime. We want to use the ballot box but the ballot box must be clean,” he said.
Anwar said he did not want Malaysia’s leaders to suffer the same fate as former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, who has been put on trial by the new government, but warned that they could not ignore the people’s will. He dismissed the high-profile sodomy case against him as “trumped-up charges” and assailed the government for violently cracking down on street protests.
On July 9 riot police fired tear gas and water cannon at thousands of protesters who were demanding electoral reform in the capital Kuala Lumpur. Police also arrested more than 1,600 people, while one demonstrator died. Anwar himself suffered a bruise on his head and a cut leg.
Anwar, once heir-apparent to ex-prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, was sacked as deputy premier in 1998 and found guilty of corruption and sodomy. He was imprisoned until 2004 when the sodomy conviction was overturned.
He then revived the opposition, forming a coalition that made major inroads during the last general elections in 2008, threatening the Barisan Nasional’s five-decade grip on power.
He remains on trial over allegations that he sodomised a 25-year-old former aide at an upmarket apartment in June 2008. He has said these charges are politically-motivated.
The 63-year-old opposition leader is expected to take the stand for the first time Monday when the defence is called in his trial.

Marty Natalegawa Defends Ahmadiyah Verdicts

Marty Natalegawa

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa on Friday defended the country’s judicial system after a court sentenced Muslim radicals to a few months in jail for killing members of a minority sect.
The sentences handed down last month to 12 defendants over a deadly lynch mob attack on members of the Ahmadiyah community in February shocked human rights groups and drew criticism from the United States and the European Union.
But in his first public response to the outrage, Natalegawa defended the independence of Indonesia’s courts and said the mainly Muslim archipelago was not the only country to suffer from religious intolerance.
“There is an obvious delineation between the executive, the judiciary and legislative branches,” he said in response to a reporter’s question.
The Cambridge-educated minister said “heinous acts” were being committed all over the world due to religious intolerance, but he did not address concerns that light sentences for hate crimes only encourage more killings.
“I’m afraid when you speak of the whole issue of religious intolerance and all kinds of phobia ... Indonesia doesn’t have a monopoly on that unfortunately,” he said.
A secretly filmed video of the rampage in Cikeusik, western Java, sparked international concern when it appeared online within days of the attack. The footage shows police fleeing the scene as the enraged mob — armed with machetes and knives and shouting abuse at the “infidels” — launch an unprovoked attack on a house owned by an Ahmadiyah follower.
A handful of Ahmadiyah men tried to defend the property with stones and slingshots but they were quickly overwhelmed. The mob then clubbed, hacked and stoned three defenceless men to death in front of police, and stood around joking over their bodies.
Several Ahmadiyah tried to flee but were hunted down and badly beaten. None of the 12 men punished over the incident was charged with murder, and none received more than six months in jail, including the ringleader and a 17-year-old who was filmed smashing a victim’s skull with a stone.
Prosecutors managed to convince the court that the video and the victims’ refusal to flee the property justified a reduced sentence for the killers. In the end the sentences were even lighter than requested by the state.
Ahmadiyah, unlike mainstream Muslims, do not believe Mohammed was the last prophet and are regarded as heretics and blasphemers by conservatives in countries such as Indonesia and Pakistan.

What SBY Considers as World Class Institution

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at his office here on Friday received National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas) Governor Budi Susilo Supandji and a number of the institute’s officials for a meeting.
On the occasion the president asked Lemhanas to go ahead with reforms and revitalization efforts to become a world class institution in the field of defense and security. According to the head of state, Lemhanas should make every effort to be equal with other similar agencies in the developed countries.
"I have noted some progress of Lemhanas but I want more than that for we hope that in its reform and revitalization process it should be a world class institution," the president said.
The head of state also expressed hope that the reform and revitalization process should be done thoroughly, including in the areas of curriculum and teaching methods in order for Lemhanas to produce strategic planners with reliable management and leadership capability.
"Hence, Lemhanas will be equivalent in quality with other institutions in developed countries in terms of defense and security," the president said.
Meanwhile, Budi Susilo Supandji said Lemhanas has delivered a road map that would be pursued to become an world class institution.
"The president has given directives on the items that we have to prepare," said the Lemhanas governor.
Budi Susilo said that the plan concerning a dialogue of the president with the participants of Lemhanas education program of force-17 to be conducted on August 9, 2011 was also discussed at the meeting.
He said the president also suggested that the Lemhanas education program be participated in as well by the participants from the Defense University to discuss counter-terrorism for national security.
Budi Susilo added that Lemhanas also planned to hold a seminar in the near future to seek the most appropriate format for the stability of democratic countries.

Umar Patek's Information on Attacks in Indonesia

On clockwise (from top left corner): Umar a.k.a. Patek (35), Muhamad Ali Imron a.k.a. Alik (30), Dulmatin a.k.a. Amar Usman alias Muktamar a.k.a. Djoko Supriyanto (32), Umar a.k.a. Wayan (35), Fatih Fat a.k.a. Kudama alias Abu Umar a.k.a. Abdul Azis a.k.a. Heri a.k.a. Imam Samudra (35), dan Idris a.k.a. Jhoni Hendrawan alias Gembrot (35).

A top anti-terrorism official says the main suspect in the 2002 Bali bombings is providing investigators with information about other attacks in Indonesia.
Chairul Akbar said Friday that Umar Patek admitted to building bombs for the suicide attacks on two packed Bali nightclubs that killed 202 people, most of them foreign tourists. He also said he made explosives used by Islamist militants in the 2000 Christmas Eve bombings that killed 19 and several other attacks.
Patek was captured Jan. 25 in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad, where Osama bin Laden was killed in a highly secretive U.S. commando attack four months later.
He's been speaking to investigators, however, and officials say he could be deported back to Indonesia soon to stand trial.