December 27, 2016 edition
Brexit forced economists to redo their projections for 2017. And, rightly so, as not long after the United Kingdom (UK) decided to leave the European Union (EU), its currency slumped to its lowest level in many years. The concern is that this nationalistic, anti-trade and anti-migration sentiment is gaining followers in other EU countries, which raises uncertainty over the future of the EU and its euro currency, especially with the upcoming elections in France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.
Forecasting became tougher when Donald Trump won the United States (US) general election. Although it's still uncertain what exactly his economic policies would look like, he did campaign to limit the flow of trade and migration, in particular, trade between China and the US and the flow of migrants between Mexico and the US, which could disrupt world trade.
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December 20, 2016 edition
December 13, 2016 edition
November 29, 2016 edition
Syahrul Fitra, who visited Surya Dumai Agrindo's plantation area as a legal researcher from the Jakarta-based Auriga Nusantara Foundation, pretended to be a local resident in order to penetrate the premises. Syahrul did not look familiar to the two security guards at the company's entrance portal in Kampung Baru village, Bengkalis, Riau.
That afternoon, Syahrul joined a group of Kampung Baru citizens who wanted to fish in the canal located inside the oil palm plantation owned by Surya Dumai. There was a half-meter gap by the portal that serves as an entry-exit point for workers. The path, which lies along the edge of the oil palm plantation, is a popular path for people headed for the canal. "If you take a car, you'll certainly not be able to go through. So I pretended I was going fishing," said Syahrul, interviewed last week.
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November 8, 2016 edition
November 1, 2016 edition
October 25, 2016 edition
Infrastructure
Cikampek Toll Fee Goes Up
THE Public Works Ministry's Toll Road Operating Agency (BPJT) has agreed to Jasa Marga's (IDX: JSMR) plan to raise the toll fee for the Jakarta-Cikampek highway. The new rates were applied on Saturday last week. "Rates are adjusted every two years, based on inflation rates," BPJT member Koentjahjo Pambudi said in Jakarta, Monday last week.
Cikampek Toll Fee Goes Up