Economy

A Singapore Airlines plane at the Singapore Airshow in February: The city-state this week announced a package worth 500 million Singapore dollars to support its aviation sector.
Coronavirus

Singapore weighs air hub reopening as Malaysia charges ahead

City-state plows millions into restoring aviation but remains cautious about border

11 March 2022
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Economy

Indonesia's newest province chases $132bn industrial dream

Jokowi pins green hopes on Borneo amid delays at China-backed hydro plant

7 March 2022
ASEAN is caught between Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Opinions within the block vary, but the conflict's effects will be felt by all. (Source photos by AP)
Ukraine war

ASEAN faces fallout from Russian invasion of Ukraine

Conflict to increase food prices, experts warn; responses from bloc members vary

25 February 2022
Indonesia logged 57,049 new COVID cases on Feb. 15, hitting a new record.  
Coronavirus

Indonesia walks tightrope between growth and COVID restrictions

Vaccine disparity in country of 17,000 islands casts shadow on recovery

18 February 2022
The International Monetary Fund in January lowered its forecast for Indonesia's 2022 GDP growth rate to 5.6%.
Economy

Indonesia's economy bounced back in 2021 with 3.69% growth

GDP accelerated in Q4 to pre-pandemic level, but COVID fear remains for 2022

7 February 2022
(Source photo by Kyodo and Antra Foto/Retuers)
Commodities

Asia faces billions in stranded assets if gas becomes energy pariah

Indonesia shifts to renewables; S. Korea sees LNG as 'transition sector'

6 February 2022
The "Island of the Gods" lags other Southeast Asian destinations that are making it easier for tourists to arrive without quarantining.
Coronavirus

Bali welcomes first international flight in nearly two years

Jetliner from Tokyo brings 12 travelers to island, clouding future plans

3 February 2022
Cooking oil prices tend to follow the cost of palm oil, which has soared in recent months due to supply shortages. (Photo by Shotaro Tani)
Economy

Indonesia fights to cool inflation as CPI hits 20-month high

Food and drink prices up 3.45% on-year amid supply disruptions

2 February 2022
Joko Widodo, pictured in November 2020: staying the anti-corruption course is more important than ever.
Opinion

Indonesia an unlikely standout in the fight against corruption

World should be rooting for President Joko Widodo's success

2 February 2022
The Indonesian government allowed some coal exports during the ban, as importing countries lobbied for exemptions.
Commodities

Indonesia to end coal export ban with tighter local supply rules

Minors will have to report fulfillment data monthly, face harsher penalties

31 January 2022
Joko Widodo inspects an area planned to be Indonesia's new capital at Sepaku district in East Kalimantan in December 2019: his administration needs to ensure legal certainty of the project.
26 January 2022
Joko Widodo is confident investments will flow into Indonesia if "we stop [exports of] bauxite, we stop copper, we stop tin, we stop gold, everything stops, stops, stops."
Asia Insight

Indonesia's drive to lift resource curse shakes global producers

Jokowi sees export ban on tin, gold, copper as invitation to foreign investors

25 January 2022
Indonesia's Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Arifin Tasrif told lawmakers on Thursday that only miners that have met their local sales quota can export coal. (Screenshot from official youtube channel of the Indonesian parliament)
Commodities

Indonesia to amend local coal supply rules to improve compliance

Minister says miners that do not meet 25% domestic sales not allowed to export

13 January 2022
Indonesia, the world's biggest thermal coal exporter, has allowed 37 loaded coal vessels to depart after they secured approvals from authorities.
Commodities

Indonesia relaxes export ban to allow 37 coal vessels to depart

Partial easing comes amid pressure from Asian nations and to avoid 'fire risks'

13 January 2022
Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, right, Indonesia's coordinating minister for maritime affairs and investment, has named departing Bukalapak CEO Rachmat Kaimuddin as his special adviser. (Photo from ministry's Twitter account)
Politics

Jokowi taps Indonesia's corporate stars for policymaking input

Bukalapak CEO joins revolving door between public and private sectors

13 January 2022
Construction site of the high-speed railway that will connect Jakarta to Bandung during the groundbreaking ceremony in Cikalong Wetan in January 2016.
Opinion

Indonesia should choose its investment partners more wisely

Fallout from Jakarta-Bandung rail project may damage ties with Japan and China

13 January 2022
Excavators load coal onto a truck in West Java province, Indonesia in 2019. The country has now imposed a one-month ban on exports of the commodity. Antara Foto/Dedhez Anggara via REUTERS
International relations

Philippines, Japan call on Indonesia to lift coal export ban

Jakarta took step this month in face of dwindling stockpiles

10 January 2022
Excavators pile coal in a storage area at an Indonesian power plant in Suralaya, Banten Province.
Commodities

Indonesia revokes 2,000 mining permits amid coal export ban

Move driven by critically low domestic supply and looming power outages

7 January 2022
A port terminal in Singapore. The city-state's exports jumped 24% on the year in November, the fastest rise in a decade.
Economy

Southeast Asia's soaring exports fuel hopes of recovery in 2022

Central banks seen shifting to rate hikes to protect home currencies

4 January 2022
Indonesian soldiers patrol in an armored fighting vehicle at the ExxonMobil Arun natural gas field near Lhokseumawe, in Indonesia's Aceh Province, in April  2001.
Society

ExxonMobil Indonesia lawsuit heads for trial after 20 years

Villagers in Aceh say they were tortured by 'Exxon Army' hired by gas plant

31 December 2021
Commuters walk during rush hour at a train station in Jakarta.
Politics

Jakarta governor's 5% minimum wage hike spurs business backlash

Indonesian employers threaten legal action after Baswedan overrides legally set increase

29 December 2021
The eruption of Mount Semeru in the east of Java island killed at least 51 and displaced over 9,000 after it began on Dec. 4.
Natural disasters

Disaster mitigation under scrutiny in ASEAN hot spots

Volcanoes, typhoons decimate lives as climate change increases threats

27 December 2021
Xi Jinping on screen at the Museum of the Communist Party of China in Beijing, pictured on Nov. 12: the future price China's 1.4 billion people will pay for Xi's myth-building campaign rose exponentially in 2021.
Opinion

Asia's 2021 bull market in emperor-has-no-clothes moments

Xi Jinping happier than most to see this year stagger to a close

22 December 2021
A file photo of a port in Bangkok. Thailand detected its first omicron case in December but it has not suspended its border reopening policy for tourists, prompting economists to revise upward the kingdom's economic growth forecast.
Economy

Philippines, Thailand poised for faster growth in 2022: survey

Economists upgrade ASEAN GDP forecast but lockdowns weigh on Malaysia

20 December 2021
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc during a meeting in Moscow on Nov. 30.
Economy

Vietnam poised to resume nuclear project a decade after Fukushima

Hanoi greenlights building small research reactor, joining hands with Russia

19 December 2021