Number of South Korean tourists to Bali increases

The number of South Korean tourists visiting the Indonesian most famous tourist island of Bali increased significantly, a Balinese businessman said here on Friday.

During January-August 2008, some 88,848 South Korean nationals visited Bali, placing South Korea on the fourth rank of the most largest foreign tourists visiting Bali Island, said Anak Agung Gede Agung, a hotel and travel bureau owner in Bali.

This year, Japan is on the first rank with a total of 243,795 tourists visiting Bali, an increase from 231,555 Japanese last year, according to him.

Australia is on the second with a total of 194,111 Australian tourists, he said.

Taiwan is on the third with 94,477 tourists, a drop of 7 percent from last year's 101,591 people. China is on the fifth with 84,106 visitors.

During January-August 2008, Bali received a total of 1.2 million foreign tourists, an increase of 20 percent from around one million visitors last year, he said.

source: Antara

President Yudhoyono opens micro-credit summit in Bali

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is slated to open an Asia-Pacific regional micro credit summit in the resort island of Bali on Monday (July 28).

The president and entourage including First Lady Ani Yudhoyono and a number of ministers left Halim Perdanakusuma Military Air Base here for Bali by a Garuda special flight on Sunday afternoon.

At 9.30 a.m. on Monday, the president will open the meeting to take place at the Bali International Convention Center in Nusa Dua.

During the opening ceremony, Yudhoyono will be accompanied by Governor of Bank Indonesia (the central bank) Boediono, Director of the Micro Credit Summit Campaign Sam Daley Haris and founder of Bangladesh`s Grameen Bank Muhammad Yunus.

On the occasion, Muhammad Yunus in his capacity as an international micro credit figure will present a token of appreciation to Ani Yudhoyono for her service in the development of micro finance in Indonesia.

After opening the summit, Yudhoyono will receive Muhammad Yunus at the Hotel Intercontinental Bali Resort.

The president and entourage will return to Jakarta at around 3 p.m. on Monday. The summit will later be chaired by Honduras President Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales.

President Rosales has expressed deep support for the summit, saying support for the micro financial sector laid a fundamental basis for the creation of strong democracy and good governance and was imperative to improve productivity and competitive edge to reduce the poverty rate.

source: Antara | July 2008

Turis domestik melonjak di Bali

Pantai Kuta, Bali, tetap menjadi favorit wisatawan domestik, terutama pelajar yang sedang menjalani masa liburan. Lonjakan pengunjung mencapai tiga sampai empat kali lipat jika dibandingkan dengan libur biasa.

"Pengunjung dalam beberapa hari ini membeludak. Kita juga meningkatkan pengawasan di areal pantai," tutur Kepala Satuan Tugas Pantai Kuta Gusti Ngurah Tresna, kemarin.
Para pengunjung dari luar Bali berbaur dengan wisatawan asing dari berbagai negara. Para pelajar berusaha mempraktikkan bahasa Inggris dengan mengajak wisatawan asing berdialog.

Selain Pantai Kuta, objek wisata lain yang dibanjiri wisatawan domestik adalah Legian, Ground Zero, dan Waterbom Kuta, yang terletak di Jl Dewi Sartika, Kuta.

Ketut Suryasa, petugas keamanan di Ground Zero Legian mengatakan sejak awal liburan, objek wisata monumen bom Bali I itu selalu dipenuhi pengunjung. Pada hari biasa jumlah kunjungan di tempat ini rata-rata 300 orang per hari. Pada libur sekarang mencapai 1.000 orang lebih. Selain wisatawan asing, pengunjung yang datang ke tempat itu berasal dari berbagai kota di Indonesia.

source: Media Indonesia | June 2008

Prime Petroservices to build mini LNG plant worth $327m

Integrated oil and gas service provider PT Prime Petroservices (PPS) plans to build a small liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Bali this year with a total investment of Rp 3 trillion (US$327 million).

PPS, through its subsidiary PT Indogas Kriya Dwiguna, will build the plant, with a capacity of 300,000 tons per year, on Pagerungan Island, north of Bali, the company's president director, Faiz Shahab, told a media gathering in Jakarta on Monday.

In comparison, an existing LNG plant in Bontang, East Kalimantan, has a capacity of 18.5 million tons per year, while another in Arun, Nangroe Aceh Darussalam, outputs 12.5 million tons annually.

Faiz said the new plant would be the fourth in Indonesia, adding to those in Bontang and Arun, and an ongoing Tangguh project in Papua, which is scheduled to be onstream by the end of the year.

PPS finance director Didit A. Ratam said 30 percent of the project funding would come from the company's internal equity, while 70 percent would be garnered through bank loans.

PPS also plans to use the investment to build two LNG receiving terminals in Bali and na LNG carrier ship.

He said the plant would help state-power firm PLN reduce its dependence on oil, which has soared to more than $130 per barrel. PLN currently uses diesel in its gas-fired power plants in Bali due to a gas supply shortage.

In an attempt to convert to gas, PLN has signed a gas sales agreement worth Rp 10 trillion with PPS to secure gas supply to its power plants in Bali until 2026.

Faiz said PPS would supply the gas from the Terang, Sirasun and Batur gas fields operated by local oil and gas company Energy Mega Persada.

The company decided to build the LNG plant on the island to avoid reliance on problematic deep-sea pipelines, Faiz said.

source: Jakarta Post | 24 June 2008

Despite recession American tourist flow to Bali increasing

The economic recession currently hitting the Americas seems not to have discouraged people in those countries to spend vacations in Bali, provincial tourism data show.

The number of American tourists who came to Indonesia`s "island of gods" during the January-April period in 2008 rose 29.5 percent from 24,148 to 31,280, according to a report released by the Bali provincial tourism office on Saturday.

Local tourism business circles had assumed the economic recession in the Americas would cause a decline in tourist arrivals from those countries but the data disproved this belief.

The monthly number of American tourists who flew directly to Bali increased continously during the January-April period. In January the number was 6,620, in February 7,282, in March 9,304 and in April 8,074.

With the continuous rise in the number of American tourists coming to Bali, the continent is now one of the 10 biggest contributors to the foreign tourist flow to the resort island, accounting for 5.2 percent of the overall number of 594,068.

Most of the overall number of foreign tourists who flew directly to Bali in the January-April period came from Asia-Pacific countries, namely 355.029.

The second biggest number of foreign tourists came from Europe (152.005), followed by ASEAN member countries (51.854), Africa (3.271), America (31.280) and the Middle East.

source: Antara | 22 June 2008

Indonesia to host Basel Convention Parties` conference

Indonesia will host the Ninth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Basel Convention, at Nusa Dua, Bali province, from June 23 to 27, 2008.

The conference is expected to be attended by 1,000 participants, including around 30 ministers, from 170 countries.

Indonesia`s Environmental Affairs Minister Rachmat Witoelar in his capacity as president of COP is scheduled to officially open the conference.

The conference will discuss five issues, namely waste handling, legal aspects of waste import bans, strengthening cooperation with other related conventions, regional cooperation in strengthening the Basel Convention`s position, and holding a world forum on waste management related to human health.

The conference is expected to yield an agreement on cooperation in and regulation on transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and waste disposal in the respective countries.

It has 170 member countries (Parties) and aims to protect human health and the environment against the adverse effects resulting from the generation, management, transboundary movements and disposal of hazardous and other wastes.

source: Antara | 21 June 2006

TSA considers Ngurah Rai Airport safe for US airliner

The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has declared Bali`s Ngurah Rai International Airport safe for US airlines, a state airport management company official said.

"Only Ngurah Rai Airport in Bali is recognized by TSA. Therefore, we hope more US airlines will fly to Bali," Bambang Darwoto, president director of state airport management company PT Angkasa Pura I, said here Friday.

He said TSA had twice inspected conditions at Ngurah Rai Airport which serves more than seven million domestic and international passengers every year.

TSA conducted the first inspection at Ngurah Rai in 2005 and found that the airport did not meet international aviation security standards. Soon after the TSA inspection, the US government issued a travel warning on Indonesia.

But after the Indonesian government had overcome several shortcomings at Ngurah Rai Airport, TSA conducted another inspection recently and declared the airport safe for US airlines.

Consequently, the US State Department on May 23, 2008 announced the lifting of its travel warning on Indonesia after determining that the security climate in the country no longer warranted the warning.

The US lifted the warning due to objective improvements made by Indonesia in its security situation.

"Therefore, the number of Americans visiting Bali is now increasing following the reopening of US Continental Airlines flights from Guam to Denpasar three times a week," Bambang said.

source: Antara | 21 June 2008
Asked if TSA had a plan to audit Jakarta`s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Bambang said there was no such plan. However, Soekarno-Hatta International Airport was routinely audited by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and this body had recently stated the airport was meeting international aviation security standards.

Bambang said PT Angkasa Pura-I had a great concern over the improvement of security and safety at all airports in Indonesia, and continued to abide by international aviation procedures and codes of ethics.

Bappenas to hold tenders for 13 projects worth US$3.7 billion

The National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) will put 13 projects worth US$3.7 billion out to tender under a government-private partnership scheme.

"Feasibility studies on all the projects have been completed. And their pre-qualifications are expected to be fulfilled in November," Director of Government-Private Cooperation at the Office of the State Minister for National Development Planning/National Development Planning Agency Bastari Pandji Indra said on Tuesday.

Two of the projects involved state electricity company PT PLN and the Bandung city administration, he said.

The other projects included construction of turnpikes in Sumatra, Java, Bali and Sulawesi islands with the Toll Road Operating Board (BPJT) as the executor of the projects, he said.

The turnpikes included Medan-Binjai turnpike worth US$118.81 million, Palembang-Indralaya turnpike worth US$114.45 million, Tegineneng-Babatan turnpike worth US$296.39 million, Pandaan-Malang turnpike worth US$279.97 million, Cileunyi-Sumedang-Dawuan turnpike worth US$428.86 million, Medan-Kualanamu-Tebing Tinggi turnpike worth US$477.37 million, Pasirkoja-Soreang turnpike worth US$111.03 million, Sukabumi-Ciranjang turnpike worth US$201.72 million, Manado-Bitung turnpike US$610.01 million, Pekanbaru-Dumai turnpike US$918.06 million, and Serangan-Tanjung Benoa turnpike worth US$161.89 million, he said.

The PLN project was a coal-fired power plant worth US$1.2 billion in Central Java, he said.

source: Antara | 18 June 2008