The Indonesian government is preparing Jakarta as an alternative place to host the IMF-World Bank meeting in 2018 in response to the unstable condition of Bali’s Mount Agung.

“We’re preparing contingency plans. [Volcanic activities] could disrupt the arrival of tourists during the event,” said Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Panjaitan in Jakarta on Wednesday as reported by kontan.co.id.

The contingency plan includes the possible relocation of the meeting venues from Nusa Dua, Bali, to another city, Luhut said, adding that the government had not discussed the details of the plan. “It is too early to talk about it,” he said

The IMF-World Bank 2018 annual meeting is scheduled to be held next year from October 8 to 14 in Bali.

Between 15,000 and 17,000 people from 189 countries are expected to participate in the annual event, including country officials, international observers, academics, journalists and NGO representatives.

The government expects the event to attract more tourism to Bali.

Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said his ministry will prepare several tourist packages and promote them on the travel website TripAdvisor.

As of Tuesday, more than 80,000 people living near Mount Agung have been evacuated. Rising magma and increased tremors have fueled fears of an imminent eruption. – The Jakarta Post

China firm shows plans for Phnom Penh skytrain

China Sky Railway Group, a privately- owned Chinese company that produces light rail trains, has announced plans to operate a 10-kilometre rail link between Phnom Penh’s Royal Palace and international airport by May of next year, according to a report yesterday in the China Daily newspaper.

The unmanned train system is expected to carry a maximum of 144 passengers and will serve to ease congestion for the 2023 Southeast Asia Games, company Chairman Tang Tong was quoted as saying.

China Sky Railway representatives met Ministry of Public Works and Transport officials in July to discuss a feasibility study for a proposed Skytrain line in the capital. – The Phnom Penh Post

Pertamina eyes lower crude imports next year

Indonesia’s state-owned energy firm Pertamina aims to reduce crude oil imports in 2018, Nanang Abdul Manaf, the president director of its upstream subsidiary PT Pertamina EP, said Wednesday.

Energy companies have continued to struggle and tend to postpone expansion and new exploration amid low global crude oil prices, he said.

“Wholly-owned by the state, Pertamina can not only think commercially. We have to contribute to the state,” he said during Joint Convention Malang (JCM) 2017 in Malang, East Java. The event was jointly organised by Indonesian Geophysics Experts Association (HAGI), Indonesian Geology Experts Union (IAGI), Association of Oil and Gas Production Facilities Indonesia (IAFMI) and Indonesian Petroleum Engineering Experts Union (IATMI).

He said Indonesia was projected to import 140 million barrels of crude oil in 2017, about 5 per cent higher than 134 million barrels in 2016. To save foreign exchange (forex) reserves, Pertamina needs to reduce crude imports, he added. “In the future, we must be able to produce our own crude.”

Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan, who also attended the event, said the oil and gas industry was no longer a major contributor to the country’s forex reserve. – The Jakarta Post

Measat scraps $166.4m contract with Astro

Commercial satellite operator Measat Satellite Systems Sdn Bhd (MSS) has scrapped a US$166.4mil (702.4m ringgit) agreement to supply back-up transponder capacity to Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd’s TV services and radio broadcasting arm.

MSS, which inked a conditional agreement with Astro’s unit Measat Broadcast Network Systems Sdn Bhd (MBNS) in May 2013 to supply the capacity, aborted the deal through a “no-fault terminating event,” Astro told Bursa Malaysia.

The capacity was to come from six Ku-band transponders on the to-be-launched Measat-3c (M3c) satellite. MSS has the right to abort the deal if the satellite was not launched by Nov 15, 2016, and it wasn’t.Following that, MSS has terminated its satellite agreements to procure M3c. – The Star