The West Java provincial government in Indonesia will sign an agreement with state-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura II (AP II) on the operation of Kertajati International Airport, which is scheduled to open in July.

“Hopefully we can sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Febuary 10,” West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan said on Thursday in Jakarta.

Under the agreement, AP II will manage the airport’s operation.

Kertajati airport is currently being developed by PT Bandara Internasional Jawa Barat (BIJB), which is owned by the West Java government.

Separately, Heryawan said the West Java administration would maintain 51 per cent ownership in BIJB, while the other 49 per cent would be sold. The turnover from the shares sale would be used to develop the airport in Majalengka regency. “We want to keep majority shares in the BIJB,” he said. – The Jakarta Post

VN car market slump continues

Vietnaam spent more than US$2.15 billion importing 94,000 cars last year, marking a year-on-year decrease of 16.8 per cent in volume and 9.6 per cent in value, according to the General Statistics Office.

The domestic automobile market witnessed many uncertainties last year. Notably, in the first half of the year, after the tax rate of complete built-up units (CBUs) import from Asean countries dropped to 30 per cent, the auto import turnover remained constantly high. However, in the second half of the year, the import turnover fell to low levels in both quantity and value.

The uncertainty of CBUs auto import turnover in 2017 clearly reflects the evolution of the market.

The decline in turnover shows a paradox. The car import market in 2017 benefited from the import tax of Southeast Asian-origin vehicles down by 10 per cent (to 30 per cent) and car import tax from countries enjoying the status of the Most Favoured Nation decreased by five per cent.

With such a decrease, the auto import turnover should have accelerated; however, the figures remarkably reduced.

Meanwhile, the tax rate of CBUs imported from ASEAN countries has officially reduced to zero per cent from January 1. But the market is yet to recover. – Viet Nam News

Banks asked to expand credit to small businesses

Indonesia’s President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has called on banks to diversify their loan disbursement to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to help them expand their businesses.

“I see the debtors [of banks] are the same people over the years. I want more people to have access to banks,” he said at a Financial Services Authority (OJK) gathering event in Jakarta on Thursday.

According to an OJK report, in 2017, the loan disbursement only grew 8.35 per cent year-on-year to 4.78 quadrillion rupiah (US$358.5 billion) while the third-party fund grew 9.35 per cent yoy to 5.29 quadrillion rupiah.

Jokowi said by providing MSMEs with more access to banks, they were expected to be able to upgrade themselves to become bigger business players. “We have to put forth extra effort to help them from micro to medium businesses, etc,”Jokowi said.

Jokowi stressed that several government programs had paved the way for low-income families to have access to banks. – The Jakarta Post