The SBA Networking cocktail (every 2^nd Wednesday every month) will be at Club Macanudo in Shangri-La Hotel, from 19.00 to 21.00 on Wednesday March 11 and we offer free flow of drinks (wine, beer, whiskey, soft drink) between 19.00 and 21.00. The self cost is IDR 150,000 per person. No prior registration needed, just come.

It’s time for annual meeting again and it all starts with a search for a board. Bengt Thornberg will be leaving Indonesia and will be the election committee and you can send him your suggestions for the board. The Annual meeting will be held on March 12, 2009 and all paying voting members will receive a special invitation for this event.

If you haven’t got your invitation by the end of February, please contact me at Michael_olsson@bmolsson.net.

2. Embassy News

The Embassy is currently working closely with SBA on a project with the Swedish and Indonesian customs to improve the trade efficiency. The project is still in the initial stage but all parties’ views it very positively.

3. European News

The IPR working group has a breakfast event on a new project where an IP Enforcement Directory being created, the event is on March 5 at Financial Club from 8.00 to 11.30. If you have any issues and interest to protect your IPR, trademarks, copyrights, industrial design and geographical location, don’t miss this event. Register to busdev@eurocham.or.id other events coming up during February, go to www.eurocham.or.id to see the schedules.

Friends,

The election of a new board is closing in, remember to register for the annual meeting and send suggested members of the board to me as the election committee.

2. SBA News

The SBA Networking cocktail (every 2^nd Wednesday every month) will be at Club Macanudo in Shangri-La Hotel, from 19.00 to 21.00 on Wednesday February 11 and we offer free flow of drinks (wine, beer, whiskey, soft drink) between 19.00 and 21.00. The self cost is IDR 150,000 per person. No prior registration needed, just come. This time we have Quintino’s Italian Roasted Coffee as sponsor and you will have the chance to taste some interesting flavors of coffee.

It’s time for annual meeting again and it all starts with a search for a board. Bengt Thornberg will be leaving Indonesia and will be the election committee and you can send him your suggestions for the board. The Annual meeting will be in the first half of March 2009 and all paying voting members will receive a special invitation for this event.

If you haven’t got your invitation by the end of February, please contact me at Michael_olsson@bmolsson.net.

3. Embassy News

The Embassy is currently working closely with SBA on a project with the Swedish and Indonesian customs to improve the trade efficiency. The project is still in the initial stage but all parties’ views it very positively.

Friends

Reflecting back on 2008, it has been a year, when we have seen more and more foreign investors entering into South East Asia's largest and rapidly growing market. It has been a year with a huge increase of investors from Middle East, which will also be the main target group when Indonesia is hosting the fifth World Islamic Economic Forum in the beginning of March 2009. We also saw the government lowering its subsidies on petrol, which caused an increase of about 30% in the retail price, but had very little effect on the actual petrol usage and traffic.

Looking forward, the need for infrastructure in various areas will continue to be, and the only slow down, besides the financial turmoil, might be the upcoming elections. The government has announced that it will proceed with most of its infrastructure initiatives, both for the development of the country as well as to minimize the effects of a global recession.

So, I believe that 2009 will be about the same as 2008, but not more of the same…

On behalf of the SBA Board, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous 2009!…

2. SBA News

The SBA Networking cocktail (every 2^nd Wednesday every month) will be at Club Macanudo in Shangri-La Hotel, from 19.00 to 21.00 on Wednesday January 14 and we offer free flow of drinks (wine, beer, whiskey, soft drink) between 19.00 and 21.00. The self cost is IDR 150,000 per person. No prior registration needed, just come.

Our Danish colleagues are inviting us all for a Christmas Balut on January 16, 2009 at Hotel Borobudur at 12.30. It's a traditional buffet with free flow of snaps and beer. IDR 500,000 per person and you register to Hani Handayani at inbc_sec@inbc.or.id, telp +6221 70319923.

3. Embassy News

The Embassy wishes everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Friends

The rupiah (IDR) continues its depreciation against most currencies, last month it went down by 20%, which is a drop not seen since the 1998 financial crisis. The currency's volatility and decline has created concerns in the Financial sector, resulting in significant capital outflows.

As many local companies have their revenues in IDR and investments often are made in USD, we will see a negative impact on some infrastructure investments going forward.

Also the investment cost of the “local portion”, mainly labor and construction related, is increasing. The inflation is now at around 12%, with no signs to decline back to single digit. We can foresee salary increases of about 15% in 2009, and the total picture looks a little bit gloomy for next year…

2. SBA News

The SBA Networking cocktail (every 2^nd Wednesday every month) will be at Club Macanudo in Shangri-La Hotel, from 19.00 to 21.00 on Wednesday December 10 and we offer free flow of drinks (wine, beer, whiskey, soft drink) between 19.00 and 21.00. The self cost is IDR 150,000 per person (prices goes up, sorry). No prior registration needed, just come.

All members of Swedish Business Association are offered a 20% discount on all products at www.swedishdetails.com. You just go to the site and use the code SBAI5854282 when you do your shopping. The offer is valid until December 10 and there are a lot of really Swedish products for Christmas.

I am pleased to inform you that the next Swedish Business Luncheon will be held on Wednesday, December 10, 2008 at 13:00 at Casablanca room, 5th Floor, Mulia hotel Jakarta.

We are honored to have Ms. Devi Monica Lumanauw as our special guest from TV Producer in Jakarta.

Please confirm your participation by clicking below buttons by latest Friday, December 5. In the mean time if you have any questions regarding this event, please contact Ms. Ida Panjaitan at 751 9901 or ida.panjaitan@ericsson.com.

Looking forward to see you all there.

Best regards,

Bengt Thornberg
Chairman