BART; Lounging at Jakarta's Latest Roof-top Venue

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Roof-top dining in Jakarta is a favorite among the capital dwellers. The city has seen plenty of new roof-top hangout spots opening recently, the latest being BART—short for Bar At the Roof Top.

The venue, which occupies the seventh floor of the Artotel Menteng Hotel, Central Jakarta, held its grand opening on October 17. At 30-meter high, visitors can escape the congestions in Sudirman-Thamrin, which is getting worse due to the monorail construction.

"This bar could be a place for office workers to escape to after work," said Daniel Sunu Prasetya, general manager of Artotel, told Tempo on Thursday.

Despite being located at the top of a building, customers have no need to worry about rain or heat as most seats are protected by a canopy. There are also huge fans to ward off Jakarta's cruel heat during daytime.

Cozily decorated, BART's interior is filled with black and white furnishings; classic, yet with a modern twist. The monochromatic sofas with their huge pillows are comfy to relax on while enjoying the food and atmosphere over '90s R&B music, as diners look onto the rows of buildings in Sudirman-Thamrin.

The room is also spacious, with the capacity to hold about 100 people; a lot more compared to similar rooftop bars—perfect to hold parties.

Food and beverages are quite affordable. Relying its menu on mocktails and cocktails, customers can try the Bye-Gone for Rp110,000. the drink is a concoction of vodka, tequila, midori and soda. For the same price, the chocolate lovers can opt for the Choco-Nutty, a creamy drink made of Bailey's, rum and coconut.

Non drinkers could try the Pretty Cinderella mocktail for Rp48,000, a fruity drink made of lemon, orange, pineapple, grenadine syrup and ginger ale.

BART also provide several choices of popular snacks like samosas and toasts for Rp35,000 to Rp96,000. Main courses can be ordered from the Roca restaurant on the ground floor, including their famous Basil Fried Rice priced at Rp60,000. 

SUBKHAN | RIRIE RANGGASARI

Defense Industry Exhibtion Hoped to Attract Thousands

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Defense Ministry is preparing to hold an exhibition on defense industry titled 'Indo Defence 2014' on November 5 to November 8, 2014. According to Timbul Siahaan, director general of potential defense at the Defense Ministry, the exhibition is hoped to attract 25,000 visitors.

In the exhibition, the Defense Ministry is also scheduled to sign a defense industry agreement with the Turkish government. The agreement will take the form of a business-to-business cooperation between PT Pindad and FNSS Turki. "The agreement is on the manufacturing of medium-class tank," said Timbul on Friday, October 31, 2014.

The 'Indo Defence 2014' exhibition will display weapons produced by 700 different companies from 56 countries. The event will be held at the Jakarta International Expo.

NURIMAN JAYA BUANA

Three Social Aid Cards to be Released on November 7

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Puan Maharani held a meeting with a number of ministers under her office on Friday, October 31, 2014.

According to Health Minister Nila Moeloek, the meeting was centered on the release of three social aid cards: the Healthy Indonesia Card, the Smart Indonesia Card, and the Family Welfare Card.

“There’s a possibility that November 7 will be the release date, but it’s still tentative,” Nila said.

Nila added the meeting discussed the technical and mechanical issues pertaining to the launch of the cards.

Nila also said the Social Security Management Agency (BPJS) program would continue. “There’s a possibility that there will be an additional welfare program,” she said.  Nila, however, stopped short of detailing the advantages of the Healthy Indonesia Card compared to the BPJS program. 

SUNDARI 

McDonald's Profit Drops 30%

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – America's fast food giant McDonald's (MCD) suffered a 30-percent year-on-year profit decline in the third quarter of this year from US$1.52 billion to US$1.07 billion; the result of a meat scandal in China and intense competition in the United States.

In America, the company has been trying to maintain its customers amid tight competition and a shift in people's eating habits towards healthier food.

In China, McDonald's business took a hit after a local plant that supplies processed food to restaurant chains was reported to have expired and low-grade meat products. The plant had ceased operations since, leaving McDonald's restaurants unable to sell burgers, chicken nuggets and other menus.

"McDonald's performance in the third quarter of this year showed a significant decrease compared to last year," CEO Don Thompson said as quoted from a release yesterday. "By all measures, our performance fell short of our expectations."

Meanwhile, Chief Operating Officer Tim Fenton admitted in January that the company suffers from an "overcomplicated" menu that "didn’t give restaurants an opportunity to breathe."

The company tried to offset declining sales by raising prices slowly, but it drove customers further away. After raising its prices by three percent in June compared to the previous year, McDonald's cheapest menu are becoming expensive.

REUTERS | BUSINESS INSIDER

New Cabinet's Economic Challenges

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – President Joko Widodo's cabinet for 2014-2019, which Joko dubbed as the Working Cabinet, will face uneasy challenges in the next five years. Despite inheriting political and economic conditions that are fairly stable, Jokowi's economic team must be able to boost growth and pay more attention to the inequality in various sectors.

Hendri Saparini, executive director of the Indonesian Center of Reform on Economics (CORE), said that even though Susilo Bambang Yudyhoyono's double term managed to post high growth, there is an increasing gap in the people's level of income. The income distribution metrics fell from 0.364 into 0.413 at the end of SBY's term.

Efforts to crunch the gap, Hendri said, depend on the economic performance of Jokowi-Kalla's economic ministers. These ministers, he said, should be people with economic independence as paradigms, not people who use macro-economic stability and financial approaches.

Hendri hopes that the new government's economic approaches will be based on the real sector, and not the financial-based monetary approach, since 60 percent of Indonesia's economy is is supported by private and government consumption.

Enny Sri Hartati, executive director at the Institute for Development of Economy and Finance (Indef), said that investment value rose sharply during SBY's term. However, most of the investments were placed in tertiary sectors that require raw material imports and do not absorb labor, since they are dominated by the services industry and not downstream or upstream industries. As a result, these investments became less optimal in supporting the government's priority programs.

Indonesia also faces external challenges that are not easy. There is the risk of a global economic slowdown, and the fact that Indonesia is considered unready to welcome the free market that comes with the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015.

"According to the calculation of the Industry Ministry, only about 30 percent of our manufacturing industries are ready to enter the AEC," Harjanto, director general of Manufacturing Industry at the Ministry of Industry, said last week. 

AISHA SHAIDRA | AMIR TEJO | GANGSAR PARIKESIT | AMOS SIMANUNGKALIT

Pontianak to Develop Tourism Area around Equator Monument

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Equator Monument Area in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, Indonesia, will be developed as tourist complex complete with hotels, restaurants, water rides,adventure land, planetarium, souvenir center, and other ancillary facilities.

Pontianak Mayor Sutarmidji said that the construction of the complex will be handed over to PT Mitra Bangun Kota as the investor collaborating with Indonesian National Army (TNI) as the owner of more than 5-hectare land in the area, also the local government of Pontianak.

"I am thankful and grateful to the Commander of Kodam XII Tanjungpura who has facilitatedthe cooperation with the private sector in developing the Equator Monument, so it will trigger growth in North Pontianak," said Sutarmidji in the speech duringthe groundbreaking in Equator Monument area construction that coincided with the ccommemorationof the Sun Culmination of the Sun.

Sutarmidji hoped that in the next two years this region becomes a flagship tourist destination inPontianak. He also wishes that local residents can enjoy the attractions that are promised to be built on the area attract tourists.

ASEANTY PAHLEVI

New Listing Target Likely Unmet, IDX Says

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – This year's target to have 30 new companies listing their shares in the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) may not be reach. IDX president director Ito Warsito said the failure is due to the volatile political situation and a decelerating national economy.

"Political situations have caused companies to delay their IPO plans for this year," Ito said in Jakarta, yesterday.

According to Ito, as of early October only 18 new issuers were listed on IDX, still far from this year's target of having 30 new issuers.

A number of companies that postponed their IPO plans include PT Bumiraya Investindo, the subsidiary of PT Tiga Pilar Sejahtera Tbk. Initially, Bumiraya planned to hit the floor in the first half of 2014, but decided to push the plan back until the end of 2014.

PT BNI Securities also delayed its plans to float 20 percent of its shares to the public. PT Citilink Indonesia, a subsidiary of PT Garuda Indonesia (Persero) Tbk, even delayed its IPO to 2016 after initially saying that it would go public in 2015.

DINI PRAMITA | GANGSAR PARIKESIT | FAIZ NASHRILLAH | ABDUL MALIK