Singapore Airlines and Garuda Indonesia Airlines signed codeshare cooperation

Singapore Airlines and Garuda Indonesia Airlines signed a joint Singapore-Denpasar flight. In codeshare cooperation, the two airlines will provide connectivity services for its passengers.

Ng Kian Wah, Senior Vice President of Sales Regions Singapore Airlines, explains, the codeshare agreement will effective on December 1, 2010. "The two airlines will cooperate on the basis of the principle of reciprocity on all flights between Singapore and Denpasar," said Ng Kian.

The agreement is a shared desire to offer more flight options for customers. It also aims to improve the accessibility of foreign tourists who will travel to the island of Bali.

Garuda Indonesia customers will be able to enjoy connectivity services from Singapore to all destinations of Singapore Airlines in the world. Similarly, on the contrary, Singapore Airlines customers can enjoy the benefits of connectivity Garuda Indonesia's domestic destinations from Denpasar, Bali.

Singapore Airlines operates three flights per day to Singapore-Denpasar route, while Garuda has daily flights. The cooperation is believed to be able to maximize the benefits of two airlines from the route.

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As of September, Indonesia's export value rose 38.3%

Indonesia's export performance during the first nine months this year rose 38.3% to USD 110.8 billion over the same period last year. In fact, as of September performance was also better before the global crisis sweeping the world in 2008 ago, which just posted an increase of 12.3%. This achievement was launched by the Board of Research and Development, Ministry of Trade (Kemdag) which released today, Thursday (25/11).

The Research and Development of Ministry of Trade also quoted Trade Watch from the World Bank that assesses Indonesia's exports in the second quarter, including three best of the 60 countries. This report shows, in the second quarter of this year, only three countries that can improve the performance of exports exceeded the export performance before the global crisis; namely China, Hong Kong and Indonesia.

China recorded can increase its export value up 14.7% while Indonesia was 4.9% compared to the value of exports during the same period in 2008. Meanwhile, Hong Kong recorded the highest increase in export value far beyond China and Indonesia, which amounted to 20.8%.

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The 10 world's best airports

Recently, Skytrax a consumer survey institute awarded 10 best airports in the world. In a statement, Chairman of Skytrax Edward Plaisted said that this survey is very competitive because it is done on 9.8 million users of the world's great airports. "The questionnaire was distributed to 2009-2010," he said. The result is remarkable, Changi Airport emerged as the best airport in the world. It beat the big airports, like Munich Airport and Schiphol Airport in Holland.

Here's the 10 world's best airports are:

1. Changi Airport
Number of passengers per year: 37.2 million
Last year's ranking: 3
Awards: Best Airport to Leisure Facilities (# 1), Best Airport Immigration Services (# 3), Best Airport Shopping (# 3), Best International Transit Airport (# 2), and Best Airport Dining (# 2)
Changi Airport serve passengers more than 200 goals more than 90 international airlines. Changi also handles approximately 5,000 arriving and departing each week.

2. Incheon Airport
Number of passengers per year: 18.7 million
Last year's ranking: 1
Awards: Best International Airport Transit (# 1), Asia Airport Staff Excellence (# 1), Airport with Best Leisure Facilities (# 2), Airport with Best Security Management (# 2), Airport with Best Cleaning (# 2), and Airport with the Best Toilet (# 2).
Incheon is the largest airport in South Korea. The airport serves more than 70 passenger airlines. Not only serve the passengers, the airport also has a museum of Korean culture.

3. Hong Kong International Airport
The number of passengers per year: 45.5 million
Last year's ranking: 2
Awards: Best Airport Toilet (# 1) and Best Airport Dining (# 1)
Hong Kong Airport is the busiest airport in the world. The airport is equipped with a nine-hole golf course that can be used by visitors as they pass the time waiting for planes.

4. Munich Airport
The number of passengers per year: 32.7
Rank last year: 5
Awards: Best Airport to Leisure Facilities (# 3), Best International Transit Airport (# 3), Best Airport Dining (# 3), and Europe Staff Service Excellence (# 2)
Munich is Germany's second busiest airport. Passengers enjoy the beauty of the terminal starting from the entrance gate. The airport was built in the urban landscape. Many walls and ceilings made of glass, so that the airport was great.

5. Kuala Lumpur Airport
The number of passengers per year: 29.7 million
Last year's ranking: 7
Awards: Best Airport Immigration Service (# 1) and the Airport Staff Excellence South East Asia (# 1)
Kuala Lumpur is located in Malaysia's southern corridor and one of the busiest airports in Asia. The main terminal remains green, because it is equipped with artificial forest. They use the concept, "airport in the forest, the forest at the airport."

6. Zurich Airport
The number of passengers per year: 12.3 million
Last year's ranking: 4
Awards: Best Baggage Delivery (# 1), Best Terminals Cleanliness (# 1), and Europe Staff Service Excellence (# 3)
Zurich Airport, Switzerland, lies 11 kilometers north of downtown Zurich. The airport has a porter service where tourists pay, and the porter will take your goods to final destination.

7. Schiphol Airport
The number of passengers per year: 43.6 million
Last year's ranking: 8
Awards: Best Airport Shopping (# 2)
Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, opened in 1916 as a military airfield, and now has turned into one of the busiest in the world. While waiting for departure, travelers can enjoy a massage and play poker at the casino.

8. Beijing International Airport
The number of passengers per year: 65.4 million
Last year's ranking: 17
Awards: Best Airport Security Processing (# 1), Best Airport Immigration Service (# 2), Best Airport Cleanliness (# 3), and Asia Staff Service Excellence (# 2)
Beijing Airport is the busiest airport in Asia and can accommodate up to 78 million passengers per year. Tallest building, the terminal 3, has a roof that was painted red, the Chinese luck color.

9. Auckland International Airport
The number of passengers per year: more than 13 million
Last year's ranking: 10
Awards: Airport Staff Excellence Australia / Pacific (# 1)
Auckland Airport, New Zealand, providing more than 20 international airlines, and serve 45 flights take off per hour.Aukland provide thousands of jobs through the second-largest cargo port in the country.

10. Suvarnabhumi Airport
The number of passengers per year: 40.5 million
Last year's ranking: 16
Awards: South East Asia Staff Service Excellence (# 3)
Suvarnabhumi was designed by architects Murphy/Jahn and opened in September 2006. The airport is ready to serve 74 flights per hour and 45 million passengers and three tons of cargo per year. There is a 600 room hotel located in front of the terminal.

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October 2010: coffee export down 28%

In October 2010, the volume of coffee export through the port of Lampung, down 28% to 25,640 tons worth USD 40,649. In September 2010, the volume of coffee exports reached 35,630 tons with a value of USD 55,122. Depreciation of coffee exports was triggered by the expiration of the coffee harvest in Indonesia.

In addition, production problems are also disturbed by the weather that makes the coffee production declined. "There was a decline in production because it leads to the end of the harvest," said Muchtar Lutfi, Head of Research and Development, Lampung Coffee Exporters Association.

Exports coffee from the port of Lampung comes from coffee which grown in the area of Central Sumatra, such as Bengkulu, South Sumatra, and also from Lampung area. Until October 2010, Indonesia has been exporting coffee as much as 212,594 tons with a value of USD 312,408. According to Muchtar, that number was far behind compared to last year.

Muchtar concerned about coffee export performance in the last quarter of this year. Because, at the end of the year like this, the coffee harvest in the central coffee plantations in Sumatra has been reduced. While common stock is stored coffee farmers are now no longer exists because the rainy season makes many coffee trees were damaged.

"It would be difficult to chase the target this year," he explained. This year, AEKI Lampung set the coffee export target of 300,000 tones.

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Indonesian fertilizer imports continue to rise

In January-September 2010 there was an increase of fertilizer imports to Indonesia. The highest import demand was due to increased fertilizer consumption directly and also for raw materials fertilizer plant.

"The need for fertilizer industry also rose while raw materials such as potassium and phosphate were imported," said Deddy Shaleh, Director General of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce in Jakarta, Friday (12/11). According to him, the import of fertilizer is needed because there are some raw materials can not be produced domestically.

Based on data from Central Statistic Agency (BPS), Indonesia fertilizer imports from January to September 2010 stated at USD 1.065 billion. This figure rose 77.81% compared to the imports of fertilizers in the same period last year amounted to USD 599.365 million.

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Indonesian woodworking exports are decreasing

Indonesian woodworking exports are decreasing sharply. It because the economic conditions in Europe and the USA which has been the main export market has not recovered yet.

The Indonesian Sawmill & Woodworking Association (ISWA) estimates, woodworking export volume this year only 1.2 million cubic meters. The export volume was down 14.2 percent compared to last year's export volume which reached 1.4 million cubic meters.

Similarly, plywood, even though the volume down, value of exports, probably, will not sag away from last year that reached USD 957 million. The trigger is woodworking prices also increased slightly, from USD 665 per cubic meter in 2009 to USD 675 per cubic meter. "So, we estimate, the value of exports same as of 2009," said Soewarni, Chairman of the ISWA.

Soewarni explained, since the financial crisis plagued the USA in September 2008, woodworking wood consumption in the USA continued to decline. It happened because a lot of housing development projects stalled. Similar conditions also experienced a number of other export destination countries, like China, Japan, Australia, and Germany. "Since the crisis, it is difficult for us to expect an increase in export of woodworking, especially in terms of volume," said Soewarni.

Weakening demand for Indonesian woodworking in the world market, bring bad impact to exporters. According Soewarni, many exporters of woodworking is now out of business. "Of the 700 exporters are now only just over 600 exporters," he said.

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Indonesia’s Exports (Jan-Sep 2010) Up 38 Percent

Indonesia Central Statistic Agency (BPS) expressed, total value of Indonesia's exports from January to September reached USD 110.81 billion. This amount increased by 38.27 percent over the same period last year.

"Hopefully we will record a new performance for annual export, at least approach USD 150 billion. If our export per month around USD 12 billion, it could approach even be higher," said Head of the BPS, Rusman Heriawan in a press conference held at the office BPS, Jakarta, Monday (01/11/2010).

Although the export value from January to September 2010 increased compared to last year period, exports value in September 2010 dropped compared with August 2010. According to Rusman, exports of September reached USD 12.08 billion, down 12.02 percent compared to August. "The decline in non-oil -13.66 percent. Exports of non oil reached USD 10.13 billion, and USD 1.95 billion for oil and gas," he said.

The reduced value of exports in September, according to Rusman due to Eid al-Fitr which falls in September. Import-export activity before and after Lebaran is totally decreasing. "Labor-workers who went home a lot so many activities that are pending. Hopefully October there was an increase export and import of missed work," he said.

Besides the Indonesia’s export up 38 per cent, the import value also increase by 11.92 percent in September compared to last year. Imports of September reached USD 9.53 billion.