Asaki.or.id – Jakarta,

Invitation

Outlook Property 2006

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

at 2 pm till 4 pm

BCA Mercantile Club

Wisma BCA, 18th Floor

Hosted By: Mercantile

Chinese commodities have recently become global, causing almost every economy in the world to be worried. Japan, the US and some European countries have taken measures to control imports of Chinese goods. In such a context, the Ceramic Industry Club of ASEAN (CICA) in its 19th annual meeting talked about how to compete effectively with Chinese manufacturers.
Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam are the 4 leading construction ceramics manufacturing countries in the ASEAN, representing 5.62% of global ceramics export value. However, their major competitor in the domestic market has been China for long.
Before, Chinese ceramics, both of low and high quality, are sold well in ASEAN countries but for the last 10 years, while manufacturers in other countries apply high technology, low quality ceramics products of China have not been high in demand any more. However, China which accounts for more than a half of global ceramics production has recently made necessary adjustments to the industry so as to penetrate into the ASEAN market again. 
According to Mr. Puan Sri Maimon Arif Patail, Deputy Chairman of the Malaysian ceramics industry group, the advantage of Chinese ceramics is low price and of course those are low quality products. Mr. Nguyen Tran Nam, General Director of VIGLACERA said Chinese ceramics illegally imported into Vietnam might triple into the other countries for Vietnam has a very long border line with China. With low price and various designs, Chinese ceramics are sold very well despite low quality. The situation is the same in other ASEAN countries. 
According to the Malaysian ceramics association, the country has reduced Chinese ceramics imports by 70% for it has set up technical standards applicable to domestic and import ceramics products. The standards are in accordance with ISO standards. 
Other ASEAN countries would like to share Malaysia’s experiences in this field. They agreed that there should be common standards applicable to ASEAN-made ceramics so as to control ceramics imports from China and facilitate ceramics trade among the nations. However, price but quality is the key to the problem. On the other hand, the CICA needs to coordinate with governments to carry out anti-dumping measures in addition to application of technical standards so as to compete effectively with China’s ceramics in long term.

Asaki.or.id – Jakarta, Selamat bergabung dalam keanggotaan ASAKI…. 

PT. Chang Jui Fang Indonesia

Asaki.or.id – Los Angeles, LOS ANGELES – Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates on Tuesday announced a cross-platform gaming service that integrates games played on cell phones, Xbox 360 consoles and the upcoming Windows Vista operating system. The “Live Anywhere” service will be available as part of Windows Vista, Microsoft’s next-generation PC operating system. The consumer version is scheduled for release early next year. “It means that you have one online community,” Gates said in a news conference. “This platform can really unleash developers to do amazing new things.” The system would extend the company’s existing Xbox Live service for the Xbox 360 console into millions of Internet-enabled PCs and cellular phones. No pricing information on the new service was announced. In recent months, Microsoft has been pushing a number of online services that it hopes will boost revenue as markets for its traditional software become increasingly saturated. The company expects to make money off such efforts through a mixture of subscription fees and advertising. “The vision here is each platform plays its own role. We really think we’re in a unique position,” Gates said Tuesday. “Microsoft is probably the only company that can pull this off.” In a demonstration, an Xbox 360 gamer using Live Anywhere was able to send an invitation to a friend on a PC. After the PC user agreed, the two connected for a cross-platform online gun battle. In another example, a race car’s stats were modified on a cellular phone, its appearance was edited in a paint program on the PC and then it was raced on a track on the Xbox 360. Microsoft said it has sold about 3.2 million Xbox 360s so far — about half of them are used online. By the time rivals Nintendo Co. and Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE – news). release their systems by the end of the year, Gates said Microsoft should have a 10 million unit head start and a selection of 160 Xbox 360 games. Microsoft Vice President Peter Moore said the early launch of Xbox 360 gives the company a huge advantage going forward, saying the company was already on the “second generation of the next generation.” Live Anywhere highlighted a slew of announcements from the Redmond, Wash.-based company. The company also said it would sell an HD-DVD player for high-definition movies in time for the holidays, but it did not release a price. Also announced was an Xbox Live Vision video camera, a wireless headset and a wireless racing wheel available this fall. Finally, Microsoft appeased anxious gamers who cheered following a demonstration of the sci-fi shooter “Halo 3,” due sometime in 2007. Earlier in the day, Nintendo Co. executives emphasized unusual games over glitzy graphics and said the video game industry must find new ways to broaden its appeal if the industry wants to keep growing. The company did not release pricing details on its Wii console and instead showed off the system’s unique controller, which can be swung around to control golf swings and sword strikes on the screen. Company officials also confirmed the Wii would launch sometime in the fourth quarter of 2006. On Monday, Sony Corp. said two versions of its PlayStation 3 will launch in North America on Nov. 17 as part of a worldwide simultaneous launch — a $499 version with a 20 gigabyte hard drive and another with a 60 gigabyte drive for $100 more. Availability had been pushed back from a spring release. The $499 base price is $100 more than rival Microsoft’s current top-of-the-line Xbox 360. Sony also showed off the PS3′s new controller, which can sense motion like the Wii system. Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo are vying for control of the video game industry, which according to market research firm NPD Group, saw sales drop 5 percent to $7 billion in the United States last year. Much of it is blamed on consumers’ desire to hold out for the PS3 and Wii. The company presentations are a preview of sorts for the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, the video game industry’s largest annual conference.

Asaki.or.id – Jakarta, Jakarta, 3/5 (ANTARA) – Wapres Jusuf Kalla mengingatkan jajaran Departemen Perindustrian (Deperin) agar memahami bagaimana membangun sistem dan iklim yang kondusif bagi dunia usaha dan semua pihak perlu bersama-sama merumuskan peraturan dan insentif agar industri bisa mendapatkan keuntungan. 

“Deperin harus memahami bagaimana pengusaha berjalan dan bagaimana memberi keuntungan kepada pengusaha. Karena industri itu harus menguntungkan. Industri itu di `domain` swasta. Karena itu kita berikan layanan kepada pihak swasta karena pengusaha lebih mampu berpikir industri daripada kita (pemerintah,” kata Wapres saat membuka Rakernas Deperin di Kantor Wapres, Jakarta, Rabu. 

Ditegaskan Wapres bahwa dimanapun di dunia, industri dituntut untuk meningkatkan persaingan harga, kualitas dan jasanya, yang berarti dibutuhkan suatu sistem yang kompak. 

“Jadi industri di suatu negara apapun kembali kepada teori dasar yakni tingkat kompetitifnya yang betul. Kita tahu betul kompetitif itu hanya untuk sisi `knowledge`. Kita harus ambil celahnya dimana kita bisa bersaing, artinya bisa murah, kualitas produksi baik, dan `delivery` baik,” kata Wapres. 

Terkait dengan kebijakan otonomi daerah, Wapres mengatakan, dengan prinsip otonomi itu maka secara riil kegiatan dilaksanakan daerah sementara kebijakan umum oleh pemerintah pusat dan kemudian dikaji bagaimana industri bisa berkembang dengan keragaman daerah yang ada. 

Wapres menegaskan, pemerintah juga tidak bisa membuat aturan sebanyak-banyaknya dan juga tidak bisa memerintah sampai ke daerah-daerah karena sudah ada otonomi itu. 

Lebih lanjut Wapres mengatakan, tidak zamannya lagi pemerintah membuat industri karena sekarang ini adalah masanya privatisasi sehingga industri yang ada sebaliknya dijual. 

“Jadi kondisi sekarang terbalik dengan 20 tahun lalu. Paradigma kita jangan lagi berpikir sama seperti 20 tahun lalu,” katanya. 

Dengan berbasiskan otonomi itu, maka semua orang tidak boleh lagi berpikir untuk mengembangkan industri seperti di Jakarta karena setiap daerah memiliki kondisi yang berbeda-beda. 

“Jawa Timur lain, sumatera juga lain. Tentu itu yang di`promote`,” katanya seraya menambahkan bahwa setiap daerah harus melihat kekuatan masing-masing seperti di Sumatera unggul untuk kelapa sawit dan derivatifnya. 

Dalam kesempatan itu Wapres juga mengingatkan bahwa industri Indonesia memerlukan pula efisiensi dan tingkat keseuaian yang tinggi agar bisa bersaing. 

“Kita bisa buat barang bagus tapi harganya mahal, atau barang murah tapi kualitasnya rendah atau barang murah kualitasnya tinggi tapi lama `delivery`nya,” katanya.