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A delegation of leading US information and communication technology (ICT) companies organised by the US-Asean Business Council last week visited Indonesia and met with government officials and representatives of the business sector to discuss the importance of ICT as an enabler for economic growth and development, supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, expanding access to education and spurring entrepreneurship and innovation.
The delegation also visited Malaysia earlier last week. The mission was |led by the council’s ICT committee |chair Elizabeth Hernandez, vice |president of government relations for Hewlett Packard in Asia Pacific and Elizabeth Dugan, vice president for operations at the US-Asean Business Council.
“Indonesia is Asean’s largest country and economy, and the importance |of an enabling environment for ICT cannot be overstated. It can expand educational opportunities, create |jobs, support small business and launch a whole new generation of entrepreneurs,” said Hernandez |of HP.
The mission concluded with a roundtable entitled, “Initiative for Creating a Pro-innovation Regulatory Environment”. The roundtable, |co-sponsored by the Indonesia |E-Commerce Association (idEA), brought together US companies, domestic ICT-related associations and business leaders to create a roadmap for how the US and domestic industry can work together to engage the government in developing a regulatory environment that encourages full use of available technologies that can spread economic growth throughout Indonesia.
Companies participating in the |delegation included Apple, AT&T, Google, HP, Intel, Microsoft, Motorola Solutions, Oracle, Qualcomm, and Seagate.

Northeast areas suited for growing oil palm
The Department of Agriculture has said that some parts of the Northeast of Thailand are suitable for planting oil palm trees.
Nine years ago the department assigned its agricultural research and development centre in Nong Khai province to join with related agencies in the Northeast to study planting oil-palm in the region. The research found that some parts of the region could harvest oil-palm plants and if they were managed well, could yield output of between 3 tonnes to 5 tonnes per rai per year on average, close to the output in the South.
Based on the information of its Nong Khai research centre from 2006 to last year, the total cost of planting over seven years is Bt35,975 per rai. However, interested farmers have |to have suitable land for planting, |as well as study land quality and |rainfall volume.