Good News From Indonesia

Dubai’s Jumeirah Group, operators of the iconic Burj Al Arab, has sealed a deal to open its first hotel in Bali as it looks to grow its brand outside of its home market.

The operator, owned by Dubai’s ruler, will open its second Asian hotel, Jumeirah Bali, in 2015, the group said on Tuesday. The property spans 80 hotel suites and 25 private villas, the company said in an emailed statement.

The luxury hotelier in October said it planned to double its properties under management globally by early 2012. The firm, which recently opened brand-managed hotels in Frankfurt, the Maldives and Shanghai, said it planned to expand into Kuwait, Majorca and Azerbaijan.

“We will open in Kuwait, Majorca, and Azerbaijan. We will almost double the number of hotels under management for Jumeirah in a 14-month period,” Lawless told Reuters.

“We have a few other potential projects ‘bubbling’… Some of them are in Europe,” he said, adding that the group would count 20 hotels by the end of the first quarter.

The group, which competes with the likes Mandarin Oriental and the Four Seasons, currently has one hotel in Asia, the Jumeirah Himalayas Hotel in Shanghai, and has a further five hotels under development in China.

The hotel chain is not currently planning an initial public offering (IPO) or a bond issue, Lawless said last year.

“We are very happy with our levels of financing and debt at the moment,” he said. “The funding positions are not difficult for us, we are in a strong position where we have investors who own the hotels, they build the hotels and we brand them.”

“We are asset-light … We have been very encouraged by the success of the acquisition of management contracts and it continues to grow,” he added.

 http://www.arabianbusiness.com/jumeirah-group-eyes-slice-of-bali-luxury-tourism-market-441138.html

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Indonesia may be more attractive to investors than China, especially for corporate debt buyers, thanks to better governance and management, a Fitch Ratings executive says.

Andrew Steel, head of Asia-Pacific corporate ratings group at the major international ratings agency, said in Jakarta on Tuesday that he often got asked by US investors about investment conditions in Indonesia versus China, the world’s second-largest economy, which overtook Japan earlier in 2011.

In the area of governance — which could have a great impact on corporate performance — China ranked lower than Indonesia, the largest economy in Southeast Asia, he said.

“If we compare governance here [in Indonesia] where you have BBB- with China, which has an A+ sovereign rating, we’d actually perceive corporate governance in China to be fractionally worse than Indonesia,” Steel told reporters Tuesday.

“And also, Indonesia is a much more established and developed corporate market than China,” he added, citing China’s communist economy, which created tension for the capitalist model. “So they [Chinese companies] tend to be very, very equity focused, not debt focused.”

Indonesia in the past has learned a lot of lessons about volatility, hedging and currency, so the management teams are better in understanding debt investors’ requirements and the need for stability and predictability, Steel said.

“A year-and-a-half ago, maybe they were interested in China, now it’s more Indonesia and India. Most of them have their focus on Indonesia because they see the scale of the country,” he added.

China began 2011 facing threats of overheating as double-digit economic growth and high inflation prompted policy makers to take efforts to slow down the economy.

Indonesian authorities, on the other hand, are still pushing pro-growth efforts now as the country’s economy grew 6.5 per cent last year while annual inflation was at a 20-month low of 3.79 per cent in December.

These factors have created a change in wealth distribution, which Steel considered very important from the corporate perspective. “Those give a very good backdrop for the companies to perform well and to achieve stronger growth, which makes it an attractive investment area.”

Aviliani, an economist at Indonesia’s Institute for Development of Economic and Finance (INDEF), said even for a larger scope of investment — not only corporate debt — Indonesia was more promising than China.

“China is the world’s most populous nation, but investments have been full capacity, while Indonesia, the world’s fourth-largest market for consumption, is still in need of Rp 5,400 trillion (US$ 595 billion) of infrastructure and real sectors,” she said.

?Esther Samboh
The Jakarta Post

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Indonesia’s Trade Minister has hailed the country’s entrance into an exclusive club – one in which South-east Asia’s largest economy has joined such money-making giants as China, India and South Korea.

“We have just joined what people call the trillion-dollar club. Indonesia’s GDP stands at a little bit more than US$1 trillion,” said Mr Gita Wirjawan, who took over the trade portfolio in October last year.

“Some economists have projected that Indonesia’s economy is expected to grow to US$9.3 trillion by 2030… staggering but not an impossibility.”

In a speech to the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club, he also noted investment figures to be released by the end of the week will show a rapid spread of capital beyond Java, which is home to some 60 per cent of the population.

Other islands accounted for only 18 per cent of investment capital in 2009.

“In 2010, that rose to 33 per cent and figures for 2011 show at least 45 per cent,” said Mr Gita.

Both he and Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo, who spoke yesterday at a separate briefing organised by the Fitch credit-rating agency, expressed optimism that Indonesia’s economy will continue to grow rapidly in spite of the sputtering global economy.

Foreign direct investment was projected to soar with last month’s upgrade of the country’s sovereign debt rating to investment grade by Fitch, said Mr Agus.

This, he said, could help create good jobs for Indonesians, lift pay, reduce poverty, and beef up the country’s foreign exchange reserves.

Preliminary figures show that the economy grew by 6.5 per cent last year. Fitch predicts it will grow 6 per cent this year and 6.5 per cent next year.

Indeed, Indonesia has been recording healthy growth from rising domestic consumption since 2010, after slowing slightly in 2009 at the start of the global crisis.

With a population of 240 million, about half of whom are part of a growing middle class, Indonesia is a lure for more foreign direct investments.

However, economists caution that the poor infrastructure, business uncertainties and uneven growth across the sprawling archipelago need to be addressed.

A recent World Bank report on the ease of doing business said Indonesia slipped to 129th place last year, from 126 in 2010.

Growth has also come against a backdrop of labour unrest across the country as workers push for a bigger piece of the pie through a higher minimum wage.

Farmers, meanwhile, have protested that their lands have been exploited or unfairly taken over by companies in the wake of a new land acquisition law passed last month to allow greater legal certainty for businesses.

Mr Gita said: “We have got to fix this. We cannot be presumptuous that people will continue to come in, we got to show that we are fixing this.”

These are not his only concerns. Three months into the job, he has been roundly criticised for implementing measures seen as protectionist and radical.

Recently, he called for expanding curbs on imports and banned raw rattan exports to help local producers, a decision opposed by his predecessor.

Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) vice-chairman Natsir Mansyur told The Jakarta Post that trade barriers might be counter-productive as they might invite retaliation from trading partners.

As for the financial system, Mr Agus noted that measures were being adopted to strengthen it, but cautioned that rapid capital outflows could weaken the rupiah.

He also acknowledged the key challenges of tackling corruption, raising incomes and fixing the inadequate infrastructure.

Fitch director of sovereign ratings Philip McNicholas called for more to be done. He said: “The government needs to focus on soft infrastructure, like human capital and a legislative framework to improve the investment environment.”

?Zubaidah Nazeer & Zakir Hussain
The Straits Times
http://www.asianewsnet.net/home/news.php?id=26595

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Despite the sputtering global economy of 2011, most people around the world are optimistic that 2012 will be a better year, according to a new poll. Nearly three quarters of citizens in 24 countries questioned in an Ipsos/Reuters survey see a rosier year ahead than what they experienced in 2011.

“This is the first glimmer of hope that we’ve seen in the last few years,” said Clifford Young, senior vice president of Ipsos Public Affairs, “All indicators suggest that while people are lukewarm about the present, there are glimmers of hope going forward.”

Optimism was strongest in France and Indonesia, where 91 percent think 2012 will be a better year, followed by Brazil at 90 percent and India and 89 percent.

But that faint silver lining isn’t visible to everyone.

Italy, Japan and Sweden are the least sanguine about the future. In those countries only 45, 46, and 55 percent, respectively, expect this year to bring better times.

Hungary at 56 percent and Britain at 58 percent were also among the least optimistic.

“Europe is still a problematic place. It hasn’t worked out all its issues,” Young explained. “But North America, especially the United States, has shown signs of improvement.”

Seventy four percent of U.S. citizens expressed optimism for 2012. Rather than a triumph of hope over experience, Young believes the results reflect a wary hopefulness.

“They see things are better: a little more job stability, the ability to put a little more food on the table,” he said.

But only four in 10 of the 21,245 adults polled worldwide expect the global economy to be stronger in 2012.

France, Hungary, Belgium, Italy and Sweden were least likely to foresee a more robust global economy. Less wary are the emerging markets. A majority of those in India, Brazil, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia believe the global economy will gain strength.

“Overall people in emerging markets have felt pretty good about themselves, the economy and the future,” Young said.

The survey showed that the young, the well-off and the educated have the highest hopes for this year. Nearly 80 percent of people younger than 35 agreed the new year would be better, as did 77 percent of those with a high household income, and 75 percent of those with a high level of education.

“The better off are less affected by the economic downturn,” said Young. “They are best able to weather the economic storm.”

The complete list of results and countries can be found at www.ipsosglobaladvisor.com/

(Reuters)

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Hati-hati menggunakan kata “kelak” di Indonesia..

Saya masih ingat ketika banyak ekonom memprediksi bahwa kelak pada 2010, PDB Indonesia akan mencapai US $ 500 milyar, padahal pada akhir tahun 2010, PDB Indonesia sudah mencapai lebih dari US$750 milyar (dengan dollar rate saat itu). Ada juga yang memprediksi bahwa kelak pada 2015, cadangan devisa Indonesia akan mencapai rekor baru, yakni US $ 100 milyar, padahal pada Agustus 2011, cadangan devisa Indosia sudah mencapai rekor tertinggi yakni US$124.5 milyar.

Banyak contoh lagi sebenarnya, tapi biarlah, saya tidak begitu ahli membaca angka-angka ekonomi. Saya mau cerita sedikit tentang Bandara Juanda di Surabaya

Terus terang, pada usia dewasa saya, saya pertama kali mengunjungi Surabaya pada 2007. Dan pada waktu itu, terminal baru yang megah baru saja selesai dibangun, dan didesain untuk mampu mengakomodasi pergerakan sekitar 7 juta penumpang per tahun. Waktu itu, diperkirakan bahwa kelak pada 2020, penumpang yang menggunakan bandara Juanda akan mencapai 15 juta orang. Namun sepertinya angka itu perlu direvisi, karena per Desember 2011, jumlah penumpang sudah mencapai angka 13.7 juta penumpang.

Pihak Angkasa Pura I sendiri mungkin dulunya tidak pernah memperkirakan bahwa pertumbuhan penumpang akan secepat itu, sehingga mereka buru-buru membangun Terminal 2, dengan merehab total bangunan Bandara Juanda yang lama, dengan asistansi dari pengelola Bandara Incheon di Korsel. Saya sempat bertanya dengan pihak AP I, kenapa membangun terminal baru kok nanggung, kecil (hanya mampu mengakomodasi 4 juta penumpang). “Kan gak ngaruh banyak, Pak?” Beliau menjawab “Memang. Kami faham. Tapi kami mau yang ini cepat jadi, sehingga crowd bisa terurai. Setelah itu, kelak kami akan bangun terminal-terminal baru yang lain dengan cepat”. (Hmm…memakai kelak lagi..)

Apa inti dari semua hal di atas?

Saya sempat ngobrol dengan salah satu penumpang di Juanda ketika kami akan sama-sama berangkat ke Makassar, bapak itu bilang bahwa makin lama, makin banyak orang mampu beli tiket pesawat, makin banyak orang yang ‘merasa’ perlu terbang ke tempat lain. “Ekonomi Indonesia memang benar tumbuh” sambungnya.

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Oleh Ahmad Cholis Hamzah, MSc*

Ada pepatah bahwa perbuatan keji itu menular; kita berharap kebalikannya bahwa perbuatan baik itu menular. Dalam hubungan ini kalau kita melihat memang gaung upaya yang tidak pakai pamrih apapun anak-anak SMK Solo membuat produk buatan sendiri sangat mengagumkan karena telah menular ke sejumlah sekolah-sekolah sejenis di Indonesia ini, misalkan SMK 12 Bandung ternyata sudah/sedang membuat pesawat ringan, SMK Muhammadiyah Magelang juga berusaha membuat mobil, SMK Jakarta, Malang, Surabaya dan di berbagai daerah di seluruh penjuru nusantara juga berlomba-lomba berbuat hal yang sama.

Mengagumkan karena upaya dengan semangat “Banteng Ketaton” itu begitu bergairahnya dan tidak menghiraukan berita – berita tentang politik nasional, tentang pengakuan Rosa dalam kasus Nazarudin, tentang KPI yang menegur sejumlah bintang sinetron karena pakaiannya tidak senonoh, tentang perdebatan para lawyer nasional di layar kaca dsb.

Kita ingat negeri Sakura Jepang, setelah di bom atom Amerika Serikat tahun 1945 di kota Hiroshima dan Nagasaki. Negeri ini luluh lantak, banyak pengemis, banyak orang mati kelaparan, wajah-wajah penduduk mereka tidak menampakkan kegembiraan. “Alon Asal Kelakon” atau Lambat Tapi Pasti, negeri ini bangkit perlahan-lahan, seluruh energi bangsa ini di fokuskan pada satu tujuan: membuat produk dalam negeri agar ekonomi mereka bangkit. Perusahaan-perusahaan UKM Jepang sambil bersinergi satu sama lain membuat produk apapun untuk kepentingan dalam negeri. Pihak pemerintah dan Universitas juga all-out melakukan penelitian-penelitian agar produk mereka bisa diterima rakyatnya.

Ya, Jepang pertama kali tidak melakukan ekspornya keluar negeri, tapi fokus pada kepentingan dalam negeri dulu. Produk-produk buatan dalam negeri lambat laun di terima secara luas oleh rakyatnya dengan kebanggaan sebagai bangsa. Perusahaan-perusahaan mereka tidak menghiraukan cercaan dunia bahwa produk buatan Jepang itu “cepat rusak”. Dalam perkembangannya, dunia terbelalak dengan kenyataan bahwa produk-produk Jepang merajai Eropa dan Amerika dan dunia karena dinilai lebih efisien. Tahun 1970an Amerika Serikat terkejut ketika produk-produk Jepang secara perlahan merambat seperti kemacetan jalan tol – masuk ke pasar Amerika. Produk-produk mereka bervariasi dari teknologi yang super canggih sampai alat cukur kumis memasuki pasar global.

Kekuatan ekonomi Jepang akhirnya di akui bukan dari perusahaan-perusahaan besarnya, tapi dari perusahaan UKM mereka. Jaringan mereka sangat solid dan efektif. Perusahaan –perusahaan besar menjadi besar karena di bantu perusahaan-perusahaan kecil dan menengah. Jaringan distribusi mereka sangat terkenal sehingga bisa mengalahkan perusahaan-perusahaan terkemuka Eropa dan Amerika Serikat.

Salah satu kunci keberhasilan Jepang adalah bahwa semua dana negara yang berasal dari rakyat dan swasta di kerahkan untuk membantu ekonomi rakyat itu, membantu kekuatan UKM menjadi kekuatan global. Uang rakyat dari pajak di kerahkan semua untuk kemaslahatan bangsa. Sekarang kalau kita lihat China yang cepat berkembang sebenarnya juga mirip Jepang, kekuatan ekonomi dalam negeri di kuatkan dulu setelah itu baru ekspor, semua kekuatan dana juga dikerah untuk maksud itu.

Kembali ke negeri kita sendiri, alangkah terkejutnya ketika kita mendengar bahwa uang yang dikumpulkan rakyat itu ternyata tidak untuk hal – hal yang dilakukan Jepang dan China itu, tapi untuk membangun toilet DPR seharga Rp 2 milyar, untuk ruang rapat DPR Rp 20 milyar, dan mungkin ada milyaran atau bahkan triliuan rupiah lainnya untuk keperluan yang tidak terlalu penting untuk rakyat. Kita menjadi menangis dan sedih ketika mencermati menularnya upaya SMK Solo itu ke rekan-rekannya di seluruh nusantara tidak ada (atau belum ada) yang mengulurkan dananya kepada mereka. Padahal yang dilakukan mereka itu adalah untuk keharuman nama bangsa. Seharusnya kita semua sadar akan hal ini bahwa rakyat itu dengan susah payah mengumpulkan uang untuk membayar pajak – dan rakyat itu mengharapkan semua itu untuk kemaslahatan bangsa. Kalau kita tidak sadar, berarti kita mengkhianati harapan rakyat itu.

?Alumni Universitas Airlangga dan University of London, sekarang Dosen di STIE PERBANAS Surabaya.

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Indonesia has ordered six additional Sukhoi Su-30MK2 aircraft, with the first two to be delivered in 2012.

Jakarta will receive two more in 2013 and the final pair in 2014, said Indonesian air force chief of staff Imam Sufaat. His comments were quoted in a report by official government news agency Antara.

The report added that the Indonesian air force currently has six Su-27SKMs and four Su-30MK2s in its inventory. The aircraft are based at Sultan Hasanuddin air base in Indonesia’s South Sulawesi province.

Indonesian Sukhoi SU-27 and SU-30

Separately, in the coming months Indonesia could issue a letter of acceptance for 24 used US Air National Guard Lockheed Martin F-16C/Ds. In late November, the US government outlined details of the proposed sale and upgrade of the Block 25-standard aircraft for Indonesia, valuing the Foreign Military Sale deal at $750 million.

If a letter of acceptance is issued in early 2012, it could clear the way for deliveries of the upgraded F-16s to commence in 2014.

Australia has also offered to donate four Lockheed C-130H Hercules transports to Jakarta, contingent on aircraft upgrading, but this deal has yet to be confirmed.

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Indonesia’s aviation industry has grown significantly and is even considered one of the world’s top three today after India and China in the Asia Pacific region said the President of the Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

With this growth, safety factors must be of top priority and needs to be further improved, stated Gonzales when he reviewed Garuda’s Training Center facility in Tangerang, on July 20, 2011. He also added that today, the world’s aviation growth is centered in the Asia Pacific region since the region is a large population center, however, growth needs to be accompanied by continued improvements in safety standards.

According to Indonesia’s Ministry of Transportation, in 2010 Indonesian airlines carried 58 million passengers, increasing over 20% over the previous year at 48 million passengers. This growth also came as a result of the increasing number in airline fleets. Nonetheless, growth needs to be supported by additions to human resources and quality improvements. “We need more qualified human resources, and that is why each airline needs to have its own proper training center,” reminded the ICAO President.

The quality of human resources determines safety levels, thus, they need to be properly trained to obtain the required quality, he elaborated.

Roberto Gonzales commented that when he came to Jakarta for the first time in 2007, Indonesia’s compliance to ICAO safety standards stood at 40%. Today, this has significantly risen to 80.4%.

Source: bisnis.com via indonesia.travel

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Oleh Ahmad Cholis Hamzah, MSc*

Dulu tahun 1982, saya mengikuti program pertukaran pemuda ASEAN dan Jepang atau yang disebut SSEAYP- Ship for South East Asian Youth Program dengan menumpang Nippon Maru – kapal pesiar milik Jepang. Dalam program itu kapal itu menyinggahi masing-masing negara ASEAN dan terakhir Jepang. Selepas mengunjungi Singapura – kami menuju KL- Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. Yang ingin saya share kan dalam tulisan ini adalah pengalaman teman saya yang dengan bangganya membeli tas jinjing untuk ke ke kantor dari Singapura – “from Singapore!” katanya. Namun setelah saya bolak-balik tas itu – ternyata adalah buatan Tanggulangin Sidoarjo Jawa Timur dekat rumah saya.

Sering kali kita bangga dengan produk-produk branded dari luar negeri, dan menjadi bahan kebanggaan karena menjadi symbol kekayaan seseorang atau ke –“elit” an seseorang. Di kota-kota besar di Indonesia utamanya di Jakarta para “socialita” yang sering ngrumpi dan dugem di café dan hotel-hotel mahal, sering memamerkan produk-produk yang melekat di badannya apakah itu sepatu, tas, gelang, anting, baju, parfume dsb dengan bangga karena buatan luar negeri dan mahal harganya.

Namun seringkali kita tidak mengetahui bahwa banyak produk-produk branded itu adalah buatan kita sendiri. Dan anehnya, jarang – atau lebih tepatnya tidak ada diantara orang-orang kaya seperti selebrities, grup-grup socialite itu dengan bangga memamerkan produk-produk kita sendiri dengan berteriak: “from Indonesia you know!”.

Misalkan saja anime Jepang yang terkenal di TV-TV kita Doraemon yang membuat banyak orang diantara kita yang gandrun sampai kecanduan mengkoleksi berbagai hal yang berbau Doraemon. Tidak banyak yang tahu bahwa sebenarnya anime-anime tersebut 50% pembuatannya ternyata dilakukan di Indonesia, tepatnya di Bali oleh perusahaan PT Marsa Juwita Indah. Hasil dari pekerjaan anak bangsa ini kemudian di kirimkan ke Jepang untuk disempurnakan ke tahap-tahap selanjutnya, lalu didistribusikan ke seluruh dunia. Animator di Indonesia juga mendapatkan tawaran dari Walt Disney.

Tidak banyak yang tahu juga bahwa Badan Antariksa Amerika Serikat (NASA) juga menggunakan teknologo buatan anak bangsa Indonesia yaitu teknologi pemindai atau Electrical Capacitance Volume Tomography (ECTV) yang dibuat oleh Warsito P. Taruno kelahiran Solo dari tugas akhirnya ketika menempuh studi di Fakultas Teknik Jurusan Kimia, Shizuoka University, Jepang.

Kita juga belum banyak yang tahu kalau seragam pasukan Amerika Serikat dan NATO dibuat oleh perusahaan – perusahaan dalam negeri di Jawa Barat dan Jawa Tengah.

Dalam diskusi di Metro TV tentang hubungan Uni Eropa dengan ASEAN/Indonesia baru-baru ini (16 Januari 2012), Duta Besar Uni Eropa untuk Indonesia Mr. Julian Wilson menjelaskan tentang posisi kuat Indonesia di perekonomian global karena banyak produk –produk di Eropa itu ternyata buatan Indonesia; beliau memberi contoh bahwa sayap pesawat terkenal Airbus itu dibuat di Indonesia. Kita tidak banyak yang tahu bahwa PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI) sudah melakukan kerja sama dengan Airbus untuk membuat 600 sayap kiri dan kanan Airbus A-380 yang dimulai tahun 2001.

Dan banyak lagi contoh-contoh dimana produk-produk branded dari luar negeri itu ternyata buatan Indonesia. Tapi – “nobody knows”; tentu kita tidak boleh menyalahkan sana-sini, yang penting seharusnya seluruh kementrian yang terkait, Asosiasi Pengusaha Indonesia, Kadin, Perusahaan-Perusahaan, Perguruan Tinggi dan Media bekerja bersama-sama dengan melakukan “high profile” public relations kepada public untuk menjelaskan karya anak-anak bangsa yang mengagumkan itu. Dengan demikian, ada kebanggaan tersendiri di dada anak bangsa ini.

Saya iri sekali dengan teman saya dari Jepang ketika sama-sama belajar di London dulu, dia berkata dengan bangga: “Cholis san, look those Japanese cars dominate that street!”. Saya punya obsesi suatu saat saya akan berkata pada dia: “look, your shoes, your watch, your lap top, your airlines are made in Indonesia!”

*Alumni Universitas Airlangga Surabaya dan University of London. Sekarang dosen di STIE PERBANAS Surabaya.

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Ada yang selalu saya tunggu ketika Hari Jadi TNI tiba, yakni menonton parade peralatan tempur TNI. Saya memang military-enthusiast sejak kecil dulu, dan saya selalu menyempatkan diri untuk membaca berita-berita terbaru mengenai peralatan2 tempur terbaru, terutama pesawat tempur dan tank.

Saya masih ingat ketika saya loncat-loncat kegirangan ketika TNI AU membeli Sukhoi SU-27 dan SU-30. Juga helikopter MI-17 yang dibeli TNI AD. Meski jumlahnya masih belum mencukupi, namun kemauan untuk memperkuat diri, membuat saya yakin bahwa dimasa datang, TNI akan menambah kekuatan armada tempurnya.

Saya selalu mengelus dada ketika setiap parade tank, yang muncul adalah tank ringan Scorpion yang…malu-maluin untuk negeri sebesar Indonesia.

(Tank Scorpion TNI AD..kekecilan untuk sebuah negara besar)

Saya sungguh kurang memahami kenapa tidak dari dulu Indonesia membeli Main Battle Tank (MBT) sekelas Abrams atau T-72. Karena, negara-negara yang secara luas dan populasi lebih kecil dari Indonesia, mereka mempunyai tank dengan ukuran besar. Singapura, salah satu negeri kecil di dunia, memiliki tank besar Leopard 2SG. Sementara Malaysia, memiliki PT-91 Twardy. Thailand mempunyai M60A3 dan T-84 Oplot. Mynamar, negeri yang kita anggap sedikit terbelakang ekonominya, ternyata punya beberapa tipe Main Battle Tank (MBT), mulai dari T-55 sampai T-72. Vietnam punya T-55M3.

(Malaysia dan Main Battle Tank-nya..PT-91 Twardy)

Jadi ketika Kemenhan berencana membeli 100 Main Battle Tank (MBT) Leopard 2A6, harapan kembali membuncah. Namun harapan itu mulai memudar seiring adanya penolakan orang yang tidak tahu menahu tentang militer, namun punya suara lantang dan posisi penting.

Hmmm…

(Malaysian tank image from here)

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