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The government would soon extend a series of tax breaks issued to counter the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic to all sectors, eyeing to inject $2.3 billion into Southeast Asia's largest economy for the next six months, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said on Wednesday. The news managed to boost the Indonesia Stock Exchange on Thursday, with the benchmark index rising 0.9 percent to 4,610 at the lunch break.  Last month, the government issued tax breaks for 19 subsectors in the manufacturing industry to ensure companies would have enough cash to see out the coronavirus crisis. Since then, many other businesses have asked for similar incentives to help them cope with slowing demand during the coronavirus pandemic.  Sri Mulyani said the government will revise a ministerial ...

Indonesia insurtech Qoala has successfully closed a $13.5 million Series A funding round, the largest raised by an Insurtech from Indonesia, the startup announced on Tuesday in a statement. The round was led by Centauri Fund, a $150 million growth-stage joint-venture between South Korea’s KB Financial Group and Telkom Indonesia. It also saw participation from new investors Sequoia India, Flourish Ventures, and Mirae Asset Management, which join existing investors Surge, MassMutual Ventures, Seedplus, Central Capital Ventura (Bank BCA fund), MDI Ventures. During the present crisis we are seeing an increased demand for innovative and scalable services to support the industry as physical contact restrictions are impacting traditional offline sales of insurance,» said Qoala co-founder Tommy Ma...

Starbucks is to partner with investment company Sequoia Capital to invest in new technologies which will accelerate the company’s digital innovation in Mainland China.  The two companies plan to focus on next-generation food and retail technology companies whose products will help Starbucks grow the coffee and retail industry in China, one of its fastest-growing markets globally. An early focus will be opportunities to embed digital technologies across Starbucks’ retail business, making the most of data-driven analytics, modelling and decision making.  “These may entail adopting creative solutions to enhance front- and back-of-house operations, such as the use of machine learning and predictive intelligence tools in managing Starbucks growing retail operations in China, or the optimisation...