Issue To Watch: Outlook for 2023 Commentary by Wayne Forrest As we predicted last January, Indonesia’s 2022 economic performance outstripped 2021, itself a return to growth following the first year of the pandemic. It was more than just government spending and higher mineral prices that helped boost GDP to over 5.0% by Q3: manufacturing
Commentary by Wayne Forrest Indonesia lost an important case at the WTO filed by the European Union (EU) on November 30 over its nickel export ban dating back to 2019. The importance of the case has less to do with nickel than other products. President Jokowi had anticipated the result in September of this
November 2022 Issue To Watch: Halloween, Inflation, and the Quantity Theory of Money by Wayne Forrest We’ve just experienced a Halloween in which frightful fantasies become reality as the young seek happiness, expecting they are protected, but they are not. Who knew that the American costume and candy holiday (at one time it raised
October 2022 Issue To Watch: The Increasing Role of Indonesia's State-Owned Enterprises Commentary by Wayne Forrest You send your kids to school in America, thinking they’re safe, and then a shooting occurs. In Indonesia, it could be a flood collapsing a school’s wall. America’s infrastructure issues are internal, between our ears; in Indonesia, they’re
SEPTEMBER 2022 Issue To Watch: Indonesia After 3 Years Commentary by Wayne Forrest It was wonderful to be in Indonesia for two weeks in August for the first time in three years. Not only did I see old friends and make new ones, I had a chance to travel on one of the many
February 2022 Reforming the Sembako Economy Although Indonesia actively courts an image of a modernizing economy interested to develop high technologies, such as the electric vehicles, contrasting narratives often occur reminding us that the nation’s underpinning as well as the core interests of its people remain the sembako (9 basic daily necessities): rice, salt,
Tolerance/Intolerance Commentary by Wayne Forrest The uptick of attacks against Asian Americans is a sickening reminder of the intolerance that raises its head all too often in the US. Indonesian Americans have been attacked, as well as Americans with Chinese, Filipino, and other heritages. AICC stands decidedly against these outrageous acts. AICC was established
The principals of 5 US-Indonesia organizations with Vice President Jusuf Kalla and US Ambassador Joseph Donovan Commentary by Wayne Forrest Indonesia seemed to be exhibiting multiple personalities during my visit last week as it simultaneously hosted a major athletic event(Asian Para Olympic Games) and banking event (World bank/IMF Annual Meetings) while organizing
REMOVING A PEBBLE IN THE SHOE Commentary by Wayne Forrest Back in the Soeharto era, Indonesia’s very gifted diplomat, Ali Alatas, used to say about East Timor ( a province with a strong separatist movement that caused major diplomatic problems) that it was “the pebble in Indonesia’s shoe”. East Timor achieved independence after Soeharto’s
Which Way is the Wind Blowing by Wayne Forrest Recently Moody’s and Fitch curiously upgraded their Indonesia sovereign rating while the government fixed energy and electricity prices for two years, placing the large obligations of state-owned Pertamina and PLN at risk. Meanwhile the rupiah and stock market indexes are trending south but Bank Indonesia