American Indonesian Chamber of Commerce
As President Obama prepares to receive most of Southeast Asia's heads of state at the US-ASEAN Summit February 15-16 in Rancho Mirage I am thinking of a recently fallen friend of AICC, Duane Gingerich, who passed away last Friday. President Obama had it right several years ago when he coined the "pivot to Asia" policy,
Indonesia has released the second of three deregulation/stimulus packages designed to boost a flagging economy and strengthen the exchange rate. The first (released September 10) was primarily an exercise in reducing red tape and regulatory confusion in the trade arena and did not garner a lot of attention and praise, perhaps because its hard to
August 7, 2015President Jokowi traveled to the Banggai Regency in central Sulawesi this week to inaugurate the $5.8 billion "Pertamina Mega Integrated Project", which is planned to match the upstream production of natural gas with downstream users. The visit follows other forays of the President around the country to jump start other infrastructure projects including:
June 30, 2105The serious Cabinet reshuffle rumors began in June: in Indonesia, they are part of the air one breaths. An underwhelming economic performance would prompt President Jokowi to reshuffle his Cabinet after Lebaran (end of the Muslim fasting month on July 18), especially his economic team. The economy is, given Indonesia's potential, standing still,
Indonesia's first President became so frustrated with the "West" that he famously declared " go to hell with your aid". A combination of the Cold War and misjudgments of Soekarno's complex ideology (mixing capitalism and socialism) led the US and other countries down several dead ends that almost capsized relations completely. The late 1950's and
President Jokowi is likely to travel to the US for his first official visit to Washington in early June. President Obama no doubt wants to hear Indonesia's President describe his country, his plans for its economic future and how the US fits in. What might Jokowi tell President Obama about today's Indonesia? He will
Commentary by Wayne ForrestSince taking office in October President Jokowi has not waited for Parliament, using his executive powers to reset Indonesia's course. He is turning out to be savvier then many gave him credit for. 2015 could mark the beginning of a positive new chapter in Indonesia's economic development. Although only a short amount
Politics in Indonesia is about to become a whole lot more interesting. Late last Friday while President SBY was in DC --after addressing the UN Global Climate Change Summit in NY--Indonesia's Parliament voted to end the direct election of district heads, mayors, and provincial governors. Touted in 2004 as a further improvement and maturation of Indonesia's
I have been watching the rupiah flirt with 12,000, remembering 1998 time when it dropped from 2400 to 15,000, and the long period in 2010 and 2011 when it was steady at 8,800-9200. Its tough to see the currency move lower and growth rates in the 5% range when its generally known that Indonesia's population
CEO Notes Bima Puntadewa Indonesia’s Presidential campaign has now kicked off in earnest and although the two candidates don't have too many differences over the substance of their economic policies, they do differ markedly in character and personality. And its character
