About wayne-forrest2

Wayne Forrest is President of the American Indonesian Chamber of Commerce, a private not for profit membership organization based in NY.

Issue To Watch: Two Nations Adopting Industrial Policies

  Commentary by Wayne Forrest Indonesia and the US are two nations that share many characteristics: large agricultural exporters, similar mottoes (Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, Unity in Diversity, E Pluribus Unum, Out of Many One), diversity of ethnic groups and languages; big producers of oil, gas, and minerals; colonial pasts, multiple time zones, huge appetites for

Outlook for 2023

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

Indonesia Stubs Its Toe at the WTO

 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

Halloween, Inflation, and the Quantity Theory of Money

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

INCREASING ROLE OF INDONESIA’S STATE ENTERPRISES

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

INDONESIA AFTER 3 YEARS

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

Jokowi on the World Stage

July 2022 JOKOWI ON THE WORLD STAGE Commentary by Wayne Forrest It has been many years since an Indonesian leader actively engaged in global affairs and its current President has scrupulously avoided many international engagements because of his singular focus on improving the nation’s infrastructure and economy. President Jokowi recently departed from this scenario,

CHALLENGE TO NEUTRALITY

May 2022  CHALLENGE TO NEUTRALITY Commentary by Wayne Forrest Since 1966 Indonesia has always often prioritized development over geopolitics. Other than its early years, Indonesia has usually kept a low profile internationally, subscribing to an international, mostly Western-driven, common consensus. Its famed practical neutrality is now being challenged by not just the Ukraine War

War In Ukraine

March 2022 WAR IN UKRAINE Some tell me the current thinking in Jakarta is that the Ukraine War is a two-month affair, a view I suspect may be wishful thinking. The conflict may not be affecting Indonesia yet, but it will have to navigate a riskier environment, especially the longer the war lasts. No matter

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Reforming the Sembako Economy

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,

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