Recent Trends As Indonesia moves closer towards a pivotal national election, I thought it might be useful to set out a few trends to keep in mind going forward. Economic China: As Indonesia’s most important economic partner, China will remain key to Indonesia’s future. China is Indonesia largest two-way trading partner and Indonesia’s is
Democracy and Development
Democracy and Development Indonesians are worried about democracy and development, or at the least those that work at Indonesia’s leading English language publication, The Jakarta Post, and spoke at its 40th anniversary event: “The Sustainability of Democracy in Southeast Asia”. The event and subsequent editorials show significant concern over the direction of democracy and
Which Way
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
Indonesia’s Ticking Time Bomb
Commentary by Wayne Forrest I fear a ticking time bomb could soon explode in Indonesia. Its probably not what you think; its not a natural disaster or mass movement based on religion. It has to do with natural resources and the origins of the American Indonesian Chamber of Commerce (AICC) and some of its founding
Return of Paternalist Capitalism
A commonly held view of Indonesia's recent, more protectionist policy decisions (i.e. mineral export bans, beef and horticulture import restrictions, mining divestment rules) is that they are motivated by populist politics leading to the 2014 election. Followers of this view say that once the election is over, Indonesian policymaking will somehow shift back to