Prabowo’s First Weeks
November 2024 Commentary by Wayne Forrest President Prabowo began his Presidency mostly traveling outside of Indonesia, signaling the importance of repositioning the world’s fourth largest nation in front of its major sources of trade and investment. On November 8, only 2 weeks after his inauguration the President headed first to China to meet Xi Jinping […]
August Surprise
September 2024 Commentary by Wayne Forrest The last week of August in the US is slow and sleepy; most people are on vacation. Its very possible some Outlook/ Indonesia readers missed the fireworks in Indonesia. On August 22 the country erupted in major protests after the nation’s Parliament attempted to pass legislation to overturn an […]
Indonesia is Better Than This
Indonesia Is Better Than This Commentary by Wayne Forrest 45 years ago, when I first lived in Indonesia, I naively thought by 2024 it would be further along on its development pathway, that most houses would have running water, electricity, and its children educated to the 12th grade. I felt certain that its size, democracy, […]
Idealism and Realism Meet in Indonesia’s New Capital
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What is Indonesia’s Development Model
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Third Time A Charm
Third Time A Charm Commentary by Wayne Forrest Based on the quick counts Prabowo Subianto is predicted to be Indonesia’s next President, winning close to 60% of the vote; there will not be a July runoff. (Indonesia’s quick counts are reliable but official results will be released March 20.) The perennial candidate, 72, Prabowo takes […]
Indonesia’s Response to Hamas Attacks
Indonesia’s Response to Hamas Attacks Commentary by Wayne Forrest A few days ago Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo said that the Israel-Gaza conflict should be resolved according to United Nations-agreed parameters regarding “Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands.” In his first public comments since Hamas fighters attacked southern Israel from the Gaza Strip Jokowi urged both sides […]
Recent Trends
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 China’s […]
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 economic […]
Rubber is the Pathway to Indonesia’s EV Future
Rubber is the Pathway to Indonesia’s EV Future Commentary by Wayne Forrest I am a little tired of all the attention EV’s are getting. Their emergence in the world’s marketplace has energized countries, no pun intended, all over the world including Indonesia. Everyone wants to make them or their batteries, creating new jobs in a […]