TensionsTensions have risen in Southeast Asia over the past week, particularly in Myanmar and the Philippines. Scores of Rohingya refugees who were fleeing their homeland in northern Rakhine state of Myanmar found themselves stranded at the Bangladeshi border.
As China’s burgeoning class of affluent travellers seek out more exotic destinations, Indonesia is cashing in.China is on track to become the biggest tourist market for Indonesia for the first time this year, overtaking Singapore. That’s after a 46 percent surge in visitors from the world’s second-largest economy to 1.4 million in the first eight months of the year.
Indonesia’s success in taming consumer prices provides room for lower interest rates, President Joko Widodo said, while making it clear that it was the job of the central bank to determine whether to cut.Inflation will average less than four percent this year, down from more than eight percent in 2014 when he took office, Widodo – also known as Jokowi – said in an interview at Huta Ginjang, overlooking the picturesque Lake Toba, where he had been to open a newly upgraded airport nearby.
Indonesia will turn to private investors for the hundreds of billions of dollars in investment needed to develop the archipelago’s infrastructure and natural resources, President Joko Widodo said, brushing off claims he was increasingly becoming an economic nationalist.All major projects will be offered to the private sector, Widodo, also known as Jokowi, told Bloomberg Television’s Haslinda Amin on Saturday in an interview on a hilltop overlooking the picturesque Lake Toba.
Indonesia is on track to become a trillion-dollar economy and should be the envy of Southeast Asia. Yet on some key measures, the region’s biggest economy is falling behind.The nation lags its neighbours on infrastructure development, faces a fiscal shortfall that’s heaping pressure on the state budget and still has 28 million people living in poverty.
South Korean President, Moon Jae-in will be visiting three ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries next month – namely Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines for the first time since assuming office in May this year.His visit to Indonesia on the November 8 will kickstart the three-nation tour of the region where he is scheduled to meet his Indonesian counterpart – President Joko Widodo – and is expected to hold a summit in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta.
If India’s experience of selling local-currency notes in the overseas market is anything to go by, Indonesia’s plan to issue Komodo bonds may not be all plain sailing.The sovereign is mulling a sale of offshore rupiah-denominated bonds, and three state-owned infrastructure companies are considering issuance in coming months.
Almost four million new jobs, rising wages and eight interest-rate cuts in Indonesia should have been enough to spur consumers into action in the world’s fourth most populous nation.Instead, an increasing number of people are keeping a tight grip on their purse strings and putting their money in the bank, leaving policy makers and economists perplexed.
Big-name investors including Expedia and Alibaba are pumping billions of dollars into Indonesian tech start-ups in a bid to capitalise on the country’s burgeoning digital economy and potential as Southeast Asia’s largest online market.Indonesia has seen a surge of cash into its technology sector over the past two years, helping support dozens of homegrown start-ups ranging from ride hailing apps to e-commerce firms.And with a population of more than 250 million, a swelling middle class and gr
Brunei's all-powerful sultan will mark 50 years on the throne Thursday with lavish celebrations including a glittering procession, a 21-gun salute and a ceremony at his vast, golden-domed palace.The festivities for Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah – which will include the monarch being carried past huge crowds of well-wishers in a chariot – are the centrepiece of events to mark his golden jubilee.The 71-year-old, the world's second-longest reigning monarch, ascended to the throne of the tiny
Two decades since its independence, Indonesia experienced one of its darkest chapters of the nation’s 72-year history. While some justified it as an act of nationalism, many others are still haunted by the memory till today.In 1965, Indonesian politics headed down a much darker path. Led by Kusno Sosrodihardjo – better known as Sukarno – Indonesia’s first appointed president, the government was infiltrated by communists and their sympathisers.
Indonesia’s e-commerce market is targeted to grow from 19 billion dollars in 2016 to 130 billion dollars in 2020, according to data obtained from Indonesia’s ICT (Information and Communications Technology) Ministry. This puts Indonesia ahead in terms of digital economy growth against its other ASEAN counterparts – with a year-on-year growth of 51 percent. Indonesia’s growing digital economy is riding on its fast-growing usage of smartphones – which amounted to 71 million users in 2016.
