Earlier this week, Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo's running mate Ma'ruf Amin - who is also the chief of the country's top Islamic clerical body, the Indonesian Council of Ulama (MUI) - revealed plans to make halal (permissible or lawful in traditional Islamic law) certification mandatory by next year.

Less than two weeks ago, Alibaba Group co-founder Jack Ma revealed that he was in discussion with the Indonesian government regarding the possibility of opening an institute to train tech entrepreneurs in the country. This, he said, would help Indonesia meet the skill demands of Industry 4.0, also known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).

A large part of the Muslim world views Israel as an illegitimate state and the people of Palestine as victims of human rights abuses and war crimes. Indonesia is home to the largest number of these ordinary, everyday Muslims and its leader, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has been placed in an extremely uncomfortable position after Israeli media recently reported Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as saying that he would work to establish strong diplomatic ties with the archipelagic state.

Similar to its Southeast Asian counterparts, Indonesia is carrying out ambitious infrastructure projects to transform and modernise the nation. The upgrading of Indonesia’s infrastructure is part of President Joko Widodo’s (Jokowi) Nawa Cita programme – a nine-pillar programme to develop Indonesia. Roughly translated as “Nine Hopes”, the President introduced the agenda when he was elected as the republic’s president in 2014.

Indonesia’s upcoming election will be fought on the economy and jobs, with the country’s ailing currency set to be a key issue, vice president candidate Sandiaga Uno said in his first interview with foreign media since joining the race.As Indonesia gears up for a long presidential campaign that begins on Sunday, the main opposition has outlined a platform that includes a shake-up of labour laws and measures aimed at boosting domestic and foreign investment.

Indonesia celebrates 73 years of independence today as a vibrant and powerful country, thanks in no small part to ASEAN.“As the largest country in ASEAN, Indonesia has benefitted greatly from the peace, stability, and expectation for economic growth that ASEAN promoted in the region,” said Professor Hidetoshi Nishimura, President of Jakarta-based think tank, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).ASEAN serves as a platform for discussion between leaders of member nations a

After several weeks of speculation, on 9 August, Indonesian President Joko Widodo finally announced 75-year-old Ma’ruf Amin as his running mate in the upcoming presidential elections. Jokowi officially announced Ma’ruf as his candidate for vice-president a day before political parties were required to shortlist names for the presidential race. Indonesia, the world’s third-largest democracy, is slated to hold its presidential elections in April next year.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s lone challenger in next year’s election, Prabowo Subianto, has a long way to go to catch up with the incumbent’s social media popularity as the candidates seek to seize early campaign momentum.Widodo, known as Jokowi, has 10.2 million followers on his personal Twitter account compared with 3.17 million for Subianto.

On 19 November 2014, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, the grandson of a tin miner from Guangzhou, China, was sworn in as the Governor of Jakarta by newly minted President Joko Widodo at the Indonesian capital’s State Palace, after serving as the city’s deputy governor for two years.The move was hailed as an epochal milestone for the ASEAN member state by the international community, with media watchdogs such as Time Magazine and the New York Times lauding it as a long-overdue step forward in the strug

 Indonesia is an archipelago that is made up of over 16,000 islands, many of them with their own unique attractions from diving spots with diverse marine life, beautiful beaches with pristine waters and places with rich histories. Examples of such places include Borobudur, Morotai Islands and Labuan Bajau. While such places are beautiful in their own right, many of them remain unknown and under the radar.