Indonesia

An increasingly prominent and disruptive force in the financial services sector, financial technology (fintech) comprises any innovative or technology-based financial service offered to consumers or businesses. Often viewed as a competitor to traditional financial service providers, fintech fills gaps left by the formal sector, offering an important avenue to boost financial inclusion in a...

Twenty years on from a severe financial crisis the effects of which still define the industry, the banking sector in Indonesia is crowded but rich in opportunity. A diverse array of banks and non-bank financial institutions vie for existing customers and work to attract new ones, in what remains a lightly penetrated market. With the world’s fourth-largest population, Indonesia is seen as...

Indonesia is one of the world’s richest countries in terms of natural resources. With extensive oil, gas and solid mineral deposits, it is also one of the largest global economies. In 2017 the economy passed the $1trn mark, making it the 16th largest in the world. Its growing middle class, emphasis on industrialisation and services, and drive to improve infrastructure are laying the...

Although Indonesia’s export receipts hit a five-year high in 2018, imports surged as the country moved to deliver a massive infrastructure development programme, bringing the trade deficit to an all-time high after three years of surplus. The country remains dependent on raw commodities for much of its export revenues; global commodity price volatility has weighed on the trade balance in...

While the Republic of Indonesia is just over seven decades old in its current form, the South-east Asian nation of more than 17,000 islands has a much longer history. The name Indonesia was first used in 1850 by British anthropologist James Richardson Logan in reference to the extensive group of islands that was known at the time as the Indian or Malay Archipelago. Archaeological analysis...