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Aiming to bring its population of more than 250m under coverage by 2019, Indonesia continues to roll out its universal health care programme, or Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional (JKN). State-driven developments, as well as activity in the private sector, are triggering impressive growth across the health industry. According to estimates from consultancy Frost and Sullivan, the value of Indonesia’s health care market will reach $21bn in 2019, up from $7bn in 2014. However, government expenditure on health care remains relatively low at just 3.6% of GDP, one of the lowest rates in South-east Asia. In the years to come, greater investment will be vital as demand for services, facilities and equipment increases under JKN. This chapter contains an interview with Fachmi Idris, President Director, BPJS Kesehatan.

Sustained by a diverse landscape, Indonesia’s agriculture sector has long been an important source of income for local households and has contributed much-needed export revenue. The sector has historically served as a pillar of the Indonesian economy, but has yet to achieve its full potential, though significant progress has been made in recent years under the business-orientated administration of President Joko Widodo. Partly as a result of adopting business-friendly initiatives, the sector has been able to attract necessary investment, which in turn is helping to bridge structural gaps. In order to address challenges to the sector the administration of President Widodo has increased the use of mechanised agricultural technology, invested in infrastructure and expanded the total area of farming land. This chapter contains an interview with Amran Sulaiman, Minister of Agriculture.

Considered a powerhouse in the realm of mineral production, Indonesia’s mining sector has long served as a key pillar of economic expansion, acting as a significant contributor to GDP by attracting much-needed export dollars, while also creating employment opportunities across the nation’s diverse landscape. However, soft commodity prices, declining demand from China and regulatory changes intended to promote the down-stream industry have seen the sector’s contribution decline in recent years. Despite this trend, the country’s substantial mineral and coal reserves remain attractive assets. In order to further monetise these resources and create more viable investment opportunities, policymakers are addressing regulatory shortcomings, and reducing the perceived risk of investing in the country.

Despite a range of economic and political challenges both at the national level and across the region, Indonesia’s tourism industry posted strong growth in most segments in 2016. According to data from the Ministry of Tourism (MoT), the country welcomed 12.02m foreign visitors, an increase of more than 15% on 2015. This figure matches almost exactly the government’s target of 12m tourist arrivals for the year. With this in mind, it was perhaps not surprising when in late December 2016 Arief Yahya, minister of tourism, announced that Indonesia had upped the ante further, targeting 15m tourist arrivals for 2017. This chapter contains interviews with Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General, UN World Tourism Organisation; and Bram Hendrata, Managing Director, Ismaya Group.

Following several years of robust expansion supported by the launch and implementation of a major public infrastructure programme emphasising significant new transportation, utilities and social infrastructure builds, Indonesia’s construction industry is set to remain on a rapid growth path. State-owned enterprises continue to dominate the construction landscape, although the government has increasingly sought private sector participation in new builds. A growing middle class and rising levels of urbanisation have supported rapid real estate growth, and there remains substantial room for expansion in the coming years. While a commodities price crash and macroeconomic slowdown weighed on growth between 2013 and 2015, the sector began to regain its footing in 2016, with property sales forecast to rise for the first time in six years in 2017. This chapter contains interviews with Wong Head Fine, Group CEO, Surbana Jurong; and Michael Widjaja, Group CEO, Sinar Mas Land.

Driven by rising demand for new, affordable technology products and services among the nation’s large youth population, as well as increased investments by both the state and the private sector, Indonesia’s ICT sector expanded rapidly in 2016 and the first half of 2017. By January 2017 Indonesia’s mobile connectivity penetration rate – a measure of the number of mobile subscriptions as a percentage of total population – stood at 142%, which was among the highest in the region and up considerably from as recently as two years ago. This chapter contains interviews with Anthony Tan, Group CEO, Grab; and Safdar Khan, Division President for Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei, Mastercard.