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This chapter examines Indonesia’s tax regime, focusing on a newly improved amnesty facility, income tax breaks available for pioneer industries, a new effort to improve data collection and processing, and the reduction of luxury goods tax for certain products. It also contains a viewpoint from Ay-Tjhing Phan, Tax Leader, PwC Indonesia.

This chapter gives an overview of Indonesia’s legal system, focusing primarily on new policies that aim to improve the business environment, processing time for investment licences, sectors opening to foreign investment, business start-up costs, and other subjects of interest to investors. It also contains a viewpoint from Todung Mulya Lubis, Senior Partner, Lubis, Santosa & Maramis, on welcoming foreign direct investment.

Over the past few decades, Indonesia has made enormous strides in ensuring most of its children get a basic education. Now the focus turns to quality, and preparing children and young adults for life in the 21st century. President Joko Widodo made education a key part of his election campaign and, after he took office in October 2014, embarked on a series of reforms designed not only to make the education system more appropriate for contemporary Indonesia, but also to help the government meet its goal of raising per capita incomes from $3500 in 2011 to $14,250-15,000 by 2025. This chapter contains an interview with Djisman Simandjuntak, Rector, Prasetiya Mulya University.

The year 2016 marks the second year of the rollout of universal health care, known locally as JKN, which aims to cover a population of approximately 260m by 2019. While millions have already been brought under coverage, reaching the whole population of an archipelago that contains 6000 inhabited islands will be no easy feat. Still, hopes are high for JKN. With greater access driving greater need for services, the government and its private sector partners are prioritising the expansion of health care infrastructure and the training and recruitment of medical professionals. Meanwhile, the country’s ageing population and shifting disease profile are triggering demand for specialised care and equipment in facilities. As the government works to offset the effects of global economic headwinds on its energy and industry sectors, health is increasingly viewed as an area that can help sustain growth and draw investor interest. This chapter contains interviews with Nila Moeloek, Minister of Health; and Romeo Lledo, President-Director, Siloam Hospitals.

In spite of a raft of strategic development plans laying out a path towards a more diversified, modern economy with greater contributions from high-value-added industries, agriculture remains a fundamental sector for the country in both financial and social terms. Indonesia’s expansive territory and favourable soil and climate have given rise to a host of homegrown agro-industrial giants as well as drawing the attention of some of the world’s largest international food processors. Valued at Rp1560trn ($113.9bn), the agriculture sector comprised 13.5% of Indonesia’s GDP in 2015, according to data from the Bank of Indonesia. Led by the palm oil segment, plantation crops accounted for the greatest percentage of this figure in 2015, being valued at Rp411.9trn ($30.1bn), and followed closely by food crops at Rp393.4trn ($28.7bn). This chapter contains an interview with Arif Rachmat, CEO, Triputra Agro Persada.