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This chapter contains selected listings of some of the country’s top hotels, contact details for embassies, ministries and organisations, helpful tips for business and leisure travellers and other useful suggestions for travel to Indonesia.

This chapter examines the legal system of Indonesia, focusing on the issuance of Regulation No. 24 on Electronic Integrated Business Licensing Services. Under this regulation, a single online submission system was created to streamline the licensing process, combining licences for various regional and national institutions across a range of business sectors under one electronic system, and merging several licences into one. This chapter also contains a viewpoint from Teguh Maramis, Senior Partner, Lubis Santosa & Maramis.

This chapter offers an overview of Indonesia’s tax system, focusing on the revision of the tax holiday facility; the introduction of the online single submission system; measures taken to improve financial inclusion, such as Regulation No. 13/POJK.02/2018, which supervises and regulates financial technology; revisions made to Article 22 Income Tax provisions in order to manage imports that could affect the strength of the rupiah; adjustments to Article 31D of the Income Tax Law for the mining sector; and measures to increase transparency, such as The Law on Financial Information Access for Tax Purposes. This chapter also contains a viewpoint from Sharly Rungkat, Partner, Deals Strategy, PwC Indonesia.

Indonesia has entered the final stages of its universal health care system rollout, which is set to stimulate continued growth across the private sector. The public scheme will provide an alternative to the country’s private system, addressing the lack of access for Indonesians who cannot afford private coverage but do not qualify for state-funded care. Universal health care will encompass preventive treatment, emergency visits, prescriptions and other services, and the government hopes that increased access will improve the country’s public health indicators, including maternal and child mortality rates. Indonesia’s government allocates one-fifth of its budget to the education sector, with the goal of boosting its international rankings and pupils’ progress. However, certain challenges have impeded the full potential of this policy from being realised. For example, decentralisation of education policy undermines standardisation of curricula at all levels and creates regional disparities in teaching quality and student attainment. This chapter also contains interviews with Caroline Riady, CEO, Siloam Hospitals, and Muhammad Anis, Rector, University of Indonesia.

With an estimated 57m ha of agricultural lands, farming has long been the backbone of Indonesia’s economy. From small-scale farming to large commercial plantations, the sector employs around one-third of the workforce, is an important source of income for local households and has contributed much-needed export revenue. 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. However, there remain a number of challenges, including slow adoption of mechanisation and vulnerability to climate change. Rural income is predominately generated by small-scale growers who lack access to finance and technology, which limits their commercial viability. Nevertheless, the country’s vast areas of arable land and extensive marine resources, combined with a thriving tech innovation ecosystem, offer significant potential for long-term, value-added expansion. This chapter also contains an interview with Amran Sulaiman, Minister of Agriculture.

Boasting the world’s largest tropical coastline and renowned cultural heritage sites, Indonesia is becoming a leading tourism destination in South-east Asia. Strong gains have been noted internationally, with the World Economic Forum declaring Indonesia the region’s fourth-most-competitive destination after Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand in its most recent “Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report” for 2017. Globally, Indonesia ranked 42nd out of 136 economies, an increase of eight spots over 2016. Tourist arrivals have recorded gradual growth in recent years – with 14m and 15.8m in 2017 and 2018, respectively, according to the Ministry of Tourism – but a string of natural disasters and other challenges have impacted the achievement of certain targets. This chapter also contains interviews with Shirley Tan, CEO, Rajawali Property Group, and Henry Hendrawan, CFO, Traveloka.