All Countries and All Sectors

When Joko Widodo rode to power on a wave of pro-business rhetoric in Indonesia’s 2014 presidential election, a key plank of his economic development platform was rooted in shoring up the country’s outdated and inadequate infrastructure. Now firmly entrenched at the country’s helm, the Widodo administration is going to significant lengths to make good on these campaign promises by channelling...

Development of Indonesia’s energy sector to meet rapidly rising demand and sustain economic growth is arguably the most daunting challenge facing the administration of President Joko Widodo. A combination of economic growth, increased urbanization and cheap energy supplies, resulting from fuel and electricity subsidies, has led to sharp demand growth. Total primary energy consumption has risen...

With strong premiums growth in recent years, a liberal investment environment and a low penetration rate, Indonesia’s insurance sector is poised for a period of rapid expansion. A slight market slowdown in 2013-14 – due in large part to regional economic volatility – appears to have reversed course in the first half of 2016, with positive implications for the country’s insurers, particularly...

With rising levels of public participation, a robust regulatory framework and high profitability at most institutions, Indonesia’s banking sector performed strongly in 2015-16, building on nearly a decade of expansion and rapidly increasing returns. The sector comprises 118 commercial banks and more than 1600 rural regional banks – the latter of which are allowed to operate only in a...

While 2015 was widely regarded as a rough patch for Indonesia’s capital markets, on a medium- and long-term basis the market has posted significant growth. From 2005 through to the end of 2015, the Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) – the market benchmark for the Indonesia Stock Exchange – rose around four-fold, or 15% per annum, according to data provided by the exchange. Indeed, over the past...

During the years of former President Suharto’s rule, Indonesia’s political and economic power was concentrated in Jakarta. But with democratisation has come decentralisation, a trend that has gathered momentum since direct local elections were introduced in 2005, in turn creating a new breed of grassroots politician. After all, it was President Joko Widodo’s success as a mayor, first in Solo...