About Indonesia
Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia and Ocenia. Indonesia comprises 17,508 islands and 33 provinces. With over 238 million people, it is the world's fourth most populous country, and has the world's largest population of muslim. Indonesia is a republic, with an elected legislature and president with Jakarta as the capital city. Indonesia has a great potential to be one of the biggest nation in the world if government want to achieve it seriously.
Indonesian Culture
Indonesia, a vast polyglot nation is very rich of cultures because it’s an archipelago country. Indonesian culture has been shaped by long interaction between original indigenous customs and multiple foreign influences. Indonesia is central along ancient trading routes between the Far East and the Middle East, resulting in many cultural practices being strongly influenced by a multitude of religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Islam, all strong in the major trading cities. The result is a complex cultural mixture very different from the original indigenous cultures. This is one of Indonesian potentials to be well-know in the world by promoting the amount of cultures that Indonesia has, which can attract many tourists from all around the world and bring more incomes for Indonesian government.
About Economy
Furthermore, The Indonesian economy is the world's eighteenth largest economy by nominal GDP and fifteenth largest by purchasing power parity. has weathered the global financial crisis relatively smoothly because of its heavy reliance on domestic consumption as the driver of economic growth. Although the economy slowed significantly in 2009 from the 6%-plus growth rate recorded in 2007 and 2008, by 2010 growth returned to a 6% rate. During the recession, Indonesia outperformed its regional neighbors and joined China and India as the only G20 members posting growth. The government made economic advances under the first administration of President SBY, introducing significant reforms in the financial sector, including tax and customs reforms, the use of Treasury bills, and capital market development and supervision. Indonesia's debt-to-GDP ratio in recent years has declined steadily because of increasingly robust GDP growth and sound fiscal stewardship. Economic experts predict that Indonesia will grow on average 4% higher than the average of G7 countries in the next decade. As a result, they will contribute 50% of global economic growth from 2010 to 2020 compared to the G7 contribution of 14%. Prediction about Indonesia’s economy is in line with Indonesia’s solid economic performance. In the past years Indonesia’s economy has been in the spotlight. It has not only achieved an average growth rate of 5.5% per annum but also showed resilience during the economic turbulence of 2008. In fact, Indonesia grew at 6.1% in 2010, beating analysts’ predictions and government expectations.
Challenges
However, If we view Indonesia through the eyes of the international media, it is sound both economically and politically. Some colleagues say that Indonesia is the darling of the international media. However, when we observe Indonesia through the eyes of the domestic media, the impression will be different. Problems exist in politics and economics as well as the social arena. Despite the different message, both the international and national media are talking about the same country, but from different perspectives – macro and micro. From a distance, Indonesia looks perfect; however if we take a look at the detail, we will easily notice challenges. Even without a deep and comprehensive survey, we can sense these challenges since they are very obvious. They include the inefficient bureaucracy, terrible infrastructure, poverty and high unemployment. Beside all the good macro data, a significant portion of Indonesians are not fortunate enough to enjoy the growing economic pie. In general, it depends on where they live and what they do to earn a living because the situation varies by province and economic sector. In general, those who live in Sulawesi, Kalimantan and Maluku are luckier than those who live in Java, Nusa Tenggara and Sumatra. The economies in the first group grow faster and poverty has declined significantly in the past few years. Economic sector imbalance is also very obvious. For instance, despite its role in providing 40% of total employment, agriculture (including fishery, forestry and husbandry) represents only 16% of GDP. This contrasts with other sectors such as mining which constitutes around 1.3% of total jobs but represents 11.9% of GDP. Central Statistic Bureau data shows that those who work in the mining sector tend to be best off, followed by those in financial services, construction, manufacturing, transportation and communication, other services, trading and finally agriculture.
Macro-micro disconnect
A disconnect between macro and micro occurs in Indonesia. The performance at the macro level is not mirrored by the situation at the micro level. In this sense, Indonesia’s situation is rather critical. Thirty million Indonesians, including most of the 45 million who work in the agriculture sector, live on Rp211,000 or $23 per month. The discussion will be very lengthy if we address other aspects such as unemployment, health and education. The macro-micro disconnect is real. However, the strong macroeconomy is a blessing. It gives government the flexibility and resources to ensure that macro success trickles down to the micro level. Various subsidies for poor families and incentives should be implemented to stimulate the economy. Expensive but poorly targeted programs such as fuel and electricity subsidies should be replaced by a more targeted program. A fuel subsidy for public transport, subsidized fertilizers and seeds, larger cash transfers for the poor, inexpensive education, affordable and accessible microcredit and affordable healthcare for the poor are some ideas which need to be explored further.
Our Hope
We are optimistic that the national economic growth will continue to increase every year. Even foreign observers have predicted that Indonesia will soon become main part of the global economic powers. However, if government does not care about the poor, probably only a handful of Indonesian will have a great future of their economics while the rest will be left behind.
Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia and Ocenia. Indonesia comprises 17,508 islands and 33 provinces. With over 238 million people, it is the world's fourth most populous country, and has the world's largest population of muslim. Indonesia is a republic, with an elected legislature and president with Jakarta as the capital city. Indonesia has a great potential to be one of the biggest nation in the world if government want to achieve it seriously.
Indonesian Culture
Indonesia, a vast polyglot nation is very rich of cultures because it’s an archipelago country. Indonesian culture has been shaped by long interaction between original indigenous customs and multiple foreign influences. Indonesia is central along ancient trading routes between the Far East and the Middle East, resulting in many cultural practices being strongly influenced by a multitude of religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Islam, all strong in the major trading cities. The result is a complex cultural mixture very different from the original indigenous cultures. This is one of Indonesian potentials to be well-know in the world by promoting the amount of cultures that Indonesia has, which can attract many tourists from all around the world and bring more incomes for Indonesian government.
About Economy
Furthermore, The Indonesian economy is the world's eighteenth largest economy by nominal GDP and fifteenth largest by purchasing power parity. has weathered the global financial crisis relatively smoothly because of its heavy reliance on domestic consumption as the driver of economic growth. Although the economy slowed significantly in 2009 from the 6%-plus growth rate recorded in 2007 and 2008, by 2010 growth returned to a 6% rate. During the recession, Indonesia outperformed its regional neighbors and joined China and India as the only G20 members posting growth. The government made economic advances under the first administration of President SBY, introducing significant reforms in the financial sector, including tax and customs reforms, the use of Treasury bills, and capital market development and supervision. Indonesia's debt-to-GDP ratio in recent years has declined steadily because of increasingly robust GDP growth and sound fiscal stewardship. Economic experts predict that Indonesia will grow on average 4% higher than the average of G7 countries in the next decade. As a result, they will contribute 50% of global economic growth from 2010 to 2020 compared to the G7 contribution of 14%. Prediction about Indonesia’s economy is in line with Indonesia’s solid economic performance. In the past years Indonesia’s economy has been in the spotlight. It has not only achieved an average growth rate of 5.5% per annum but also showed resilience during the economic turbulence of 2008. In fact, Indonesia grew at 6.1% in 2010, beating analysts’ predictions and government expectations.
Challenges
However, If we view Indonesia through the eyes of the international media, it is sound both economically and politically. Some colleagues say that Indonesia is the darling of the international media. However, when we observe Indonesia through the eyes of the domestic media, the impression will be different. Problems exist in politics and economics as well as the social arena. Despite the different message, both the international and national media are talking about the same country, but from different perspectives – macro and micro. From a distance, Indonesia looks perfect; however if we take a look at the detail, we will easily notice challenges. Even without a deep and comprehensive survey, we can sense these challenges since they are very obvious. They include the inefficient bureaucracy, terrible infrastructure, poverty and high unemployment. Beside all the good macro data, a significant portion of Indonesians are not fortunate enough to enjoy the growing economic pie. In general, it depends on where they live and what they do to earn a living because the situation varies by province and economic sector. In general, those who live in Sulawesi, Kalimantan and Maluku are luckier than those who live in Java, Nusa Tenggara and Sumatra. The economies in the first group grow faster and poverty has declined significantly in the past few years. Economic sector imbalance is also very obvious. For instance, despite its role in providing 40% of total employment, agriculture (including fishery, forestry and husbandry) represents only 16% of GDP. This contrasts with other sectors such as mining which constitutes around 1.3% of total jobs but represents 11.9% of GDP. Central Statistic Bureau data shows that those who work in the mining sector tend to be best off, followed by those in financial services, construction, manufacturing, transportation and communication, other services, trading and finally agriculture.
Macro-micro disconnect
A disconnect between macro and micro occurs in Indonesia. The performance at the macro level is not mirrored by the situation at the micro level. In this sense, Indonesia’s situation is rather critical. Thirty million Indonesians, including most of the 45 million who work in the agriculture sector, live on Rp211,000 or $23 per month. The discussion will be very lengthy if we address other aspects such as unemployment, health and education. The macro-micro disconnect is real. However, the strong macroeconomy is a blessing. It gives government the flexibility and resources to ensure that macro success trickles down to the micro level. Various subsidies for poor families and incentives should be implemented to stimulate the economy. Expensive but poorly targeted programs such as fuel and electricity subsidies should be replaced by a more targeted program. A fuel subsidy for public transport, subsidized fertilizers and seeds, larger cash transfers for the poor, inexpensive education, affordable and accessible microcredit and affordable healthcare for the poor are some ideas which need to be explored further.
Our Hope
We are optimistic that the national economic growth will continue to increase every year. Even foreign observers have predicted that Indonesia will soon become main part of the global economic powers. However, if government does not care about the poor, probably only a handful of Indonesian will have a great future of their economics while the rest will be left behind.
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