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.
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