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Since the monetary crisis in 1997, Indonesian economy faltered due to the chaos of political and social situations caused by the rapid democratization. However, being the administration of President Yudhoyono who was elected through the Presidential Election by first direct referendum in Indonesia, its political and social situations have been stabilized, consumer spending has also done well, and direct investment amount from overseas has been restored at the level of one’s before the monetary crisis.
Corruption Eradication Campaign, which has just started, has produced a steady flow of successful results. Regarding the security matters, major tops of Islamic extremist who were key plotters of many terror attacks since Bali Bombings in October, 2002, have been exposed or shot dead by the National Police, which shows great progress for security stabilization.
By the general election in July, 2009, President Yudhoyono has been reelected showing overwhelming strength and would further stabilize political, social and security situations and further expand corruption eradication campaign by prosecuting his policy path taken in the last 5 years.
Under the circumstances, Indonesia is currently brought to international attention as a growing country after BRICs. As the coined word of “CHAINDONESIA” was named to China, Indo and Indonesia triangle, Indonesia has shown great promise as a future country to be invested. Hope lies in the future of Indonesia.
For the continuity of stabilized economic growth from now, the government of Indonesia needs to set up preferential treatment for foreign investors in order to increasing direct investment from overseas for promoting labor-intensive manufacturing industries. New government will likely discuss in detail for realizing such incentive policy as a priority item. In addition, early resolution of electricity shortage and accelerated infrastructure development aiming to resolution of traffic jam would be action items of new government.
On November 5, 2009, President Yudhoyono announced his administration’s first 100 days program consisting of 45 important programs with 15 selected programs which must be implemented on the first 100 days. These 15 selected programs include “finding the resolution of electricity issues” as fourth and “increasing the infrastructure” as eighth. We would like to watch the progress of this program with great interest.
INDONESIA GEOGRAPHY, CLIMATE & SOCIETY
| Country |
World biggest archipelagic country consisting of more than 17,508 islands between 6 degrees north and 11 degrees south in latitude and between 95 degrees and 141 degrees east in longitude |
| Area |
Approx. 1.89 million km2 |
| Climate |
Tropical climate with Dry season (Jun-Sep) and Rainy season (Dec-Mar) |
| Annual Average Temperature |
26°C – 28°C |
| Annual Rainfall |
996.6 – 4,927.2mm |
| Population |
231 million (2009 Indonesian government statistics) |
| Capital |
Jakarta (Population approx. 9.22 million) |
| Language |
Indonesian Language (Literacy rate 93%) |
| Ethnos |
Mostly Malay (divided into 27 ethnics like Jawa, Sunda, etc.) |
| Religion |
Islam (88.6%), Protestant (5.8%), Catholic (3.1%), Hindu (1.7%), Buddhism (0.6%), Confucianism (0.1%), Others (0.1%) (Statistics from Central Bureau of Statistics, Indonesia) |
INDONESIA MAJOR ECONOMIC INDICATORS
|
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
| Nominal GDP (US$ billion) |
243 |
258 |
281 |
364 |
433 |
509 |
| GDP per capita (US$) |
1091 |
1165 |
1283 |
1663 |
1947 |
2191 |
| GDP Growth Rate (%) |
4.8 |
5.1 |
5.6 |
5.5 |
6.3 |
6.1 |
| CPI (%) |
5.1 |
6.4 |
17.1 |
6.6 |
6.6 |
11.1 |
| Unemployment Rate (%) |
9.5 |
9.9 |
11.2 |
10.3 |
9.1 |
8.4 |
| Export (US$ billion) |
60.9 |
71.6 |
84.7 |
100.8 |
113.7 |
136.7 |
| Import (US$ billion) |
32.4 |
46.2 |
56.4 |
61.1 |
73.9 |
128.7 |
| Trade Balance (US$ billion) |
28.5 |
25.4 |
28.3 |
39.6 |
39.8 |
23.0 |
| Current Account Balance (US$ billion) |
7.7 |
3.1 |
0.3 |
9.9 |
10.3 |
0.3 |
| Foreign Currency Reserve (US$ billion) |
35.0 |
35.0 |
33.0 |
41.1 |
54.9 |
49.6 |
| Foreign Direct Investment (US$ million) |
5445 |
4573 |
8911 |
5992 |
10341 |
14871 |
| Exchange Rate (Rp./US$, Annual average) |
8574 |
8939 |
9720 |
9166 |
9141 |
9699 |
INDONESIA HISTORY (After World War II)
| Date |
Event |
| Aug 1945 |
Declaration of Indonesian Independence |
| Mar 1967 |
Delegation of Authority of President Sukarno to Suharto |
| Mar 1968 |
Inauguration of President Suharto |
| May 1998 |
Resignation of President Suharto and Inauguration of President Habibie from Vice President |
| Jun 1999 |
Election for the national, provincial and sub-provincial parliaments |
| Oct 1999 |
Abudurrahman Wahid was elected as the 4th President of Indonesia by the People’s Consultative Assembly |
| Jul 2001 |
President Wahid was dismissed by Special Session of the People’s Consultative Assembly and President Megawati inaugurated from Vice President |
| Oct 2004 |
Inauguration of President Yudhoyono by Indonesia’s first direct Presidential Election |
| Dec 2004 |
Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami effected to North Sumatra |
| May 2006 |
Central Java Earthquake |
| Sep 2009 |
Earthquake of Sumatra |
| Oct 2009 |
President Yudhoyono re-elected by the second direct Presidential Election |
| Nov 2009 |
Announcement of President Yudhoyono administration’s 100days Program |
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