Indonesia’s energy sector stands at the cusp of potentially transformative change with Prabowo Subianto’s assumption of the presidency in October. While the energy policy of the incoming administration has yet to be articulated in detail, an analysis of Prabowo’s campaign promises and political trajectories offers insights into what this crucial sector might look like under … Read more
Last week I wrote about how Indonesian tech giant GoTo is inching toward profitability by, among other things, selling 75 percent of its e-commerce operation to TikTok and aggressively cutting costs. GoTo might even post a net profit this year, which would represent quite a turnaround from recent years where losses have gone into the … Read more
In the late 1990s, during the Asian Financial Crisis, the Indonesian banking sector essentially collapsed. The crash of the rupiah pulled back the curtain and revealed that the balance sheets of many banks were stuffed with bad loans. Many of them went under, or had to be rescued and recapitalized by the government. Four such … Read more
The Indonesian government recently became the controlling shareholder of PT Vale Indonesia, a mining company that has been operating in the nickel-rich island of Sulawesi for decades. The government, through state-owned holding company MIND ID, already owned 20 percent of PT Vale Indonesia and in February they completed a deal to acquire an additional 14 … Read more
Last week, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) announced that it would open accession talks with Indonesia, after receiving the approval of the group’s 38 members. In a statement announcing the decision on February 20, OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann described the move as “historic.” “Indonesia’s application is the first from Southeast Asia, one … Read more
The Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) has had a very good run over the last several years. Since 2015, market capitalization (the total value of companies traded on the exchange) has grown by an average of 12 percent every year, reaching an all-time high of $748 billion at the end of last year. From 2022 to … Read more
On November 15, 2022, Indonesian President Joko Widodo and a group of nations led by the United States announced a $20 billion climate finance deal to help Indonesia curb its power sector’s reliance on coal, and transition towards a carbon-free energy system. This deal is officially called the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP). A year … Read more
As Indonesians head to the polls on Wednesday, one issue has defined the 2024 election, and that issue is the economy. Outgoing President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is extremely popular, with most polls putting his approval rating at around 80 percent. In large part, this popularity stems from a solid record of economic governance over the … Read more
On February 14, Indonesia will hold the world’s largest single-day election. Up to 205 million eligible voters across the archipelago, from Banda Aceh to Merauke, will go to the polls to select the country’s next president, as well as choose executive and legislative representatives at other levels of government. Three candidates are running for the … Read more
At a time of global energy transition, the world is racing to secure critical mineral supplies such as cobalt, nickel, and lithium, so much so that critical minerals security has turned into a strategic geo-economic issue. The electric vehicle (EV) market alone saw unprecedentedly rapid growth of 60 percent in 2022, exceeding 10 million units … Read more