The Business Columns section of Indonesia Investments provides in-depth columns that exhibit an analysis regarding subjects that are both important for understanding the Indonesian business climate and have high news value in the current state of Indonesia's economy. As a whole these columns should provide the reader a thorough and detailed picture of multiple Indonesian business sectors and be a source of ideas or inspiration to invest - or not to invest - in specific sectors of the Indonesian economy.
Indonesia continued to climb sharply in the World Bank's Doing Business Index. In the 2018 edition, which was released at the end of October 2017, Indonesia ranks 72nd, jumping 19 positions from being 91st in last year's ranking. The World Bank praised Indonesia and labelled it as the country that made the biggest improvements in business regulations among Asia Pacific nations since 2005.
The Consulate General of Indonesia in Guangzhou (China) said Indonesia's coffee exports to China reached USD $34.1 million in the January-September 2017 period, hence Indonesia now ranks second in terms of biggest coffee exporters to China. Vietnam ranks first, by a distance, with a coffee export value of USD $368.8 million in the same period.
After the closing of several Ramayana Department Stores and Matahari Department Stores, as well as the (planned) closing of all remaining Lotus Department Stores (per 26 October 2017) in Indonesia, Indonesia's conventional department store industry needs to come up with a new strategy or shopping concept to survive amid increasingly fierce competition from domestic and global e-commerce platforms.
Integra Indocabinet, one of Indonesia's biggest vertically integrated wooden product manufacturers, is eagerly planning to engage in business expansion after collecting IDR 325 billion (approx. USD $24 million) in new funds through its initial public offering (IPO) on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in mid-2017.
The views expressed in these business columns are the views of the authors or the interviewed persons only and therefore do not necessarily reflect the views of Indonesia Investments. The authors are free to ventilate their opinions about the Indonesian business climate. Facts presented in these columns are the result of the author's own research or indicated sources, read disclaimer.
