• Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Summit in Indonesia

    Indonesian President Joko Widodo emphasized that the area around the Indian Ocean is the future of the world economy. He made this statement at the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) summit in the Jakarta Convention Center on Monday (06/03). This region, which has a 2.7 billion population in total (around 35 percent of the world population), already sees 70 percent of world trade go through the area and hence the Indian Ocean forms a key trade route, especially for the distribution of oil and gas.

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  • Property in Indonesia: East Jakarta & Surabaya New Growth Centers?

    So far East Jakarta has been left behind in terms of property development in the capital city of Indonesia. For many decades Central and South Jakarta have seen the construction of many residential property and office tower projects. Recently, West Jakarta experienced a major surge in property development. Few investors, however, dared to develop projects in East Jakarta as demand from the (upper) middle class and elite for property or offices in East Jakarta has been low.

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  • Weak Legal Certainty; Indonesia Ranks Lowest in Mining Sector

    The Indonesian Mining Institute (IMI) is concerned about foreign perceptions of Indonesia's mining sector. According to the Fraser Institute, a Toronto-based public policy research and educational organization, Indonesia now ranks lowest in terms of the "state of the investment climate in the mining sector across the world". A new survey, conducted by the Canadian think-tank, shows that Indonesia's recently introduced government policies (stemming from the New Mining Law) that affect the activities in the mining sector has seriously undermined foreigners' confidence in a conducive investment climate in Indonesia's mining sector.

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  • Politics of Indonesia: Has Democracy Gone Over the Top?

    At the inauguration of the People's Conscience Party (Hanura)'s new central leadership board on Wednesday (22/02), Indonesian President Joko Widodo said "Indonesian democracy has recently gone over the top". He referred to the various controversial cases and demonstrations that have emerged in recent months involving hate speech related to race, religion, ethnicity and class.

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