Skip to main content

President Obama’s Visit to Indonesia: Putting the Country on the Map

From Brookings.edu

President Obama’s visit to Indonesia is not only personal but political. He will have the opportunity to visit the home where he lived as a young boy and the primary school he attended and learned the local language. None of the other 43 American presidents have had this kind of exposure to a non-Western country.

One of the president’s political objectives for this trip is to raise Indonesia’s global profile.

Many Americans underestimate the significance of Indonesia—often described as the most important country in the world that people know the least about. With 230 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous nation after China, India, and the United States. Eleven years ago, it began an impressive transition from 30 years of authoritarian rule by former President Soeharto to become arguably the most democratic country in all of East and Southeast Asia. What makes the transition all the more remarkable is that about 85 percent of Indonesia’s citizens are Muslim, showing how democratic values and Islamic beliefs can combine to build a “just and prosperous society,” the main societal goal specified in the Indonesian constitution.

For detail story, visit here

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Indonesia's Astra Pins Hopes on Inexpensive Cars

From Wall Street Journal Feb 14, 2013 PT Astra International plans to continue dominating Indonesia's booming car and motorcycle markets by spending billions of dollars on expansion and becoming the first auto maker to sell a car priced to reach the country's emerging middle class. Astra controls 54% of the passenger-car market through joint ventures with Japan's Toyota Motor Corp., Daihatsu Motor Co. and Isuzu Motor Ltd., and holds 58% of the motorcycle-and-scooter market through a joint venture with Honda Motor Co.  To expand the pool of Indonesians who can afford a car, Astra plans next quarter to introduce models with sticker prices as low as $8,000 through its joint ventures with Toyota and Daihatsu. Currently, the least-expensive passenger cars in Indonesia sell for at least $12,000. "We will be the first offering affordable vehicles," he said. "This year, [auto-sales growth] should at the very least be flat, provided this ne

POSCO to lift Indonesia investment to $11 billion over next 5 years: Jakarta

From Reuters Oct 19, 2012 South Korean steelmaker POSCO will almost double its investment in Indonesia to $11 billion over the next five years, from $6 billion currently, Chief Economics Minister Hatta Rajasa said on Friday. The world's fourth-biggest steelmaker, already has a multi-billion dollar joint venture with Indonesian state-owned PT Krakatau Steel, the country's biggest steel producer. Earlier this year, the South Korean firm's affiliate POSCO Engineering & Construction, formed a consortium to build two 300-megawatt power plants on Indonesia's Sumatra island, worth around $1 billion. A POSCO spokesman in Seoul said the South Korean firm has yet to make detailed investment commitments in Indonesia, and noted other partners would jointly invest in any projects. Foreign direct investment in Indonesia stayed strong in the second quarter, showing the G20 member remained a magnet in a troubled global economy and that changes in mining ownership r

PLN: Gas Tender Held to Accelerate 35,000 MW Power Plant Project

From The Jakarta Post April 2, 2015 PLN, State electricity company  has said that its plan to hold the prequalification tender for the procurement of liquefied natural gas (LNG) aims to accelerate a 35,000 Megawatt (MW) power plant construction project. PLN’s director for strategic procurement and primary energy, Amin Subekti, said the company would hold a tender not only to ensure smooth power plant construction but also to secure its gas supply. PLN would auction not only the supply of gas but also its transportation and supplying infrastructure as well as its regasification facilities. He said PLN had announced studies on the prequalification process, followed by consultation sessions held at the company’s headquarters in Jakarta on Wednesday. Moreover he explained that in the end, the tender winners would create consortiums in which each of them would be permitted to procure gas domestically or through imports, to accommodate and to store, to transport and regasify the gas in ev