Credit Management January February 2022

COUNTRY FOCUS
Indonesia is a
vast expanse of
opportunity.
Talking big
AUTHOR – Adam Bernstein
THE modern world is ruled by
numbers, so let’s consider the
meaning of the following four
-270,000,000, 17508, 6000 and 700. An
ostensibly obscure set of numbers,
but each is of direct importance to
one country – Indonesia.
Take the first, it relates to the approximate size
of the Indonesian population – around 3.5 percent
of the people presently on Earth. The second is
roughly the number of islands which form the
archipelago that is Indonesia. The next, 6000, is the
number of inhabited islands in the country. And
the last, 700, refers to the number of languages
spoken by Indonesians.
A VAST COUNTRY
Located north of Australia and south of Malaysia,
Vietnam and the Philippines, Indonesia is a
presidential republic with 34 provinces spread
over vast areas with much wilderness between its
urban areas. Its size is so great that it incorporates
three time zones from GMT +7 to GMT +9.
As for its settling, Portuguese traders arrived
first in 1512, followed by Dutch and British traders.
The Dutch East India Company was formed in 1602
and ruled the area for almost 200 years. But in
1800, when the company went bankrupt, the Dutch
nationalised the company and made it a colony.
The Japanese invasion in March 1942 effectively
ended rule by the Netherlands, and in August
1945, Indonesian leaders declared independence.
However, the Dutch didn’t recognise independence
until 1949 following a conflict that didn’t go well
for them as the former colonial power.
Indonesia is famed for so much. Some might
be drawn to pre-COVID memories of Bali and the
country’s many active volcanoes – including that
which nearly brought down BA Flight 009 south
east of Jakarta (all detailed in All Four Engines
Have Failed by Betty Tootell). Others might know it
for having the world’s largest Muslim population –
some 12 percent of the global population – as well
as some stunning vistas.
Regardless, Indonesia is the world’s 14th largest
country and occupies around 1.9m sq. km. In
comparison, the UK occupies just 242,495 sq. km
and is ranked 78th. There are five main islands –
Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Papua.
But no matter the reason for its fame, Indonesia
is doing rather well by some accounts. According
to Project Syndicate, an online opinion forum, the
country has produced ‘the world’s most effective
democratically elected leader today’ – President
With good
relations with
both China
and the US,
Indonesia
is seen in a
positive light by
east and west.
Joko Widodo, known as Jokowi. But few seem
aware of this, and he’s only been in office since
2014.
He is said to have set new standards of
governance that should be the envy of other large
democracies and that he ‘has bridged political
divides and reversed the growing momentum of
more extreme parties, partly by being inclusive.’
The forum also says: ‘he has redistributed land
through the formalisation of land ownership,
introduced a new national health-insurance
scheme and cash transfers for the poor, and
increased enrolment in schools.’ The result has
been a decline in inequality.
Yet it appears Jokowi has also been fiscally
prudent, reformed labour laws, and eliminated fuel
subsidies. Public debt is low at less than 40 percent
of GDP (38.5 percent in 2020 according to Statista).
And with a plan for infrastructure development,
if it hadn’t been for COVID Indonesia would have
witnessed an economic boom. With good relations
with both China and the US, Indonesia is seen in a
positive light by east and west.
THE PEOPLE
Officially Bahasa Indonesian is spoken, but so
is Javanese by 70m people, Sundanese by 20m,
Madurese by 9m and Malay by 15m. English is also
widely used and is the lingua franca for business.
With so many languages being spoken it shouldn’t
come as a surprise that it’s ethnically very diverse
and according to Statistics Indonesia, there are 300
plus ethnic groups of which Javanese is the largest
with 42 percent of the population which is followed
by Sundanese (15 percent), Malay (3.5 percent),
Madurese (3 percent), and the Batak (3 percent).
But then there are also the Minangkabau, the
Betawi, the Bugis, the Papuans…and the Chinese,
Indians and Arabs.
In terms of religion, Muslims form the largest
part of society with 87 percent of the population.
Protestants make up six percent, Catholics three
percent, Hindus two percent, and others two
percent.
And as for the age of the populace, Santander’s
data estimates that in July 2021, 23.87 percent
were 14 or under, 16.76 percent were aged 15-24,
42.56 percent were aged 25-54, 8.99 percent aged
55-64 and just 7.82 percent were aged over 65
years. Median age sits at 31.1 years compared to
40.6 years in the UK. Economically speaking, the
average salary in the country is around $862 per
month. The OECD puts the average salary in the
UK at $3,925 per month.
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / January & February 2022 / PAGE 24