By PATRICK WALUJO My first reaction on hearing about the bombings was panic. I was still at home having breakfast when my driver rushed, choked in tears, telling me that there were explosions at the Ritz Carlton and JW Marriott, only a 10-minute drive away. I run a Indonesian private equity firm, which is partnered with [...]
Travel + Leisure Magazine has concluded its annual survey of the discerning travelers who comprise its readership asking them to name their favorite cities, islands, hotels, resorts, airlines, cruise ships and even rental car agencies. Bali: World’s Best Island For many years, Bali consistently ranked as the world’s best island in the prestigious poll, slipping momentarily in [...]
Reconstructing ASEAN: Challenges for the 21st Century Ten years ago, Southeast Asia was still reeling from the Asian financial crisis of 1997, with millions of people impoverished, President Soeharto driven out of office, and ASEAN economies wrecked. The East Asian Miracle had been jolted, Asian values discredited, the ASEAN Way undermined. ASEAN’s reputation as a cohesive [...]
The bombings that have killed eight people in Jakarta and wounded dozens more on Friday morning have understandably captured plenty of international attention. But they shouldn’t obscure an important emerging reality: Indonesia is fast becoming one of the world’s most important political and economic success stories. The recent landslide re-election of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono [...]
Apparently our food really is internationally recognized. This menu of Indonesian Peanut Sautee (Mie Goreng Bumbu Kacang) has been around for a while at Noodles & Company, a noodles food chain in the United States. This delicious Indonesian noodle is basically stir-fry noodle tossed with vegetable and your choice of shrimp or chicken and topped [...]
How could this be Our country tis’ of thee Have faced such a tragedy That our nation was never meant to see An act of coward To of which we have seen before Prayer, hope, and wishes galore But ever will our Indonesian Flag soar At half staff To represent our obvious wrath That of course we will surpass Then our flag will wave at full [...]
Jim O’Neill will long be known for coining BRICs. Ten years from now, Nicholas Cashmore may enjoy similar notoriety for another addition to the investor lexicon. The money phrase put forth in 2001 by O’Neill, London-based chief economist at Goldman Sachs Group, refers to Brazil, Russia, India and China. BRICs is now a ubiquitous term for [...]
This article was written by a friend of mine, Francisco Lara Jr. Lara is a Research Associate at the Crisis States Research Center (CSRC), Development Studies Institute, London School of Economics. What he has to say is sufficiently timely and important for me to cede this space to him today. AMID controversies over plunder [...]
I have posted in GNFI few months ago, regarding UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) report in 2008 which put Indonesia in top 15 of World’s biggest automakers. That put Indonesia above the other two automaker in ASEAN, which are Thailand (#2) and Malaysia (#3). Not so many people know that Indonesia exported well over 100,000 [...]
By Yudha Satya, a GNFI contributor July 15th, 2009 I was surprised by this headline a month ago : Two Mobile Phone Giants (Nokia and Samsung) Head-To-Head in Indonesia. I’m asking to myself, why? And I found some interesting facts about mobile phone development in Indonesia. Allow me to share with you. Fact 1: The Asia Pacific region contains five [...]