Indonesia: All change

We witnessed the launch of the “Whoosh” – the highly anticipated, first bullet train in Southeast Asia. The high-speed rail line connects two of its largest cities, Jakarta and Bandung, in just 40 minutes, compared to the three hours (or more) it would otherwise take by car.

In addition, the launch of the automated LRT (Light Rail Transit) will connect downtown Jakarta to two of the most populated rural areas of Jakarta, to encourage their population to reduce the use of personal cars or motorbikes to reduce pollution, which has become worse over the last five years.

This explains the optimism of Indonesians and is one of the reasons they believe their country is moving in the right direction. Many things are now happening beyond their expectations, and infrastructure is one of the things that most excites Indonesians. It is worth highlighting that the World Bank ranked Indonesia as the second most likely country (after India) at risk of economic recession and has shown that Indonesia is likely to register 5.1% GDP growth in 2023.

General elections are scheduled to be held in Indonesia on 14 February 2024. Thus 2023 marks the final year of President Joko Widodo’s decade-long rule. As mandated by Indonesian law, a current President cannot run again after the maximum 10 years in office and so in 2024 we will have a new president to lead the country for the next five years – to continue and accelerate our nation’s ambition to be the largest engine growth of Southeast Asia by 2045 or sooner.

Soeprapto Tan

Country Manager, Ipsos in Indonesia