IT HAS certainly been an impressive performance. Bank Mandiri, the largest in Indonesia in terms of assets, is fast becoming the darling of the country’s investors. Created through the amalgamation of four ailing government- owned banks in October 1998, the shares in this once struggling bank are now among the most sought after on the Jakarta Stock Exchange.
IS JAKARTA’S privatisation programme about to stall yet again? This could be the result of the controversy over last week’s initial public offering (IPO) by state-owned Krakatau Steel.
DESPITE the global economic downturn, the Indonesian economy grew by a remarkable 4.5 per cent last year. And it is expected to grow even faster this year. But how much better could the economy do if the country’s squabbling politicians and laid- back bureaucrats got their acts together?
The inability of the government led by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to bridge the deep divisions between her populist government and its royalist opponents in the military and bureaucracy remains a major concern.
Prime Minister Yingluck has selected a competent economic team, but it is difficult for these technocrats to deliver on the new government's campaign promises without triggering inflation or hurting business.
The government has also been unable to resolve the ongoing insurgency involving ethnic Malay Muslim rebels in the south.
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My name is Dr Bruce Gale and I am a senior writer with the Singapore Straits Times. I studied at LaTrobe University (BA Hons) in Melbourne and later at the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies at Monash University (MA). My PhD thesis, which focussed on Malaysian political economy, was completed at the Malaysian National University (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia) in 1987.
From 1988 to 2003 I was Singapore Regional Manager for the Hong Kong based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC).
I have written several books and articles on Southeast Asian affairs, including Political Risk and International Business: Case Studies in Southeast Asia (Pelanduk Publications, 2007). Books on language include Mastering Indonesian: a guide to reading Indonesian language newspapers (Pelanduk Publications, 2008)