President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has been cautiously optimistic on Indonesia’s economic performance amidst the global uncertainty, following Russia’s invasion to Ukraine that has created a multiplying effect in numerous sectors including food resilience and energy crisis.
“With the uncertainty, we must remain optimistic although we have to be careful and alert. Indonesia’s economic growth in our second quarter is among the best in the world with 5.44%. Inflation is also still under control. After the increase in fuel prices, we are still below 6 [percent], 5.9 [percent]. Our inflation is 5.9% with our interest rate change at 75 basis points,” Jokowi explained during his opening remark at the Investor Daily Summit in Jakarta on October 11, 2022.
“To increase the people’s purchasing power and public consumption, the government has provided social assistance, in the form of compensation and subsidies. The amount reached a whopping IDR 502.6 trillion, which is a very large number,” he added.
The president, whose tenure will end in 2024, reiterated his call on the public to use domestic products.
Jokowi also called on the urgency for industrial downstreaming. “I always say that investment is open, but if you enter an area, you must cooperate with local entrepreneurs, both from Jakarta and foreign ones, they are invited to work with local entrepreneurs,” he said, citing an example of nickel industry downstream.
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Later in the day, Head of the Financial Services Authority (OJK), Mahendra Siregar, said Indonesia would face a “Perfect Storm” in the foreseeable future. He explained that high inflation, economic contraction towards recession and unstable geopolitical situation were the causes.
Siregar said that since the OJK was part of the overall financial system, it had a lot of works to do.
“We need to discuss, anticipate, to be able to mitigate, including what is meant by ‘stress test’ steps, so that we don’t panic and don’t be careless about these risks,” he said. He added that it was important to refocus on the main common agenda, namely to strengthen and maintain economic growth so that it can continue. The stress tests need to be implemented so that the OJK can be more anticipatory.
The Investor Daily Summit (IDS) 2022 took place on October 11 and 12, 2022 at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC). A total of 10 ministers gave their speeches with 56 speakers from various sectors and CEOs were attending the event, titled “Optimism in Uncertainty”.
The House of Representatives’ Deputy Speaker Rachmat Gobel voiced his supports to the government’s efforts in overcoming problems which resulted from the global economic crisis and geopolitical situation.
“This activity [IDS] is a part of [the government’s efforts to] be able to add more confidence to investors, to business people,” he said. “We will directly address problems in the field, thereby suppressing inflation.”
Gobel hoped that events prior to the G-20 Summit in Bali in November – such as the 20th Parliament (P-20), Business 20 (B-20) and the 2022 Investor Daily Summit – can be part of building optimism about Indonesia in the international community.
The event also marks the rebranding of Berita Satu Media Holdings into B-Universe with the motto “United Inspiring”, following the purchase of the company by politician/businessman Enggartiasto Lukita. Lukita bought 80% shares of Berita Satu from Lippo Group, owned by the Riady family.
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The IDS 2022 had four goals, namely:
- Providing solid investment opportunities in Indonesia as a country with the fastest economic growth inAsia-Pacific region, especially Southeast Asia
- Explain the regulation of the economy, law, socio-politics in sectoral areas and the thoughts of stakeholders
- Establishing a forum to unite various leaders of the government, institutions, regions, industry leaders, entrepreneurs and investors
- Expressing the potential and trends of the economy and business in Indonesia
The event also offered four strategic purposes, namely:
- Identifying various problems in the industry and follow up for stakeholders
- Identifying business opportunities and economic growth trends in Indonesia with a global context
- Establishing close interactions between stakeholders and Indonesian businessmen
- Providing recommendations to strengthen the governance of Indonesia’s economy on investments that are resilient and sustainable.
