Economics and investment climate
15 jun 2010
With 234 million inhabitants and an abundance of natural resources Indonesia is a major economic political and social player in the Asian region. Indonesia reportedly survived the economic crisis relatively unscathed due to a timely reform of the financial sector following the Asian financial crisis in the 90s. The country's economic growth rate is set to rise from 4.5% in 2009 to 5. 5% in 2010.
In order to reach higher economic growth the Government of Indonesia has made the improvement of the investment climate one of its key priorities. To fuel its economy, Indonesia is opening up its market and trying to improving the business climate to attract local and foreign investment.
Compared to other Asian countries Indonesia still lags behind in terms of attracting foreign investments. Factors that disturb the present business climate include complicated and conflicting regulatory practices, poor logistics, and deficiencies in air, surface and water transport.
Dutch assistance to Indonesia contributes to creating a more open economy allowing for economic growth and poverty reduction. Even though poverty has declined due to the pro-poor policies of the government of Indonesia it is still significant with over 30 million people living below the poverty line.
Themes
In this sector, NICHE will focus on the following five themes:
