Why dont we pay attention to Indonesia ?

Why is that we as a country do not view Indonesia as we do other countries either for business or for visiting as tourists.


From a business perspective, apart from a handful of enterprising business groups such as the Lohia's and the Aditya Birla Group and lately Godrej and Tata, our business houses particularly the up and coming groups are focusing on Western markets and have largely ignored Indonesia.

They do not seem to realize that Indonesia has a population, which at 234 million is the fourth largest in the world.Like India the demographics are in its favor and is similarly going through the same issues as us.On top that it is blessed with an abundance of natural resources and a friendly population which in general are favorably inclined towards India . The Japanese, Koreans and Americans have been investing in Indonesia for decades. Indian investment in Indonesia is minuscule.

Looking at my crystal ball, the economies in Asia which will matter two, three decades from now will be Japan (although its share of Asian and Global GDP will continue to decline), China, India, South Korea (probably will merge with the North sometime in the future)and Indonesia. Yet the government is not paying attention to it either politically or economically.

Java was ruled by Buddhist and Hindu kingdoms until the 14th century when the Javanese converted to Islam.While the bulk of the population is now Muslim, it does share a Hindu and Buddhist heritage.Hinduism continues to be the religion of the Island of Bali. The stories of Ramayana continue to be heard and enacted in theatrical form or in puppet shows.The Buddhist temples of Borobudur are a UNESCO heritage site and Vesak is still celebrated there.

As a tourist destination, Thailand and Malaysia continue to top Indonesia.It is probably because because there are more flights to Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur than there are to Jakarta. Indonesia offers as many scenic places to visit as Thailand and Malaysia. I have been to Bali many times over the years and it is magical.There is a thriving arts scene there which has attracted artistic minded people from all over the world since the thirties. Indonesia has mountains, beaches and volcanoes which are just as good if not better than other countries in South East Asia.

At the risk of sounding like a paid tout for the Indonesian Tourist Department and the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce, I say you don't know what you are missing until you have been there.