Travel Guide Indonesia

Jakarta is the capital city of Indonesia, and situated on the island of Java. The population is approximately 10 million. The dominant religion in Jakarta is Islam, and the currency used is the Rupiah. The climate in Jakarta is very hot and humid. For the six months from April, the temperature will hover around 30 degrees Celsius. There is a wet season from October to February when it is a little cooler and there is a lot of rain, often torrential.

Nobody in the present period will forget the 200,000 victims of the Indonesia Tsunami, which was caused by the Sumatra Earthquake on Christmas Eve. But what is being done in the region now while it is still seismic active with major Volcanoes and Earthquakes?

Well there are some good things that are being done right now to save lives so another 200,000 people do not perish next time there is a Tsunami or a large Earthquake, which triggers one. As the Japanese, Americans and several other nations are installing Tsunami Warning systems.

It is interesting that the World came together to build a huge Tsunami relay warning system and yet the Indigenous Peoples of Indonesia knew of the Sumatra Quake and the Indonesia Tsunami the night before and had already left their village by the sea and headed for high ground and took to the hills; Can they really sense future Earthquakes?

The world was struck once again in awe of Mother Nature’s shear power during the Sumatra Earthquake and Indonesia Tsunami. Later we learned that one village of indigenous Indians in Indonesia, sensed the Earthquake and took off for the hills the day before? Wow, now that is a cool talent and they are humans. We have all heard of animals doing this, but human beings; very cool indeed.

Indonesia has a market-based economy where a significant role is played by the government. There are a lot of state-owned enterprises. The government administers prices on several basic goods: fuel, rice, electricity. After financial and economic crisis that began in mid-1997, the government took care of a great portion of private sector propriety. It acquired non-performing bank loans and corporate assets. Indonesia’s economy grew from a per capita GDP of $70 to $1,000 by 1996. Inflation was held in the 5%-10% range with the help of effective monetary and fiscal policies. The government managed to avoid domestic financing of budget deficits, it was financed by foreign aid. (Lindblad J. 1996)

ECONOMY. Indonesia is a market-based economy but the government plays a significant role in the country’s economy with 160 government-owned enterprises. Indonesia’s GDP per capita ranks fifth after Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia and Thailand. The Asian economic crisis of 1997 adversely affected the country economy and businesses and caused spiralling prices of necessities resulting in social unrest. Future prospects of Indonesia’s economy are bright with economic structural reforms in placed since the Asian economic crisis.