Travel Guide Indonesia

We all know of the big Sumatra Earthquake, which triggered a huge Tsunami killing over 200,000 people in Indonesia. We also know that there have been many more of large earthquakes since then. Four have triggered Tsunami warnings. One, did trigger another tsunami. Recently there was another huge underwater underground Earthquake, Which triggered another Tsunami Warning.

It is amazing how the World came together to help the victims of the Sumatra Earthquake. Billions of dollars poured into the region and it was a Herculean Effort indeed. Even two former Presidents got together in a non-partisan funds drive to secure the help needed. And the United States brought in Cargo Ships, Helicopters and water making vessels to assist.

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)

Coffee is grown in many parts of the world. Each of these origin coffees will have the unique characteristics based on climate, soil, agriculture and processing. The Indonesian countries that produce coffee are: Sumatra, Sulawesi, East Timor, Papua New Guinea and Java. Indonesia is the third largest coffee producing region in the world. However, these regions only cultivate a small portion of arabica beans and are highly sought after.

Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice’s visit to Indonesia this week is hopefully the start of a much closer and broader relationship. This would be great news for Indonesia and America, the Asia-Pacific region and global investors.

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.