2020 Indonesia Study Group
11 March. Sandeep Nanwani (United Nations Population Fund). Care for the homeless with a major mental illness in Yogyakarta
Sandeep Nanwani from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) raised an issue about the homeless with a major mental illness in Yogyakarta. He conducted participant observation and in-depth interviews with homeless and mentally ill people, their families and social workers. The finding that the immediate kin of the homeless and mentally ill are the most responsible for providing care. Each ISG seminar this semester was attended by approximately 24 people on average, of which around 34 percents were women. About 45 percents of the attendees are academics, and 48 percents are students. The seminars were also joined by the government officials, both from the Indonesian Embassy and from the Australian government.
26 February. Terry Hull (ANU). Has Indonesia lost its census?
Terry Hull, Emeritus Professor of Demography at The ANU, reviewed the way the integrated Statistics Indonesia in 2020/21 which differ from previous collections and what impact this will have on estimates of population growth, distribution, and characteristics. Some participants were affiliated with Badan Pusat Statistik (BPS). The seminar reflected Indonesia Project’s continuing initiative to provide constructive feedback in policymaking.
19 February. Niken Rarasati (SMERU Research Institute) & Shintia Revina (SMERU Research Institute)
Drivers and inhibitors of local education innovations in Indonesia - Shintia Revina (SMERU Research Institute)
Learning to run before walking: a system-level analysis of education in Indonesia - Niken Rarasati (SMERU Research Institute)
12 February. Martin C Lukas (University of Bremen & University of Melbourne). The gold and diamond rush in Kalimantan - illicit dendritic flows of gold, money, jewellery and mercury
Martin Lukas from the University of Bremen presented a seminar on gold and diamond rush in Kalimantan. Artisanal gold mining has grown into a significant economic sector over the past three decades, fuelled economic developments, and provided livelihoods to tens of thousands of people, but is mostly considered illegal. The seminar provided insight into the illicit flows of gold, money, jewellery, mercury, and information and the hidden networks of political‐economic power directing them.
6 February. Sisira Jayasuriya (Monash University), I Wayan Sukadana (Udayana University), Chris Manning (ANU, honorary). The tourist boom in Bali: is it harming prospects for future economic development?
The economic impact of the tourist boom in Bali is quite visible, having spread across the island from the late 1980s, even if the social, cultural and environmental effects have been more mixed. However, some observers have questioned the longer-term economic benefits of tourism, drawing on international experience. They have pointed to potential ‘Dutch Disease’ (D-D) effects of tourist expansion; resource movements and price increases which inhibit the expansion of other more dynamic tradable sectors and the development of new technology, thus slowing economic transformation. We challenged this view, arguing that tourism has been a dynamic industry, contributing to structural change, skills development and the widespread application of information technology. In addition, it has promoted a complex web of interactions with other industries. At the same time, assessment of the economic benefits from tourist growth for Bali and Indonesia is complicated by economic relations between Bali and the much larger national economy; this dimension of tourism has often been neglected in discussions of the impact of the industry on the island economy. Our paper examined some of these interactions. It discussed the engagement of both unskilled and skilled migrant workers from elsewhere in Indonesia and the co-integration of prices between Bali and neighbouring regions.
29 January. Siwage Dharma Negara (ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute) & Arief Ramayandi (Asia Development Bank). Survey of recent developments: Setting up the foundations for future growth acceleration?
This seminar will preview the authors’ forthcoming article ‘Survey of recent developments in Indonesia’ in the journal Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies, Volume 56 No. 1, April 2020.
Going into his last Presidential term (2019-2024), there is a high hope that Jokowi will be all-out pushing further structural reforms. The president himself wants to leave his legacy for not only building infrastructure but also catapulting Indonesia to high-income status by 2045. In his inauguration speech, Jokowi explicitly mentioned his target to bring Indonesia to the fifth world’s largest economy by its 100th anniversary. To get there, developing highly skilled human resources and creating capable, clean and efficient government institutions is a must.
Achieving all these may not be a simple task as the country is currently struggling to grow beyond 5 per cent a year and is faced with rising global economic uncertainties. There is a high expectation that the president can be bolder in pushing reforms as he does not have to worry about re-running for the election. But is this expectation reasonable given the existing political system and its possible resistance? Can Jokowi push for his development agenda while his political coalitions know that he will no longer run in the 2024 election? How will he navigate among many vested interests and what kind of compromises that need to be made? All those issues will determine how Jokowi’s second term will unfold.
This survey examined the recent development in Indonesia with a special focus on the period after the cabinet announcement. It examined the macroeconomic trends, highlighting the recent internal and external conditions that highlight some of the main macroeconomic challenges facing the country. It also looked at the new cabinet composition, specifically key economic ministers; their main economic agendas and programs; and the resulting challenges posed to achieving the high-income status in 2045.