MY MARKET I

ndonesia is the giant of Southeast Asia. Its most distinctive feature is its scale. It has a population of 250m people, it is the largest Muslim nation on earth and it takes seven hours to fly from one side of the vast sprawling archipelago to the other. It’s extraordinary that Indonesia, which is the major market of Southeast Asia, has such a relatively low profile. It has the largest economy in the region, the largest population and the biggest consuming middle class, but its image, in many respects, remains rooted in the past. A lot of people, even those who know other parts of the region well, have not caught on to the fact that here

is a nation that, in just over a decade, has moved from being an authoritarian state to the third-largest democracy in the world and a member of the G20. It’s been an extraordinary story. That’s not to say that serious challenges don’t remain, but it is surprising that people don’t focus on the country more closely.

The economy is growing at 6 per cent and recent authoritative studies predict that it will be the world’s seventh-largest economy by 2030. Indonesia has a youthful population and a huge, young, middle class, which is currently made up of around 40m people and is estimated to grow

to 70m over the next decade – it is here that major opportunities lie. Companies selling luxury and novelty consumer goods and services to which affluent people aspire along with financial products and insurance are likely to do well.

Another area to highlight where we are seeing rapid growth is in education. We are making headway in attracting an increasing number of young Indonesians to study in the UK. The government has agreed to send 250 of its PhD students to the UK each year for the next five years. We are also forging partnerships between British and Indonesian educational institutions.

Our man Indonesia in... FACT-FILE

• FOOTBALL is Indonesia’s most watched game. Manchester United has around 55m fans here and most English Premiership clubs have large fan bases

• ACCORDING to the BBC World Service, the UK is more popular than China and other EU countries, with 69 per cent of Indonesians having positive opinions of the UK

24 | springboard | www.ukti.gov.uk