Indonesia Plans Scorecards to Boost Corporate Governance

Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority plans to publish scorecards rating companies on the quality of their corporate governance as it begins supervising capital markets in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy.

The agency plans to rate the nation’s 50 biggest listed companies this year, said Muliaman Hadad, chairman of the newly minted regulator known by its Indonesian acronym of OJK. How companies treat minority shareholders and the roles played by board directors are among the criteria, he said in an interview in Jakarta on Jan. 15. OJK will consolidate supervision of capital markets, banks and non-bank financial institutions.

Hadad, a former central bank deputy governor, wants companies to improve practices to lure investors and broaden the pool of capital to fund growth. Indonesia’s economic recovery since the Asian financial crisis in 1997-1998, when the nation had to seek an International Monetary Fund bailout, has prompted Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service to raise their sovereign debt scores to investment grade.

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Indonesia’s economic growth likely to remain strong in 2013

Indonesia-economy-jakarta-skyline

According to the Global Times, Indonesia’s economic outlook remains positive next year, thanks to a steady domestic consumption, a robust investment climate and the accelerated infrastructure development, media reported here on Wednesday.

Barclays Research predicts that Indonesia’s economy, the biggest in Southeast Asia, will expand 6.3 percent in 2013, the same pace as this year’s projected growth. Last year it grew 6.5 percent, the fastest pace since 1996.

Among the 10 emerging Asian nations covered by Barclays Research, the country will have the third-fastest economic growth after China and India next year.

Barclay’s prediction is below the Indonesia’s government forecast of 6.6 percent to 6.8 percent for 2013 after growing 6.5 percent this year.

It is also lower than the projection of the central bank, Bank Indonesia, of 6.6 percent to 6.7 percent for 2013.

Barclays Research, a part of the corporate and investment banking division of Barclays Bank, was less rosy on the global economic growth.

In its economic outlook report sent to clients on December 13, it trimmed its global gross domestic product growth projection for 2013 to 3.3 percent from 3.5 percent a quarter ago. It still maintained its 2012 growth estimate at 3.1 percent.

“Emerging economies have much better growth prospects than those for advanced economies,” Barclays Research was quoted by the Jakarta globe as saying.

“They are likely to continue contributing positively to global demand expansion, via incremental fiscal stimulus and monetary easing,” it said.

Perry Warjiyo, an executive director for the economy and monetary policy research at the Indonesian central bank, said that increased economic activity ahead of the elections in 2014 will boost economic growth next year.

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Malaysia’s Economic Measures Impress China

“I notice that the Malaysian government is carrying out measures and policies that will promote and benefit the people, such as the 1Malaysia concept, the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) and the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP),” he said.

 

Chai stated that both China and Malaysia were in vital phases of development, shouldering the important task of developing their economies and improving the livelihood of their people.

 

China would like to join hands and work together with Malaysia to further deepen our strategic partnership and to embrace a brighter future of the bilateral relationship,” Chai said in an email interview with Bernama in conjunction with the 63rd anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China on Oct 1.

 

However, the policies and measures undertaken by the government were not the only aspect that caught the ambassador’s eyes since taking up his post here in 2010.

 

Malaysia has impressed him with its “beautiful and richly endowed land, its diligent, broad-minded and enterprising people and its splendid, distinctive and diversified culture” as well.

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Indonesia’s Chairmanship of APEC Will Be Chance to Lead by Example

As Indonesia takes over the chairmanship of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum from Russia next year, here is a chance for one of the region’s biggest developmental success stories to lead by example.

However, despite its achievements so far, Indonesia should improve its trade and investment environment before it can really chart the way for the 21-member grouping. Only then can it can make sure that the 2013 APEC Summit will be more than a photo op where leaders make sweeping declarations and empty promises.

APEC in the past has done well in formulating ambitious visions. The last time Indonesia was chair in 1994, APEC leaders set forth the so-called “Bogor Goals.” These stipulated that developed nations should achieve free and open investment by 2010, and developing nations by 2020. Eighteen years later, a lot of work has been done, but much more lies ahead. In fact, it would not be realistic at this point to expect the Bogor Goals to be achieved in just eight years’ time. Such goals should, instead, be seen as just one part of an overall vision that keeps driving us forward.

Indonesia’s ascension to the chairmanship comes midway between the 2010 assessment of the Bogor Goals and the next assessment in 2015. This gives Indonesia’s leaders the opportunity to help create a more far-reaching vision that goes beyond the Goals and which should focus on APEC’s long-term growth strategy.

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Indonesia Remains Open to Foreign Investors

Indonesia’s policy stance will remain open to foreign investors despite there being some form of protectionist measures to safeguard certain domestic sectors and small businesses, says the Singapore-based Indonesian Investment Promotion Centre (IIPC).

“There is enough room and sectors for investors to participate in our vast economy,” IIPC head Muhamad Harri Santoso said during a breakout session themed Indonesia: Investment Outlook and Performance at the CIMB Asean SME Forum 2012.

According to Santoso, sectors such as food production, pharmaceutical and agricultural sub-segments such as livestock and fisheries may appeal to investors seeking business opportunities.

McKinsey & Co currently ranks Indonesia as the 16th largest economy in the world, offering up to US$500bil (RM1.53 trillion) worth of market opportunities for businesses in sectors ranging from consumer services, agriculture, fisheries, resources and education.

 

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Workers Behind Asia’s Economic Miracle Head for Poor Old Age

Hundreds of millions of workers behind Asia’s economic miracle are heading into uncertain old age after governments failed to set aside enough funds for their pensions, said a book released Tuesday. 

“Without far-reaching reforms, the financial burdens of these (Asian pension) schemes on future workers may become politically unacceptable,” said the book, edited by Asian Development Bank principal economist Park Donghyun. 

The book, “Pension Systems in East and Southeast Asia: Promoting Fairness and Sustainability”, forecast current or looming problems both in rapidly greying East Asia as well as younger Southeast Asia. 

“Just as Asia’s economic landscape was transformed… due to exceptionally rapid growth, its demographic landscape is transforming due to a change in population age structure that is unprecedented both in its scale and speed,” it said. 

China will have 200 million people aged 60 or older by 2015, the year before its working-age population is forecast to begin to shrink, it said. 

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Indonesia’s Economy to Surpass Germany, UK by 2030: McKinsey

Romeo Gacad | AFP | Getty Images
Pedestrians cross a street in Jakarta’s modern business district.

Southeast Asia’s most populous nation is on track to become the world’s 7th largest economy by 2030, putting it ahead of the developed nations of Germany and the U.K., a new report by McKinsey Global Institute showed Tuesday.

The report cites the country’s young population, new consumer class and the rapid urbanization of cities as reasons that will elevate Indonesia’s $850 billion economy up nine spots from its current place of 16th largest economy globally. 

The findings do not reveal the projected rankings of other economies, and are based on a “proprietary modeling” method which McKinsey declined to elaborate on.

According to the report, Indonesia’s economy will be powered by an estimated 90 million additional consumers with considerable spending power by 2030, making its “consuming class stronger than in any economy of the world apart from China and India.”

Its relatively younger population will also keep the economy’s productivity edge. McKinsey estimates that 70 percent of the country’s population will remain of working age of between 15 and 64 in the next 18 years.

 

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Peso Forecasts Raised as Rest of Region Cut: Southeast Asia

The Philippine peso is the only Asian emerging-market currency that forecasters have become more bullish on this year as the nation’s improving economy increases the chance it will win an investment-grade credit rating.

The peso will strengthen 4.2 percent by year-end, according to BNP Paribas, the most positive among 19 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The median estimate was for a 0.2 percent advance to 41.60 per dollar. It reached 41.358 on Sept. 17, the strongest level since April 2008, and is Asia’s best-performing currency over the past year. The peso rose 0.2 percent to 41.680 per dollar as of 9:53 a.m. in Manila, according to prices from Tullett Prebon Plc.

Indonesia’s rupiah rallied 20 percent in the three years before Fitch Ratings restored the nation to investment grade in December 2011. The prospect of the peso enjoying a pre-upgrade bump is luring investment and buoying the currency, said Thomas Harr, head of Asia local markets at Standard Chartered Plc, the second-most optimistic forecaster. Foreign funds have pumped $2.2 billion into local stocks this year, compared with $1.3 billion in 2011 and $1.2 billion in 2010, exchange data show.

“We think the Philippines will attain investment grade by 2014,” Singapore-based Harr said in a Sept. 14 interview. “You’ll see capital inflows coming into the country ahead of that.”

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Hu Discusses Infrastructure Development and China’s Economic Policy on APEC

Chinese President Hu Jintaoon Saturday stressed the need for the Asia-Pacific region to upgrade infrastructure and discussed China’s current economic situation and economic policies.

During a keynote speech at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO summit, Hu said the world economy was recovering slowly and there were still some destabilizing factors and uncertainties.

In this regard, the Chinese president put forward a four-point proposal on infrastructure development in the context of promoting stable growth and recovery in the Asia-Pacific region.

Firstly, Hu said, the region should speed up infrastructure development to strengthen the foundation of development.

Secondly, the Asia-Pacific region should improve the connectivity and efficiency of its supply chains to ensure the smooth functioning of infrastructure, Hu said.

Hu said thirdly that the region should deepen reform of the investment structure to share opportunities in infrastructure development.

Fourthly, Hu said, the Asia-Pacific region should strengthen exchanges and cooperation to jointly promote regional connectivity.

 

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Asian Prosperity and Dismantling of the ‘American Dream’

The next US president could be Obama, it could be Romney, or even Ron Paul, but the larger part of the global market forces that will impact on the US economyremain unchanged and largely outside the control of US planners.

 
The best that US governments can do in reaction to these emerging forces, short of waging an imperialist war of conquest on the emerging economies of Asia, is enact policies for a soft-landing of the US economy as it falls from its lofty heights of prosperity in the next decades.

 

It is understandable that American politicians mount the politicking podium, carefully edit and restrict analysis of the nature of challenges facing the US economy , make glib promises to create more jobs, stimulate industrial production, cut spending and increase revenue but offer only scanty details about how they intend to achieve these goals. But of course, we know that politicians only tell the electorate what they know they want to hear – promises of prosperity irrespective of the reality of obvious sobering forecasts for the future.

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