Trading with Indonesia? Best know them first

Or is the government just using business to clear the road for diplomats to follow after the executions of Chan and Sukumaran?

Mitchell highlights Indonesia’s tertiary institutions.  Sadly none of its 400 plus universities is ranked among the world’s top 500.  There are some fine campuses with professional overseas links, but an abundance of degree mills; quantity is not a synonym for quality.

Indonesia’s ‘commitment to creating clever generations’ is about equal to our government’s determination to arrest the decline in Indonesian studies.  The local term is NATO – No Action, Talk Only.

 ‘Middle class’ is the wrong label for Indonesians’ growing affluence because it suggests they share our living standards.  A family in this category might have a motorbike on hire purchase, can meet school fees for the ‘free’ education, and both parents have jobs that pay more than AUD 500 a month.

Consumers certainly, but not within co-ee of Australian earners and spenders.

Canberra’s politics provoke despair, but our operators are first-day kindy kids against Jakarta’s knuckle-cracking oligarchs whose ideologies are power and protectionism.

Many institutions are rottenly fraudulent (Indonesia ranks 107 on the Corruption Perception Index); graft impacts almost every contact with the public service.  Some scams are large enough to buy an Australian cattle station.

The endless scandals plus widespread disappointment with a lacklustre president could crash the government should the opposition parties discover unity. That doesn’t inspire investor confidence. 

In Indonesia it’s almost impossible to succeed without wading in the cesspit.  To enforce a contract requires trust in the law.  That’s absent. Check the Churchill Mining saga, or Newmont’s Batu Hijau mine disputes to get a feel for the hazards.

For the personal risks read The Jakarta Globe’s series on the conviction and acquittal of teachers on allegedly fabricated child sex charges at the Jakarta Intercultural School.

Though Indonesia says it wants investors, it’s doing little more than shaking hands.  A boots-on-the-ground assault on corruption would be a start.  So would a public service revolution to attract the smartest, not just those seeking security and pension rights.

The nation’s infrastructure is in an appalling mess. The government knows this but seems at a loss on ways to fix.  There’s a lack of discipline and direction.  Decisions are made and reversed on a regular basis.

Foreign companies can prosper.  Scores of small traders who live in the Archipelago do well, don’t wear suits and didn’t ask the government to hold their hands. 

They say newcomers require time, patience, flexibility and a deep understanding of the culture and the differences to succeed. They also need to come from an environment that thinks well about its neighbour.

That’s why promoting Indonesian Studies and language in Australian schools and universities is so long-term critical. The government’s failure to address this undermines Robb and Mitchell’s mission.