Indonesia’s new era: As president, how will Prabowo’s foreign policy navigate Sino-US rivalry?

The US has higher standards for doing business, while China’s emphasis is mainly on making income, opined Prof Angel Damayanti, an international relationships and military expert from Jakarta’s Christian University of Indonesia. &nbsp,

She believes that this makes it harder to entice British investors to invest in Indonesia. &nbsp,

Prof. Angel remarked that” the US has certain democratic terms and conditions when wanting to do business,” citing issues like environmental protection and human rights.

” China does not have that some terms and conditions. It merely talks about the market, how much is the income and the reduction? &nbsp,

” So it appears more flexible, yet though inevitably at the end there are certain terms and conditions to, for instance, that there must be Foreign workers involved ( in a specific project ) or that the raw materials must be from China, and others. ” &nbsp, &nbsp,

Mr Hashim, Mr Prabowo’s younger brother, told Hong Kong journalist RTHK that the authorities had tried to woo Tesla to invest in Indonesia’s metal industry and wants to maintain doing so.

” We’re trying to attract Chinese firms, British companies, Tesla. &nbsp, &nbsp,

Our government is attempting to entice Tesla and Musk,” the statement read. That’s the aspiration”, Mr Hashim said in an exam aired earlier this month.

Under Mr Prabowo’s president, the government is likely to remain lobbying the US, but Prof Angel opined that as a business, Mr Hashim perhaps also knows that it is easier to reach a deal with China as it does not have the same criteria. &nbsp,

” If Mr. Prabowo adopts an economic strategy that does n’t care about political or environmental conditions, he will undoubtedly lean toward China. &nbsp,

” Especially with China’s Belt and Road Initiative since 2013,” said Prof Angel.

Working with China essentially entails working with the state, according to Dr. Broto, which is easier to do. &nbsp,

However, Indonesia must also approach business groups when attempting to work with the US. It cannot just approach the state. &nbsp,

And business groups have various considerations when it comes to investing. &nbsp,

” They consider security issues and legal certainty, among others”, said Dr Broto. &nbsp,

Dr. Broto argued that Mr. Prabowo should work on specific issues if Indonesia wants to approach the US. These might include creating an environmentally friendly industrial zone and a secure investment environment. &nbsp,

For instance, the government should have a concrete plan to avoid relying on China or other nations when it comes to the downstream industry. &nbsp,

Downstream operations are efforts to produce priceless goods like EV batteries rather than exporting raw minerals. &nbsp,