OCTOBER 2017 businesstraveller.com
32 I Business in... Jakarta
Today, the focus is the SCBD (Sudirman Central
Business District), and new planned satellites such as
Bumi Serpong Damai (BSD) Smart City in Tangerang.
A private development from Sinar Mas Land, the
blossoming urban stronghold has been designed as
a self-sustaining tech innovation hub, with housing,
restaurants, offices, shops, a cutting-edge exhibition
centre, and a co-working space called EV Hive
(evhive.co). Unilever recently opened its new
country HQ here.
Indonesia has fiercely embraced the digital world
- smartphone penetration is around 50 per cent, and
by 2019 it is estimated that 92 million people will have
one. Social media has exploded, too. Indonesia is the
fourth-biggest Facebook market on the planet, while
Jakarta has been dubbed the Earth’s “Twitter capital”.
With 60 per cent of the population under the age of 30,
you can understand why. At luxury hotels such as the
Westin and Four Seasons, groups of women in colour-
coordinated hijabs can be spotted posing for Instagram
shots with their own professional photographers.
E-commerce is also taking off. “Five years ago,
Indonesians would have been scared to buy things
online,” Wren says. That has all changed. In Jakarta
there are bikers wearing green Gojek crash helmets
everywhere. In 2015, the company launched a ride-
hailing app for motorcycle taxis, which can weave in
and around cars, making them the fastest way to get
about. Since then, it has branched out into everything
from food deliveries to on-demand massages. If you
want to get ahead in a city like Jakarta, you have to
be nimble. Even Uber is doing two wheels.
PLAYING THE LONG GAME
How easy is it for a foreigner to do business here? The
UKDIT’s Derbyshire says: “We tell British companies
looking at Indonesia that to succeed you need patience,
perseverance and persistence. This requires an
investment in relationships, which takes time – it is not
a transactional market. If you want to get off a plane
and sign a deal, you can’t.”
Wren says: “Visitors look at the headline stats and get
really excited but then they see the legal uncertainty,
awkward regulatory environment, bribery and corruption,
and ask: ‘How can we get at the opportunities?’ We
give them the streetwise version of what they need to
know. The British Chamber of Commerce helps them
to appreciate that the risks can be managed.” QFrom top: Kota
Tua, the old Dutch
colonial area; and
Tanjung Priok Port