Indonesia

Indonesia’s oldest bank has found itself on the frontlines of the nation’s newest risks. The coronavirus fallout is certainly the immediate danger, but the longer-term hurdle for the economy is making sure that small and medium-sized enterprises – those drivers of economic growth – are not crowded out of the financial system in the wake of the pandemic.

Indonesia’s oldest bank has found itself on the frontlines of the nation’s newest risks. The coronavirus fallout is certainly the immediate danger, but the longer-term hurdle for the economy is making sure that small and medium-sized enterprises – those drivers of economic growth – are not crowded out of the financial system in the wake of the pandemic.

It has been a pattern in Indonesia for the best part of 15 years: whenever southeast Asia’s largest economy is engulfed in crisis, it turns to Indonesia's minister of finance – but she has never faced a challenge like this.

President Joko Widodo is planning southeast Asia’s biggest infrastructure project in building his new capital city in remote Kalimantan; it promises to be a party for bankers – but first they will have to negotiate some quirky local characters.

The 30th annual Asiamoney Brokers Poll invited chief investment officers, fund managers and investment analysts to take part. Voters represented fund management houses, insurance companies, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, hedge funds and wealth managers from around the world.

Can Indonesia’s likeable president find a way to boost growth, slash red tape, tackle the country’s image problem and draw in much-needed FDI now that he has secured a second five-year term?

In its 20-year history, Bank Mandiri has transformed itself into Indonesia's best government-owned lender ‒ the domestic trailblazer is one to watch in the region.

Bank Central Asia, now one of Asia’s most admired lenders, is certainly one to keep an eye on in Indonesia, as it reaps the benefits of collaborating, not competing, with fintech firms.