American, Indonesian businesses enjoy long-standing relations<\/p>\n
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
It was Standard Oil that pioneered the arrival of U.S. companies
\nin Indonesia during the Dutch East Indies days in the late 19th
\ncentury.<\/p>\n
After years of trying to gain entry here, the company finally
\nmanaged to start oil prospecting and production in Pelembang,
\nSouth Sumatra, in 1897. The production facility it established
\nwas its first in Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n
Following in the footsteps of Standard Oil, the United States
\nRubber Company -- which later became the Uniroyal Tire Co. --
\ncame to the Indies and established a vast rubber plantation at
\nKisaran in North Sumatra. The plantation eventually became one of
\nthe largest in the world.<\/p>\n
In the 1930s, tire company Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company came
\nhere to establish rubber plantations, and Caltex arrived to
\nprospect for oil.<\/p>\n
With the establishment of these companies, the Dutch East
\nIndies became the third most important destination for United
\nStates direct investment in Asia before the Second World War
\nerupted.<\/p>\n
After Indonesian independence in 1945, U.S. companies began to
\nplay a dominant role in the country's economy, expanding into a
\nwider range of activities, including the manufacturing, financial
\nand service sectors.<\/p>\n
In today's Indonesia, it is common even in the villages to see
\ninstantly recognizable icons of U.S. business, such as Coca Cola,
\nPepsi, McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Starbucks, and many
\nmore.<\/p>\n
While the United States has become Indonesia's main trading
\npartner, its companies have been investing less and less since
\nthe 1998 Asian financial crisis and the 2001 terrorist attacks on
\nNew York and the Pentagon.<\/p>\n
Based on a report from the Investment Coordinating Board
\n(BKPM), the United States came ninth on the list of the biggest
\ninvestors in Indonesia in 2004 and in the first five months of
\nthis year.<\/p>\n
The American Chamber of Commerce in Indonesia (AmCham), a
\nlobby group which represents over 300 U.S. companies in
\nIndonesia, has said that the high level of economic risk and
\nuncertainty have reduced the appetite of foreign investors to
\ncome here.<\/p>\n
The risks and uncertainty include problems such as corruption,
\npolicy inconsistency, weak law enforcement, and poor coordination
\namong government departments, as well as between central,
\nprovincial and local governments.<\/p>\n
"From an investor's point of view, major concerns in Indonesia
\nare transparency and the quality of regulations, the control of
\ncorruption, the rule of law and regulatory certainty, as well as
\noverall government effectiveness," AmCham president Joe C.
\nBartlett said in a presentation last year.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/american-indonesian-businesses-enjoy-long-standing-relations-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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