Consultant Castle shapes his American dream in Indonesia

Berni K. Moestafa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

He came to Indonesia on a Fulbright scholarship to do doctoral research studying the rise of nationalism in West Java.

But what he learned instead was this: "I didn't really care that much about history," said the former scholar, "but what I liked was living in Indonesia."

That was in 1977. Twenty-five years later, James W. Castle has made a name for himself as a prominent business consultant in Indonesia.

To be sure, his decision to live here cost him his doctoral research program at Bandung's University of Pajajaran.

But in the end, it got him far more than what he first set out to achieve.

Looking back, his consultancy firm, CastleAsia, has served more than 75 of the world's 500 largest corporations, and nearly half of the world's 100 largest public companies.

The Jakarta-based CastleAsia employs a staff of some 50 people who provide customized research, economic forecasts, and political risk analyses.

Castle recently celebrated 25 years of living in Indonesia.

The one question he often encounters is why, as a foreigner, he has decided to stay here for so long.

"I guess it's not so usual -- but there are more people here than you would think," the U.S. native noted.

True, but while immigrants from the world over flock to his homeland hoping for a piece of the American dream, Castle has realized his in Indonesia.

When he abandoned his research in 1978, he became a freelance writer for a number of local and international publications.

That work gave him firsthand contacts with important figures in the political and business circles of Indonesia.

Finding himself well-acquainted with his host country, he became a consultant with the accounting firm Touche Ross in 1981.

Two years later, Castle and his friend, Michael Shelby, founded Business Advisory Indonesia (BAI), where the two provided consultancy services for the next decade.

Among the major projects that propelled Castle's name to the forefront of the consultancy industry was an analysis BAI made for the British-based Shell oil company.

"It was a very exciting project which put us on the map," he said, explaining that it forecast developments in Indonesia over a 20-year period until 2000.

Shell, he said, used BAI's analyses for 10 years.

But BAI came to an end in 1993, when both thought the time was ripe for Shelby's financial restructuring skills and Castle's business advisory expertise to go their separate ways.

Shelby moved to Bangkok, while Castle remained here to found the CastleGroup in the same year.

Underlying CastleGroup's establishment was the reputation Castle had built up during 10 years in BAI. "Consulting is really a relationship business," he explained.

By attaching his own name to the new business, Castle managed to secure most of the clients he had served previously while BAI was still in existence.

As Indonesia began following in the footsteps of Japan's economic boom, Castle's business prospered.

To stay afloat amid a sea of consultants, some of them world- renowned, Castle relies on networking.

He talks to people close to the inner power circles, extracts their knowledge and then sells it, as part of what he described as the soft side of business.

Another strategy is to remain visible in the public eye. "We have to be constantly visible on the map," he said.

Visibility is indeed the key to doing business in Indonesia, and Castle's reputation stems from it.

Depicting this is a huge 1997 chart at the back of Castle's office lobby representing a road map of Indonesia's businesses.

Inevitably, one will run a finger along the lines that link one business group with another, trying to untangle the complex web of local tycoons, often with powerful political connections, who were the building blocks of Indonesia's economy.

Indonesia offers immense economic opportunities, but its confusing business, social and political environment provides fertile soil on which to grow a consultancy firm.

Half of Castle's clients were either foreign investors coming to Indonesia, or local companies wanting to expand into new markets.

All that, however, virtually disappeared after the 1997 financial crisis that rocked the economy to its foundations.

To survive, Castle depended on his existing clientele base.

With the political, social, and economic turmoil that followed, however, he was never short of things to advise his clients on.

Castle said that after the 32-year-old Soeharto regime ended in 1998, clients sought advise on understanding the priorities of the new government, regulatory reforms, the role of legislators, and the new players on the political landscape.

"As investors, you have to know what the rules are, it's harder now because you have to talk to more people and still may not find out the answer," he said.

Capitalizing on the new thirst for information has helped the CastleGroup, now known as CastleAsia, recover from the 1997 economic crisis.

Castle said that his business has since returned to its healthy, pre-crisis level.

But revenue will only really improve once investment starts flowing back into this country, which is why Castle keeps promoting Indonesia abroad.

As to his role in the symbiotic relationship between Indonesia and consultants, Castle said simply: "I explain Indonesia to foreigners and explain foreigners to Indonesia."