The value of participating in Davos

Harry Bhaskara, The Jakarta Post, Davos

Looking at its size alone, Indonesia is an impressive country to invest in, says Joseph Deiss, Federal Councillor of Switzerland, an equivalent to economic minister.

It is a country of almost two million square kilometers, with a population of 210 million people, he said, comparing it to Switzerland's population of seven million people in an area of 40,000 square kilometers.

"Therefore, economic relations with Indonesia are a very viable option," he told The Jakarta Post in Zurich, a day after the Davos meeting closed at the end of January.

This comment is especially encouraging because Deiss is a minister of a country that, he claims, remained one of the best places in the world in which to invest.

How should Asian governments view the Davos gathering in regard to investment? Singaporean businessman Tony Chew says the gathering is a great marketing opportunity for governments.

If this is so, then Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government is going in the right direction. A long-time investor in Indonesia, who is also chairman of the Asia Resource Corporation, Chew was impressed by the presence of three Indonesian ministers in Davos.

"Investors can meet in-person with the ministers. Some are complaining openly to the ministers. This is unprecedented," he said, emerging from a meeting between the ministers and a dozen business leaders on the fringe of the Davos conference, "This is a very good thing."

Indonesia was represented by three ministers at the World Economic Forum, including Coordinating Minister for the Economy Aburizal Bakrie, Minister of Energy Purnomo Yusgiantoro and Minister of Trade Mari Pangestu. The three ministers took time out from their tight schedule to act as panelists at the conference.

Today, Chew said, foreign investors are upbeat about Indonesia.

"And they are not just one-time investors," he said, "they are confident that the new government is able to deliver."

Chew said he sensed a unity in Susilo's cabinet. "I feel the government is really serious about getting things done," he told the Post.

Other Asian countries, notably China, India and Pakistan, were well-represented. But Philip Bowring, a regular Davos participant over the past ten years, noted in The Herald Tribune that several years ago Asian presence was more pronounced. He pointed out that representation from several dynamic economies in the region, such as Japan, Korea and Taiwan, had declined.

Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said the Davos conference was a very useful gathering.

"It is an ideal place to meet with political and business leaders from other countries," he told the Post on the sidelines of the conference.

So important is the gathering for networking that Nestle president-in-waiting, Frits van Dijk, said that when he first started attending the conference he spent 85 percent of his time in the sessions, and 15 percent outside the sessions.

"Now, it is the reverse," he told visiting Asian journalists grouped in the Asia News Network of which the Post is a founding member.

For all the importance of Davos and the prospects for investment in Indonesia, much of the work still lies with the Indonesian government. Switzerland may well serve as a good model, especially in its service industry which accounts for 70 percent of the country's economy.

So how can a country with such high costs and such a strong currency still be one of the most attractive places in the world to invest?