Business & Economy of Indonesia

Business & Economy of Indonesia - Economy of Indonesia is mainly based on agriculture and oil. Approximately 90% of the population is engaged in agriculture. In the agricultural sector, Indonesia has become self sufficient in rice and does not need to import this staple food as it had for years.

Earlier, oil and gas used to be a major foreign exchange earner but rising domestic consumption and stagnant oil production has now made Indonesia, a net importer of oil.

Tourism is steadily gaining ground and is emerging as major foreign exchange earner for the country. Indonesia is rich in natural resources. forestry products, rubber, coffee, tea, tin, nickel, copper, palm products & fish make important contributions to export earnings. In recent years a number of steps have been taken to promote and stimulate non-oil exports, which include handicrafts, textiles, precious metals, tea, tobacco, cement, fertilizers as well as manufactured goods.

Indonesia maintains a liberal foreign exchange system and has few restrictions on transfers abroad, and in general freely allows conversions to and from foreign currencies. The Rupiah-Indonesian Currency-is linked to a basket of currencies of Indonesia's major trading partners. The unitary exchange rate allows for fluctuation.

With the objective of a more equitable distribution of development gains, the government gives high priority to expansion in the less developed regions of the country and the creation of employment opportunities for the country's growing labour force. To attract foreign capital, certain incentives are provided and several sectors are open to foreign investment.