An Indonesian Perspective

In July 2026, there were 188,254 Australians who made the trip to Indonesia, comprising 12% of foreign arrivals to the country. Only Malaysia sent more, with 228,714 (15%). China was at 156,748 (10%) and Singapore another 117,278 (8%).

Australian investors, however, didn't get the memo. In the annual investor rankings published by BKPM (Badan Koordinasi Penanaman Modal, translated as the Investment Coordinating Board, now the Ministry of Investment and Downstream Industry), Australia last appeared in 2023, at US$0.5bn for the year. In 2025, China invested US$18.1bn and Singapore US$17.4bn.

Last night Dr. Sandiaga S. Uno was in Sydney to meet with local members from the Indonesia Business Council Australia and share his views on the matter. So what makes Pak Sandi (Pak can be roughly translated as Mr) a legitimate voice on this topic?

Well, first of all, he has been and continues to be nothing less than a bona fide maverick at the nexus of Indonesian investment, tourism and, until recently, government. Emerging from the social and economic upheaval of the Asian Financial Crisis of 1998, he co-founded PT Saratoga Investama Sedaya Tbk., which as of writing is listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange as the country's largest active investment company, holding over US$3bn in net assets across positions that read like a map of the economy: PT Adaro Energy Indonesia Tbk in coal; PT Merdeka Copper Gold Tbk in precious metals such as gold, silver, copper and nickel; Tower Bersama Group in telecommunications; and Primaya Hospital in healthcare.

He then crossed to the other side of the table, serving as Deputy Governor of Jakarta from 2017 to 2018, standing as Prabowo Subianto's running mate at the 2019 presidential election, and holding the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy portfolio from 2020 to 2024. Investor. Administrator. Vice-Presidential Candidate. Cabinet Minister. Not many people have seen Indonesian capital deployment from all sides of the same polygon like Pak Sandi.

Something you probably did not know about him: he spent his formative years in the US pursuing tertiary qualifications, but one of his first trips abroad came earlier, to Australia in the early 1980s, suggested by his father. He arrived with a childhood dream to experience snow and ended up learning to ski at Thredbo. Last night's close-quarters live performance of Men at Work's Down Under sure helped to bring it all back.

So that leads to my biggest take-away from Pak Sandi's harbour-not-fire-side chat:

Australians know Indonesia better than almost any other foreign market, and own less of it than almost any other foreign investor.

In other words, what the …?

Thank you to Community Bank Darling Square and the Indonesia Business Council Australia for convening the enlightening evening.