Indonesia: Market Crash Fallout, Government Communication Breakdown & Investor Uncertainty with Gita Sjahrir – E555

“I will say, with Indonesia, I really have faith in the people—because not only can they still create a living and make the economy run (MSMEs are the lifeblood of this economy too), but also, we are the type of people that can go against dictatorships. We can push back against things. We're known for it. Due to a viral online situation, we stopped the previous president's son from running for governor, right? So we can do things, actually.” - Gita Sjahrir, Head of Investment at BNI Ventures

“Just in order to bring everybody down to zero and make everybody go, ‘Hey, oh shoot, we're here now. We're back down to zero. Maybe we should start working together.’ And I think that's a really big issue here—lots of people not working together, lots of misunderstanding, lack of communication, lack of dialogue, and just constant assumptions about the other side—whatever the other side is, right? Public, private, pro-this political party, pro-that political party. And I think that, in the end, causes that much chaos over time. So you're right—macros-wise, we haven't really changed. Fundamentally speaking, we're actually still quite strong. But again, we need to just have more consistent and cooperative dialogue with each other, spanning the different factions and the different interests, and really be sure that we're still in a nation-building phase.” - Gita Sjahrir, Head of Investment at BNI Ventures

“We've had the high-speed rails, we've built toll roads—it's not like we cannot build infrastructure. But you're right, I think one of the ways is to keep things tight, to make sure there are not too many players, like too many hands in the game, right? But I would say, every time people get so upset about Indonesia, I will say, you know, like the leaders or the government or administration or whatever it is—you might be upset at them. But I'm actually extremely bullish, and I'm still bullish until today, on Indonesian people.” - Gita Sjahrir, Head of Investment at BNI Ventures

Gita Sjahrir, Senior Advisor at TBS Energi Utama, and Jeremy Au discussed Indonesia’s current macroeconomic conditions and policy landscape. They analyzed how inconsistent government communication, executional shortcomings, and short-term policymaking have contributed to uncertainty among investors and the public. They also explored infrastructure priorities, the structural incentives behind recent decisions, and the enduring resilience of Indonesian citizens and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).