Threads of Opportunity: Reviving Indonesia’s Textile and Garment Sector
Deasy Pane
Indonesia’s textile and garment sector is struggling. The government needs to move its focus from protection to improving competitiveness.

Deasy Pane
Indonesia’s textile and garment sector is struggling. The government needs to move its focus from protection to improving competitiveness.
Nuurrianti Jalli
TikTok Live’s anticipatory suspension during nationwide protests in Indonesia last month shows the influence of Jakarta’s interventionist digital governance. Such suspensions hurt small businesses and can fuel misinformation.
Iim Halimatusa’diyah
Competition for jobs in Southeast Asia’s largest country is fierce, frustrating, and fraught with feelings of disappointment for its youngest workers.
Maria Monica Wihardja|Siwage Dharma Negara
A fast deal is not necessarily a good deal if Indonesia strikes an unequal trade bargain to avoid higher tariffs.
Burhanuddin Muhtadi
The series of student and civil society protests across Indonesia and some recent surveys reveal a middle class for which all is not well.
Francis E. Hutchinson
The JS-SEZ poses deep questions for nearby Batam as its competitive advantage hinges on proximity to Singapore, ready land and labour, and generous incentives for investors — just like Johor. Batam is also hampered by connectivity, jurisdiction, and land procurement woes.
Maria Monica Wihardja|Chatib Basri
We must get Indonesia’s middle-class narrative right to devise appropriate policy responses. While some argue that the middle class has grown, the evidence tells a more sobering story.
Melinda Martinus
As Indonesia forges ahead with plans to become an advanced economy, an honest reckoning needs to occur, to ensure that it does not squander its vast environmental resources for short-term gain.
Maria Monica Wihardja|Arianto Patunru
President Prabowo’s universal free school lunch programme is well-intentioned, but it would be more effective if done in coordination with other complementary programmes.
Manggi Habir|Siwage Dharma Negara
Indonesia’s 2025 budget is a negotiated outcome accommodating both Joko Widodo’s legacy and some of Prabowo Subianto’s priority programmes. While the formation of this “transition” budget was driven by the Jokowi administration, the new administration may still revise the budget in accordance with Prabowo’s policy priorities.